Zacharias Calliergi ( el, Ζαχαρίας Καλλιέργης, Zacharias Kalliergēs) was a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

Renaissance humanist Renaissance humanism was a revival in the study of classical antiquity, at first in Italy and then spreading across Western Europe in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. During the period, the term ''humanist'' ( it, umanista) referred to teache ...

and scholar. He was born in

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...

, then a Venetian colony, but emigrated to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

at a young age. In 1499 he helped bring out the ''

Etymologicum Magnum ''Etymologicum Magnum'' ( grc, Ἐτυμολογικὸν Μέγα, ) (standard abbreviation ''EM'', or ''Etym. M.'' in older literature) is the traditional title of a Greek lexical encyclopedia compiled at Constantinople by an unknown lexicogra ...

'' in Venice and in 1515 he set up a printing press where he published exclusively Greek volumes, among them the first Greek book printed in

Pindar Pindar (; grc-gre, Πίνδαρος , ; la, Pindarus; ) was an Ancient Greek lyric poet from Thebes. Of the canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Quintilian wrote, "Of the nine lyric poets, Pindar ...

's ''

Epinikion The ''epinikion'' or ''epinicion'' (plural ''epinikia'' or ''epinicia'', ancient Greek, Greek , from ''epi-'', "on," + ''Nike (mythology), nikê'', "victory") is a genre of occasional poetry also known in English language, English as a victory od ...

'' ("Victory Odes"). He also instituted the (''Gymnasium Caballini Montis'') where lectures were given, by among others, eminent fellow Cretan scholar

Marcus Musurus Marcus Musurus ( el, Μάρκος Μουσοῦρος ''Markos Mousouros''; it, Marco Musuro; c. 1470 – 1517) was a Greek scholar and philosopher born in Candia, Venetian Crete (modern Heraklion, Crete). Life The son of a rich merchant, Mus ...

and

Janus Lascaris Janus Lascaris (, ''Ianos Laskaris''; c. 1445, Constantinople – 7 December 1535, Rome), also called John Rhyndacenus (from Rhyndacus, a country town in Asia Minor), was a noted Greek scholar in the Renaissance. Biography After the Fall of Con ...

. In 1499, he established himself in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

, along with Nicolaos Vlastos, also a Cretan, the first Greek-owned printing press. Their publishing production wasn’t restricted only to the Greek public but generally to the humanistic public of their era. Also the financial support by

Anna Notaras Anna Notaras Palaiologina ( gr, Ἄννα Νοταρᾶ Παλαιολογίνα; died 8 July 1507) was the daughter of Loukas Notaras, the last '' megas doux'' of the Byzantine Empire. Biography Anna probably left Constantinople prior to fall o ...

contributed to the 'imperial decoration' of the publications. The printery was exclusively staffed by Cretans, both in technicians and in individuals who shouldered the literary responsibilities of the publications. The offspring of this Cretan collaboration were four archetypes: the ''Etymologicum Magnum'', one of the most important Byzantine dictionaries, the ''Ypomnema eis tas dekas kategorias tou Aristotelous'', the ''Ypomnema eis tas pente phonas Porphyriou, tou Ammoniou'' and the ''Therapeutica'' of

Galen Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus ( el, Κλαύδιος Γαληνός; September 129 – c. AD 216), often Anglicized as Galen () or Galen of Pergamon, was a Greek physician, surgeon and philosopher in the Roman Empire. Considered to be one ...

. The publications are characterized by Byzantine luster, enriched by the expanded use of red-types, and aesthetic titles, and different sized first letters. His edition of the ''Etymologicum Magnum'' is one of the most important monuments of

Byzantine literature Byzantine literature is the Greek literature of the Middle Ages, whether written in the territory of the Byzantine Empire or outside its borders.Encyclopædia Britannica - "Greek literature: Byzantine literature" It forms the second period in th ...

. The beauty of this book comes from the tasteful aesthetics of the letters, which characterize the Byzantine, especially the liturgical Byzantine book. The pages are illustrated by xylography, in the top of each chapter.William Dana Orcutt, ''Master Makers of the Book: Being a Consecutive Story of the Book'', 1928, p.66

Known works

*''Etymologicum Magnum'', extensive Greek etymological dictionary, 1499 *''Ypomnema eis tas deka kategorias tou Aristotelous'', ("Memorandum to the ten categories of Aristotle"), 1499 *''Agapetou diakonou parainetika kephalaia pros Ioustinianon'', ("Deacon Agapetos’ exhortative chapters to Justinian"), 1509 *''Thoma tou Magistrou, kat’alphabeton Attidos dialektou ekloga, eis oi dokimotatoi orontai ton palaion, kai tines autis parasemeioseis kai diaphorai'', 1515 *The victory odes of

, including the ''editio princeps'' of the scholia, 1515 *''Theokriton'', 1516 *''Apophthegmata philosophon, syllechthenta ypo Arseniou Monemvasias'' ("Sayings of philosophers, collected by Arsenios of Monemvasia"), 1515 *''Mega kai pany ophelimon lexicon, oper Garinos o Favorinos Kamirs o Nikairias episkopos ek pollon kai diaphoron biblion kata stoicheion synelexanto'', 1523

Known works

References

See also