Abstract

_ Source: _Volume 37, Issue 1, pp 109 - 132 In 1635 the Dutch scholar Gerardus Vossius published a work on the _Art of Grammar_ where he makes reference to the circumstances in which Erasmus wrote his _Dialogue on the Correct Way of Pronouncing Latin and Greek_. Vossius quotes an account from 1569 which explains how Erasmus fell foul of a practical joke by which he was fooled into thinking that a new and more correct pronunciation of Greek had been discovered, and, wanting to appear the inventor of the matter, Erasmus quickly composed and published his _Dialogue_, only to discover later that the whole story was in fact a hoax. This account of the origins of Erasmus’ _Dialogue_ has largely been taken at face value by those concerned, but I argue that it is a most unlikely explanation with several serious flaws. Although the practical joke could have taken place, it seems that it was subsequently misconstrued as the incentive for Erasmus’ _Dialogue_. On the contrary, I argue that the _Dialogue_ was intended as a sincere popularization of an ongoing academic inquiry, but that the hypothetical Greek pronunciation therein has been misunderstood as a cue to replace the traditional pronunciation. This article shows that the so-called “Erasmian” pronunciation of Greek at large today is not only un-Greek, but also un-Erasmian, for it has little to do with Erasmus and contradicts his example and counsel.