About us

The Digital Encyclopedia of Atticism is one of the research outputs of PURA, a five-year ERC Consolidator project (grant agreement no. 865817), which began in January 2021 at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. PURA investigates the theories of linguistic purism that were developed in ancient Greek culture, and the way in which they were received in later periods. The focus of our analysis is Atticist lexica, ancient ‘dictionaries’ that collect linguistic features to be cultivated or avoided in correct Greek.

DEA contributes to the three main objectives of PURA:

1. to provide a comprehensive mapping of Atticist purism by analyzing the linguistic theories of Atticist lexica;

2. to study the intellectual and cultural legacy of Atticism in antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the early modern age by charting the history both of the lexica as books and of their authors;

3. to make the theories of these specialist and intricate texts more approachable and accessible outside the traditional format of critical editions.

To fulfil these objectives, the three sections of DEA, all of which are open-access, collect our work on the lexicographic entries in the Atticist lexica and their linguistic history; the major scholars and works of the ancient and Byzantine Atticist debate; and the transmission of the lexica in the medieval and early modern periods. Visit About DEA for more information.

How to cite this resource

O. Tribulato (ed.), Digital Encyclopedia of Atticism. With the assistance of E. N. Merisio. Venice, Edizioni Ca’ Foscari, 2022–. e-ISSN 2974-8240.