Paul Melissus Schede and the Neo-Latin Pindaric Ode: Multiple Publication Practices and the Development of a Poetic Form in the European res publica litterarum of the Early Modern Period

• Applicant: Privatdozent Dr. Jochen Schultheiß
• Subject Area: Greek and Latin Philology
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 569299872

This research project, comprising a monograph and workshop, is conceived as a paradigmatic analysis of innovation processes in early modern literature. This goal will be achieved by examining the development of the Neo-Latin Pindaric Ode in the second half of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th centuries within the French and German cultural spheres. The practice of multiple publication common during this period provides a key to this approach. The focus is on the 34 Pindaric odes by Paul Melissus Schede, whose significance for the transformation of the genre will be presented and explained. Characteristic of the poet is the expansion of the uses of these hymns into previously unfamiliar areas. Like a considerable portion of early modern poetry, most of his odes were written for specific occasions, and thus numerous poems were first published in occasional prints. Later, many works were removed from their original editorial context and incorporated into larger collections of poems. This process of recontextualization created new meanings for the works, showcasing the author's poetic program. The practice of multiple publication has an innovation-enhancing effect on the poems: On the one hand, the necessities of occasional poetry require modifications to new external demands, thus promoting the further development of poetic techniques. Political, familial, religious, or any other needs influence the literary form. No less significant, on the other hand, is the later inclusion of these works in a collection of poems, which canonizes the new variants of the poetic form. Furthermore, the mediating function of the Pindaric Odes of Schede becomes clear in the cultural transfer processes between Neo-Latin and vernacular literature as well as between French and German literature in both Latin and national languages. Personal networks within the Republic of Letters attest to Melissus’s intensive exchange with representatives of vernacular literatures at two points: firstly, with the French group of poets known as the Pléiade during a stay in Paris, and secondly, with German authors who gathered around him in Heidelberg. When in France he came into contact with national language and neo-Latin poetry as well as with the poetological discourse, the image of Pindar that was becoming established there exerted influence on him. He in turn passed this poetic knowledge and technique, expanded with his own innovations, on to German literature in Latin and the vernacular language. A reciprocal relationship emerges: the rapidly developing national literatures brought about an emancipation from classical models in Neo-Latin literature, while Neo-Latin poetry, in turn, sparked innovations in vernacular literature because of its more advanced publication practices.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants