 Macmillan, 1958 edition | |
| Author | Geoffrey Trease |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Treyer Evans |
| Language | English |
| Genre | historical fiction |
| Publisher | Macmillan & Co |
Publication date | 1948 |
The Hills of Varna (published in the USA as Shadow of the Hawk) [1] is a children's historical novel by Geoffrey Trease, published in 1948. It is an adventure story based on the revival of classical scholarship in the Renaissance.
The book is set mainly in continental Europe during the first decade of the 16th century. The central character, a young Englishman, is sent by Erasmus to find the lost manuscript of an ancient Greek play at a monastery in the Balkans. [2]
In 1509, Alan Drayton, a young Yorkshireman, has to leave his college in Cambridge after a tavern brawl. His tutor Erasmus sends him to the continent to try to retrieve a manuscript of The Gadfly, a lost play by the ancient Greek writer Alexis from the time of Socrates. He believes that it is in the monastery of Varna in the Balkans. Alan intends to deliver the play to the printer Aldus Manutius in Venice, refusing to take employment with the ruthless Duke of Molfetta, who wants the play for his private collection. He is joined on the arduous journey to the monastery by a young Italian woman, Angela d'Asola, who disguises herself as a boy. They encounter Adriatic pirates, shipwreck, Turkish janissaries and sinister monks, all the while being doggedly pursued by the agents of the Duke. They find the manuscript but lose it again. In the end, their love of learning saves the day.
The author avoids the obvious ending of having the two leading characters marry each other, instead following the custom of the time Angela marries an older wealthy man whom she has had in mind for some time. Alan returns to England, on the verge of its own Renaissance, to continue his education.
The book has been widely praised by critics, [3] as illuminating the historical process [4] and is considered by some to be the author's greatest work. [2]
Erasmus of Rotterdam, the Dutch scholar and humanist, taught at Cambridge for a time, and was associated with the Venetian publishing house the Aldine Press and its founder Aldus Manutius. The author states: "Whenever possible, I have used actual opinions of Aldus and Erasmus in the dialogue." [5] Marcus Musurus, Aldus's Cretan assistant, was a Greek scholar who taught at the University of Padua and was closely involved with the publication of Greek texts. Alexis the playwright is a fictional character, not to be confused with the real Greek writer of this name who lived somewhat later, but he represents the many ancient authors whose work was lost.
The novel starts in Cambridge and moves to the Republic of Venice, then to Dalmatia and the mountainous central Balkans. The monastery at Varna is a fictional place, not connected with the real town of Varna or Lake Varna in Bulgaria.
In 1952 Trease wrote a prequel to The Hills of Varna, The Crown of Violet. The title is taken from a quote from Pindar (see City of the Violet Crown). Set in ancient Athens, it is about how Alexis wrote The Gadfly, a comedy defending Socrates, and contains vivid descriptions of the Greek theatre. As in The Hills of Varna and Cue for Treason , the hero befriends a spirited, convention-defying girl who plays a vital role in the adventure (in this case Corinna, a metic).
Its American title Web of Traitors refers to the subplot of a planned coup d'état against the Athenian democracy; a speech in Alexis's play is used to trick the plotters into revealing themselves.
This could be a record, outside of science fiction and fantasy, for how far the events of a prequel have preceded the first novel.
The Aldine Press was the printing office started by Aldus Manutius in 1494 in Venice, from which were issued the celebrated Aldine editions of the classics. The first book that was dated and printed under his name appeared in 1495.
Girolamo Aleandro was an Italian humanist, linguist, and cardinal.
Hesychius of Alexandria was a Greek grammarian who, probably in the 5th or 6th century AD, compiled the richest lexicon of unusual and obscure Greek words that has survived, probably by absorbing the works of earlier lexicographers.
Aldus Pius Manutius was an Italian printer and humanist who founded the Aldine Press. Manutius devoted the later part of his life to publishing and disseminating rare texts. His interest in and preservation of Greek manuscripts mark him as an innovative publisher of his age dedicated to the editions he produced. Aldus Manutius introduced the small portable book format with his enchiridia, which revolutionized personal reading and are the predecessor of the modern paperback book. He also helped to standardize use of punctuation including the comma and the semicolon.
William Grocyn was an English scholar and friend of Erasmus.
Stephanus or Stephen of Byzantium was a Byzantine grammarian and the author of an important geographical dictionary entitled Ethnica (Ἐθνικά). Only meagre fragments of the dictionary survive, but the epitome is extant, compiled by one Hermolaus, not otherwise identified.
Quintus Smyrnaeus was a Greek epic poet whose Posthomerica, following "after Homer", continues the narration of the Trojan War. The dates of Quintus Smyrnaeus' life and poetry are disputed: by tradition, he is thought to have lived in the latter part of the 4th century AD, but early dates have also been proposed.
Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, called in English Poliphilo's Strife of Love in a Dream or The Dream of Poliphilus, is a book said to be by Francesco Colonna. It is a famous example of an incunable. The work was first published in 1499 in Venice by Aldus Manutius. This first edition has an elegant page layout, with refined woodcut illustrations in an Early Renaissance style. Hypnerotomachia Poliphili presents a mysterious arcane allegory in which the main protagonist, Poliphilo, pursues his love, Polia, through a dreamlike landscape. In the end, he is reconciled with her by the "Fountain of Venus".
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1501.
GrattiusFaliscus was a Roman poet who flourished during the life of Augustus. He is known as the author of a Cynegeticon, a poem on hunting.
Gadfly most commonly refers to:
Ancient Greek literature is literature written in the Ancient Greek language from the earliest texts until the time of the Byzantine Empire. The earliest surviving works of ancient Greek literature, dating back to the early Archaic period, are the two epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey, set in an idealized archaic past today identified as having some relation to the Mycenaean era. These two epics, along with the Homeric Hymns and the two poems of Hesiod, the Theogony and Works and Days, constituted the major foundations of the Greek literary tradition that would continue into the Classical, Hellenistic, and Roman periods.
(Robert) Geoffrey Trease FRSL was a prolific British writer who published 113 books, mainly for children, between 1934 and 1997, starting with Bows Against the Barons and ending with Cloak for a Spy in 1997. His work has been translated into 20 languages. His grandfather was a historian, and was one of the main influences on his work. He is best known for the children's novel Cue for Treason (1940).
Julius Pollux was a Greek scholar and rhetorician from Naucratis, Ancient Egypt. Emperor Commodus appointed him a professor-chair of rhetoric in Athens at the Academy — on account of his melodious voice, according to Philostratus' Lives of the Sophists.
Alciphron was an ancient Greek sophist, and the most eminent among the Greek epistolographers. Regarding his life or the age in which he lived we possess no direct information whatsoever.
Bows Against the Barons is a 1934 children's novel by British author Geoffrey Trease, based on the legend of Robin Hood. It tells the story of an adolescent boy who joins an outlaw band and takes part in a great rebellion against the feudal elite. Trease's first novel, Bows Against the Barons marks the start of his prolific career as a historical novelist. It is notable for reinterpreting the Robin Hood legend and revitalizing the conventions of children's historical fiction in 20th-century Britain.
Arsenius Apostolius was a Greek scholar who lived for a long time in Venice. He was also bishop of Monemvasia in the Peloponnese.
Alexis is a given name of Greek origin. Like the name Alexander, Alexis derives from the Greek verb ἀλέξειν.
Festina lente or speûde bradéōs is a classical adage and oxymoron meaning "make haste slowly". It has been adopted as a motto numerous times, particularly by the emperors Augustus and Titus, then later by the Medicis and the Onslows.
Johannes Cuno was a Dominican humanist and early greek scholar in the Germanophone region. He was also a translator from the Greek language and collector of manuscripts and books. While living in Basel, he assisted the printer Johann Amerbach and was teacher for the Greek language to Amerbachs sons and Beatus Rhenanus.
