Could They Really See Each Other?

László Ungvárnémeti Tóth and the Greek Enlightenment

Abstract

This study explores a chapter of early nineteenth-century Greek-Hungarian cultural relations. In July 1818, László Ungvárnémeti Tóth published a bilingual volume of poetry in Ancient Greek and Hungarian, containing imitations of various ancient Greek poetic forms, such as odes, epigrams, idylls and epistles. In Epistle I, the poet presents the history of the Greek people up to the early nineteenth century. The poem recounts the Greek people’s journey from their glorious past to their current state of misery. In the final lines, Ungvárnémeti Tóth suggests that the only way for them to achieve new prosperity is to follow the example of ancient Greece. Ungvárnémeti Tóth’s volume of poetry was reviewed in an anonymous article published on 16 August 1818 in Ermis o Logios (Ἑρμής ὁ Λόγιος), the first Greek scientific journal, which was printed in Vienna. Alongside the review, which focused on the ancient Greek elements of Ungvárnémeti Tóth’s poetry, the journal published one of his odes and eleven epigrams. References in the article suggest that it was the poet himself who sent his volume to the editors of the Greek journal. A Hungarian translation of the Greek article was published in the December 1818 issue of the Scientific Collection (Tudományos Gyűjtemény), the first Hungarian scientific journal. In an accompanying note, the editor listed the titles of the poems published in the Greek journal. Some of the references in this article suggest that László Ungvárnémeti Tóth may have been responsible for publishing the translation of the Greek review. It seems that the only common ground for the Greek and Hungarian sides was their shared admiration for ancient Greek culture. The potential connections between their cultural agendas during the Enlightenment, which were similar in many respects, remained hidden from them.