Cretan Literature in Late Venetocracy – A General Review of Literary Procedures

Abstract

The end of 16th and the first decades of 17th centuries mark one of the most significant turning points in the history of Neo-Hellenic literature. Renaissance influences in the regions dominated by Latin rulers, at the island of Crete above all, give rise to the conception of an entirely original linguistic model. Based on the local dialect, it departs not only from the scholarly heritage of the medieval literature, but from Neo-Hellenic koine of the late and post-Byzantine period as well. The paper summarizes some of the basic characteristics of this new literary medium, introducing at the same time the largely discussed question of the periodization of this part of Neo-Hellenic literature.