Grísk-rómversk arfleifð, nýhúmanismi og mótun „íslenskrar“ þjóðmenningar 1830-1918.

NEOHUMANISM, THE GRECO-ROMAN HERITAGE AND THE SHAPING OF AN “ICELANDIC” NATIONAL CULTURE, 1830–1918 Throughout the 19th century, Neohumanism was an educational mainstay of the Icelandic elite. The reading of classical Greco-Roman texts was supposed to encourage bourgeois virtues and strengthen the bonds of friendship between the students, as future leaders of the Icelandic nation. Comprehensive instruction in Latin and Greek enabled these students to access edifying classical works. Such works helped shape the self-image of Icelanders as inhabitants of a Nordic island under the absolute Danish monarchy who were connected with both classical European and traditional Scandinavian culture. Especially at the school in Bessastaðir, Icelandic teaching methods strove to revitalise the language and encouraged a cultural nationalism incorporating various threads of classical, Christian and Nordic sources. Although some educated Icelanders blended material from these contrasting traditions in their discussion of the Icelandic nation and spirit, their doing so had relatively little influence on 19th-century political nationalism. However, this cultural mix did lay the groundwork for a Hellenic discourse which would significantly affect the self-image of Icelanders and ultimately impact political debates at the beginning of the 20th century.