Joseph Eddy Fontenrose

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Joseph Eddy Fontenrose (born June 17, 1903 in Sutter Creek , † July 7, 1986 in Ashland, Oregon ) was an American classical philologist and religious scholar .

Life

After studying at the University of California ( Bachelor 1925, Master 1928) Fontenrose worked as a lecturer at Cornell University and received his doctorate in 1933 . In 1934 he went to the University of Oregon as an Assistant Professor of Greek and Latin Philology . In the same year he returned to his alma mater in Berkeley, where he initially worked as a lecturer and later as a professor of Greek philology. He interrupted his teaching from 1935 to 1936 as a Fellow of the American Council of Learned Societies , from 1936 to 1937 as a Sterling Fellow at Yale University , from 1951 to 1952 as a Senior Fellow at the American Academy in Rome and from 1958 to 1959 as a Guggenheim Fellow . From 1962 to 1966 he was Dean of the Department of Classics . In 1970 he retired.

In his research, Fontenrose specialized early on in Greek religious history and mythology . In his dissertation he dealt with the cults of the city of Didyma in Asia Minor . He also wrote numerous essays and monographs. His main focus was the cult of Apollo (especially in Delphi ), Zeus and the reception of ancient myths by John Steinbeck .

Fonts (selection)

  • Python. A study of Delphic myth and its origins . Berkeley / Los Angeles 1959
  • The cult and myth of Pyrros at Delphi . Berkeley 1960
  • John Steinbeck. An introduction and interpretation . New York 1963
  • The ritual theory of myth . Berkeley 1966
  • The Delphic oracle. Its responses and operations with a catalog of responses . Berkeley 1978
  • Orion. The myth of the hunter and the huntress . Berkeley 1981
  • Steinbeck's Unhappy Valley. A Study of The Pastures of Heaven . Berkeley 1981
  • Classics at Berkeley. The First Century, 1869-1978 . Berkeley 1982
  • Didyma. Apollo's Oracle, cult, and companions . Berkeley / Los Angeles / London 1988

literature

  • Bibliography of the writings (1932–1978) of Joseph Fontenrose , Berkeley 1978.
  • William F. Hansen: Fontenrose, Joseph Eddy . In: Ward W. Briggs , Biographical Dictionary of North American Classicists , Westport, CT / London: Greenwood Press 1994, ISBN 978-0-313-24560-2 . Pp. 189-191.

Web links
personal data
SURNAME Fontenrose, Joseph Eddy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Fontenrose, Joseph
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American classical philologist and religious scholar
DATE OF BIRTH June 17, 1903
PLACE OF BIRTH Sutter Creek
DATE OF DEATH July 7, 1986
Place of death Ashland (Oregon)