Eric Handley

Eric Walter Handley CBE FBA (born November 12, 1926 in Birmingham , † January 17, 2013 in Cambridge ) was a British classical philologist and papyrologist .

Life

Eric Walter Handley studied Classical Philology at Cambridge University , where he graduated with a Masters in 1946 . He then taught as an assistant lecturer (from 1949 lecturer) in Greek and Latin at University College London , from 1961 as a reader. Handley's main research interests were the Greek literary papyri, especially the evidence of Attic tragedy and comedy. Together with John Rea, he published an edition of the fragmentarily preserved tragedy Telephos des Euripides in 1957 , for which the authors were awarded the Cromer Greek Prize in 1958. In 1966, Handley went to Harvard University as a visiting lecturer for several months .

A year later (1967) Handley was appointed Professor of Latin and Greek and Director of the Institute of Classical Studies at University College London , and in 1968 Professor of Greek and Head of Department. The organization of science became a focus of his activities: in 1969 he was elected to the British Academy and appointed Secretary of the University Classical Departments for a year. Handley expanded his research and teaching activities internationally: in 1971 he was a visiting researcher at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton , 1977 visiting professor at Stanford University , 1978 at Melbourne University , 1981 Senior Research Fellow at Princeton University . In recognition of his services to science, the Queen appointed Handley Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1983 .

In 1984 Handley moved to Cambridge University, where he was Regius Professor of Greek and Fellow of Trinity College until 1994 . In this position he received numerous international awards: he became a foreign member of the Finnish Academy of Sciences in 1984 , a member of the Academia Europaea in 1988 , an honorary member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in 1993, an honorary doctorate from the University of Athens in 1995 and a corresponding member of the Academy of Athens and in 1996 a member of the Norwegian Academy of Sciences . The Royal Academy of Arts , of which he had been a member since 1971, made Handley an honorary member and professor in 1990. Handley spent his retirement in Cambridge and London, where he was made a Senior Research Fellow in 1995. Handley was Vice President of the Union Académique Internationale from 1994 to 1997 and 1999 to 2000 .

Research priorities

Handley's main research focus was ancient Greek drama. He wrote basic editions of fragmentary pieces as well as the largely complete Dyskolos , a comedy by Menander . From TBL Webster he took over the project of collecting and evaluating all iconographic documents, especially vase painting , on ancient drama. He organized an international conference in Vandœuvres on the comedy poet Aristophanes , and a conference in the Bibliotheca Bodmeriana to commemorate the first publication of Dyscolus .

Fonts (selection)

Text editions

• (Ed., With John Rea): The Telephus of Euripides . Institute of Classical Studies, London 1957 ( Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies , Supplement 5).
• (Ed.): The Dyskolos of Menander . Methuen, London 1965. Revised, London 1990. - Review by Robert K. Sherk, in: The American Journal of Philology 88, 1967, pp. 469-471, (online) ; Walther Kraus , in: Gnomon 40, 1968, pp. 337-346, (online) .

Monographs

• with Richard Green : Images of the Greek theater . Trustees of the British Museum, London 1995.
  • German edition: Pictures of the Greek theater . Reclam, Stuttgart 1999.

Editorships

• (Ed., With Jan Maarten Bremer ): Aristophane: sept exposés suivis de discussions, Vandœuvres-Genève, 19-24 août 1991 . Bonn 1993.
• (Ed., With André Hurst ): Relire Ménandre. Colloque tenu à l'Université de Genève et à la Bibliotheca Bodmeriana pour célébrer le 30e anniversaire de la publication du "Dyscolos", September 1988. Librairie Droz, Genève, 1990.

literature

• Alan Griffiths (Ed.): Stage Directions. Essays on Ancient Drama in Honor of EW Handley. Institute of Classical Studies, London 1995.
• Richard Green, Mike Edwards (Eds.): Images and Texts: Papers in Honor of Professor Eric Handley CBE FBA. Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies, Supplement 129. London 2015.

Web links

• Biographical entry at Debretts (English)
• Obituary in The Times , Feb. 6, 2013