John J. Winkler

John Jack Winkler (born August 11, 1943 in St. Louis , † April 26, 1990 in Stanford ) was an American classical philologist and Benedictine monk .

John J. Winkler studied 1960 to 1963 at the Saint Louis University Classical Studies and then went to England. There he joined a Benedictine order. In 1966 he returned to the United States, where he taught at the St. Louis Priory until 1970 . In 1970 he left the Benedictines and took part in a graduate scholarship program in Classical Philology at the University of Texas at Austin . In 1974 Winkler's doctorate took place with his work In Pursuit of Nymphs. Comedy and Sex in Nonnos' “Tales of Dionysos” . He then worked as an assistant professor at Yale University . In 1979 Winkler was appointed to a professorship at Stanford University . He taught there until he died from AIDS at the age of 46.

In his research, Winkler dealt with the social functions of Attic dramas and the representation of sexual conventions and gender roles in ancient Greece . His book Bound Eros ( The Constraints of Desire ) also reached many readers outside the academic world. He donated half of the book's proceeds to the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. At his instigation, a gay and lesbian working group was established at the US Classical Philology Association. After his death, a foundation, the John J. Winkler Memorial Trust, was established in Winkler's memory.

Fonts (selection)

• The bound Eros. Sexuality and gender relations in ancient Greece , Hitzeroth, Marburg 1994 ISBN 3-89398-085-7 .

Web links

• Entry on John J. Winkler in the Database of Classical Scholars (English)
• Literature by and about John J. Winkler in the catalog of the German National Library
• Obituary by Mark Edwards, Marsh McCall and Susan Stephens, Stanford University (PDF file; 79 kB)