Theodor Rhodius

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Title page of Poemata varia , 1615

Theodor Rhodius , German name Dietrich Rhode (* around 1572 in Ladenburg ; † August 19, 1625 in Asselheim ) was a German Lutheran pastor and neo-Latin playwright. He belongs to the group of late humanists .

Life

Rhode, with its Latinized name Rhodius, was a Lutheran religion and, according to older sources, came from "Lupfen in Swabia" , but according to more recent research it came from Ladenburg. As a scholarship holder of Count Philipp I von Leiningen , he first attended the Höninger Latin School and studied at the University of Tübingen in 1594 and at the University of Strasbourg in 1595 . In the same year Rhodius became a teacher at his previous school in Höningen and remained in this position until 1601. Then the Count of Leiningen appointed him pastor of Quirnheim . From 1612 until his death he held this office in Asselheim . Here he died of the plague in 1625 .

plant

Rhodius wrote Latin dramas and comedies on topics from the Old Testament, but also, for example, about the Protestant martyr Admiral Gaspard de Coligny . His works are partly modeled on the Roman comedy poets Plautus and Terenz (for example in Debora and Thesaurus ) or in the dramas in Seneca (e.g. in Simson ). The works usually consist of five short acts, which are separated by choral songs, with important parts of the plot often only introduced through the reports of messengers. There are few roles, some of which represent abstractions like despair and slander . Nothing is known about a performance of his pieces.

Poets friends who have contributed to the complete edition of poems include Caspar Brülow , Christoph Thomas Walliser , Friedrich Taubmann , Paul Melissus and Jan Gruter and Samuel Gloner (in Strasbourg, 1598–1642).

By Paul Schede Theodor Rhodius 1601 was, in Heidelberg , crowned poet . The diplomat and historian Marquard Freher was one of his supporters.

Fonts

A first complete edition of his dramas appeared in Heidelberg in 1600 (Comoediae sacrae duae Debora et Thesaurus, ad imitationem Plauti et Terentii: item Simson Tragoedia). In the poemata of the complete edition of 1625 he also gives information about himself. It is dedicated to the professors of the Strasbourg University with whom he had close ties

literature

  • Ernst Martin:  Rhodius, Theodor . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 28, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1889, p. 392 f.
  • Killy Literature Lexicon , Volume 9, p. 606, Verlag Walter de Gruyter, 2010, ISBN 3110220458 ; (Digital scan)
  • Wilhelm Kühlmann : On the literary way of life in German late humanism: The Palatinate playwright Theodor Rhodius (approx. 1572-1625) in his poetry and in his letters . Amsterdam 1988 (= Daphnis 17 [1988], volume 4).
  • Hans-Gert Roloff : Classicism in German drama around 1600. Observations on the Tragoedia Colignius of Theodor Rhodius . In: Roloff: Small writings on the literature of the 17th century . Amsterdam, New York 2003, pp. 187–199 (Ed. Christian Caemmerer)
  • Johann Georg Lehmann : Historical paintings from the Rhine district of Bavaria , Volume 1, P. 132 u. 133, Heidelberg, 1832; (Digital scan)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ So Ernst Martin, ADB, 1889
  2. ^ Robert Eitner:  Walliser, Christoph Thomas . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 40, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1896, p. 754 f. Walliser (1568–1648) was a professor and high school teacher in Strasbourg and cantor at the Münster and St. Thomas Church.
personal data
SURNAME Rhodius, Theodor
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Rhode, Dietrich (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Lutheran pastor, neo-Latin playwright, late humanist
DATE OF BIRTH around 1572
PLACE OF BIRTH Ladenburg
DATE OF DEATH August 19, 1625
Place of death Asselheim