William Bedell Stanford

William Bedell Stanford (born January 16, 1910 in Belfast , † December 30, 1984 in Dalkey ) was an Irish classical philologist and politician . He was a Fellow from 1934 to 1980 and a Regius Professor of Greek at Trinity College (Dublin) from 1940 to 1980 . From 1948 to 1969 he was a member of the Seanad Éireann .

Life

William Bedell Stanford, the son of the Anglican pastor Bedell Stanford (1873-1945), attended the Bishop Foy's School in Waterford and studied from 1928 Classical Philology and Ancient History at Trinity College in Dublin . He completed his first class degree in 1932 with the grade summa cum laude ; he also received several awards for his academic achievements. After a short period as a Junior Fellow, Stanford was given a permanent position as a Fellow at Trinity College in 1934. In 1940 he was appointed Regius Professor of Greek . Stanford remained in this position until his retirement in 1980. In addition to his duties in academic teaching and research, Stanford was active as a radio announcer and was also involved in politics: from 1948 to 1969 he was a member of the Seanad Éireann , the Irish House of Lords.

As a long-time member of the Royal Irish Academy , he was elected Vice-President in 1969. From 1973 to 1980 he was also Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies . In 1980 the Greek government appointed him Grand Commander of the Order of the Phoenix .

Stanford has been visiting professor in the USA several times . 1965/1966 he was Sather Professor at the University of California, Berkeley . His lecture series was titled The Sound of Greek Poetry and was published in 1967 in the Sather Classical Lectures series, along with a record containing recordings by Stanford himself . Stanford later was visiting professor at Princeton University (1974), the University of Texas at Austin (1977), Vassar College (1980) and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1982).

Stanford's main research focus was ancient Greek poetry. His first extensive publications were on Greek stylistics, especially metaphor and ambiguity . After a widely acclaimed publication on the style of the tragedian Aeschylus , he wrote commented, bilingual editions of the Odyssey (1947-1948), the Frogs of Aristophanes (1958) and the Aias of Sophocles (1963). In the wake of the Odyssey edition, which has been in use worldwide since its publication, two monographs were created on the subject of Odysseus and its reception.

From the 1960s Stanford also dealt with the scientific and cultural history of Ireland. His studies of the humanistic tradition in Ireland first appeared in the Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy in 1970 and in book form in 1976. Together with Robert Brendan McDowell , Stanford wrote a biography of the Irish philologist and polymath John Pentland Mahaffy (1839-1919).

Fonts (selection)

• Greek metaphor. Studies in Theory and Practice . Oxford 1936. Reprinted New York 1972
• Ambiguity in Greek Literature. Studies in Theory and Practice . Oxford 1939. Reprinted New York 1972
• Aeschylus in His Style. A Study in Language and Personality . Dublin 1942. Reprinted New York 1972
• Ὁμήρου Ὀδύσσεια = The Odyssey of Homer . Two volumes, London 1947–1948. 2nd edition 1961–1962
• The Ulysses Theme. A Study in the Adaptability of a Traditional Hero . Oxford 1954
• Aristophanes, The Frogs. Edited with Introduction, Revised Text, Commentary, and Index . London 1958. 2nd edition 1963
• Sophocles, Ajax. Edited with Introduction, Revised Text, Commentary, Appendices, Indexes and Bibliography . London 1963. Numerous reprints
• The Sound of Greek. Studies in the Greek Theory and Practice of Euphony . Berkeley 1967 ( Sather Classical Lectures 38)
• with Robert Brendan McDowell: Mahaffy. A Biography of an Anglo-Irishman . London 1971
• with John V. Luce: The Quest for Ulysses . London 1974
• with Robert Fagles: Aeschylus: The Oresteia . New York 1975
• Ireland and the Classical Tradition . Dublin 1976
• Enemies of Poetry . London 1980
• Greek Tragedy and the Emotions. An Introductory Study . London 1983
• with Eustathios J. Finopoulos: The Travels of Lord Charlemont in Greece & Turkey, 1749 . London 1984

literature

• John V. Luce : William Bedell Stanford † . In: Gnomon . 58: 79-81 (1986)
• William Bedell Stanford, Regius Professor of Greek, 1940-80, Trinity College, Dublin: Memoirs . Dublin 2001 (with list of publications)