William Chase Greene

William Chase Greene (born June 14, 1890 in Brookline , Massachusetts , † September 7, 1978 in Center Sandwich , New Hampshire ) was an American classical philologist .

Life

Greene's ancestors had lived in America since the 17th century. His grandfather was the publisher William Lyman Greene (1829-1914), his father the literary scholar Herbert Eveleth Greene (1858-1942), who taught as a professor in English at Wells College and from 1893 at Johns Hopkins University .

Greene studied Classical Philology at Haverford College and Harvard University , where he received his bachelor's degree (A. B.) in 1911 . For his outstanding achievements he was awarded the Rhodes Scholarship and studied from 1911 to 1914 at Balliol College of Oxford University . In 1912 he became the first American to win the Newdigate Prize for Poetry . After completing his bachelor's degree in 1914 (B.A.), he returned to Harvard University, where he taught English literature and language for a year. He completed his studies at Harvard with the Master and the promotion for Ph. D. from (1916 and 1917).

From 1917 to 1920 he taught Greek at a high school in Groton . In 1920 he returned to Harvard University, where he spent his entire career. He was first an instructor in Greek and Latin, from 1923 Assistant Professor (until 1927) and Tutor (until 1956). In 1927 he was appointed Associate Professor of Greek and Latin, and later Full Professor. He was visiting professor at the American School of Classical Studies in Rome (1931/32), at the University of Chicago (1938) and at Cornell University (1947). From 1946 to 1951 he headed the Department of Classical Philology at Harvard University.

Greene was also active in the philological societies of the United States. In 1950/51 he was simultaneously president of the Classical Association of New England and the American Philological Association . He was also a long-term member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences from 1925 , for which he served as Vice President from 1952 to 1953 and as Secretary from 1953 to 1956. After his retirement from Harvard University in 1956, he accepted a visiting professorship at Wells College (as John Hay Whitney Professor, 1957/58), but then withdrew completely into private life.

Greene's research spanned vast areas of ancient literature and culture. Based on studies of Plato's poetic criticism, he was primarily concerned with Greek and Roman intellectual history and, at a young age, presented two highly regarded monographs: The Achievement of Greece (1924) and The Achievement of Rome (1933), in which he explored the meaning of Outlined Greek and Roman culture for the entire cultural history of mankind. His book Moira stands out among his special studies in Greek intellectual history . Fate, God, and Evil in Greek Thought (1944), in which he presented the views of Greek philosophers on the phenomenon of evil .

Greene also emerged as the editor and translator of ancient texts: in 1938 he completed the critical edition of the Plato Scholien , which was based on nearly fifty years of preparatory work by Frederic De Forest Allen , John Burnet and Charles Pomeroy Parker (1852–1916). Greene also participated in the translation of Augustin's major work De civitate Dei for the Loeb Classical Library . Its share, the translation of books 18 to 20, appeared in 1960 and was reprinted several times.

Fonts (selection)

• Quid de poetis Plato censuerit . Cambridge (MA) 1917. Published under the title: Plato's View of Poetry . In: Harvard Studies in Classical Philology . Volume 29 (1918), pp. 1-75
• The Achievement of Greece. A Chapter in Human Experience . Cambridge (MA) 1924
• Selections from Jowett's Plato . New York 1927
• The Achievement of Rome. A Chapter in Civilization . Cambridge (MA) 1933
• Scholia Platonica. Contulerunt atque investigaverunt Fredericus De Forest Allen, Joannes Burnet, Carolus Pomeroy Parker. Omnia recognita praefatione indicibusque instructa edidit Guilielmus Chase Greene . Haverford 1938 ( Philological Monographs 8)
• Moira. Fate, God, and Evil in Greek Thought . Cambridge (MA) 1944
• Augustine: The city of God against the Pagans. Volume 6: Book XVIII, chapter XXXVI - book XX . London 1960 ( Loeb Classical Library )

literature

• John E. Rexine : Greene, William Chase . In: Ward W. Briggs (Ed.): Biographical Dictionary of North American Classicists . Westport, CT / London: Greenwood Press 1994, ISBN 978-0-313-24560-2 , pp. 232f.

Web links

• Entry on William Chase Greene in the Database of Classical Scholars (English)