William Ross Hardie

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William Ross Hardie (born January 6, 1862 in Edinburgh , † May 3, 1916 ) was a British classical scholar of Scottish origin.

Life

Hardie was the son of Edinburgh tailor William Purves Hardie and his wife Agnes Ross. He attended the Circus Place School in Edinburgh and began studying Classical Philology at the age of 14 with William Young Sellar at the University of Edinburgh , graduating with an MA in 1880 , and then at Balliol College , Oxford , where he received a BA and then earned an MA. In 1882 he received the Gaisford Prize for Greek poetry, among other awards . He was considered the most gifted student of classical philology of his generation.

In 1884 he was elected a Fellow of Balliol College and spent a year mostly in Greece and Italy . On his return he was from 1884 to 1895 Fellow and Tutor at Balliol College and Junior Proctor of the University in the 1893-1894 academic year. From 1895 until his death he was Professor of Humanity (Latin) at Edinburgh University .

In 1901 he married Isabella Watt, the third daughter of the Revd William Stevenson of Madras Christian College. They had three sons and a daughter. These included William Francis Ross Hardie (1902–1990) and Colin Graham Hardie (1906–1998), who, like himself, were classical philologists.

He died in 1916 after a severe flu infection.

Focus

Hardie mainly taught Greek and Latin composition, the writing of poetry and prose texts in ancient Greek and Latin, and published on ancient metrics. At Balliol College he taught a simple form of ancient Greek ("simple, pronounceable, and intelligible to the ear"). He once wrote to the Scottish writer John Stuart Blackie :

"I always endeavor to make the accent audible in pronouncing Greek. I quote, read, or recite Greek as much as possible, and I frequently teach composition orally, by ... choosing by chance a piece of English and working out a version of it by common suggestion and discussion. "

- Stuart Wallace : John Stuart Blackie: Scottish Scholar and Patriot. Edinburgh University Press, 2006, ISBN 978-0-7486-1185-0 , p. 189, (online) .

Fonts (selection)

  • Gaisford prize for Greek verse: Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, act II, scene 5, translated into comic iambics. BH Blackwell, Oxford 1882.
  • Vetera recentia: Being hints towards advanced composition in prose and verse in the form of renderings of modern words. 1890.
  • The Character and Genius of the Roman People. An inaugural address delivered at Edinburgh on the 15th October, 1895. W. Blackwood and Sons, 1895.
  • The Feeling for Nature in the Greek and Roman Poets: An Introductory Lecture. T. and A. Constable at the Edinburgh University Press, 1899.
  • The supernatural in ancient poetry and story. A lecture delivered to the Aberdeen university classical society on February 15, 1901. J. Thin, 1901.
  • Lectures on classical subjects. 1903.
  • Latin prose composition: Comprising part I, Notes on Grammar, Style, and Idiom, part II, English passages for translation into Latin. 1908.
  • Silvulae academicae. Verses and Verse Translations. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1912. - Review by ADG in: The Classical Review 27, 1913, pp. 67-68, (online) .
  • Res metrica. An introduction to the study of Greek & Roman versification. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1920, reprinted by Garland Publ., ISBN 0-8240-2970-4 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Hardie, William Ross
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British classical scholar of Scottish origin
DATE OF BIRTH January 6, 1862
PLACE OF BIRTH Edinburgh
DATE OF DEATH May 3, 1916