History of Classical Scholarship

Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff (1848-1931) was the leading scholar of his generation and one of the greatest scholars of all time. It has been said that, regarded only as a verbal critic, his “achievement is monumental”. But Wilamowitz’s work was not limited to editing texts. He also made many notable contributions to the study of Greek Antiquity in metrics, literature, religion, and the history of classical scholarship.Wilamowitz directed no fewer than eighty-nine dissertations. His pupils proved both numerous and influential (e.g., Hans von Arnim, Eduard Fraenkel, Paul Friedlander, Paul Maas, Max Pohlenz, Karl Reinhardt, Wolfgang Schadewaldt).

Among Wilamowitz-Moellendorff’s many books were studies and texts of the Greek tragedians, Homer and the Iliad, Hesiod, Pindar, Plato, and Aristotle. His Griechisches Lesebuch (1902; “Greek Reader”), which became a standard text, was influential in its emphasis on Hellenistic and later Greek writers, including the Church Fathers, as well as classical authors. In 1902 he became editorial director of the Inscriptiones Graecae. He also was editor of the series Philologische Untersuchungen (1880–1925; “Philological Investigations”). His last book was Der Glaube der Hellenen (1931–32; “The Religious Belief of the Greeks”).