Sather Professorship of Classical Literature

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Sather Tower at the University of California, Berkeley

The Jane K. Sather Professorship of Classical Literature is an

classicist Oliver Taplin, the chair is "the most prestigious [professorship] in the subject in the world".[1]

Foundation

In 1886, the Norwegian-American banker

archaeologist John Myres to be the first holder of the chair.[6]

Professorship

Wheeler Hall, where the Sather professor traditionally lectures

Initially, holder of the professorship would spend one term at Berkeley, teaching a full programme of classes.[7] In 1919, classicists Ivan Mortimer Linforth and George Calhoun modified the nature of the appointment: henceforth, holders would give a specified number of lectures (initially eight, later six) on a unified topic. The lectures should then be published as a book by the University of California Press. Until 1952, Sather Professors were given access to an office in the university's Wheeler Hall which included its own lavatory.[8] The office has since been replaced by rooms in Dwinelle Hall furnished with a dedicated library and portraits of past holders of the chair.[8]

The Sather Professorship has been held by numerous distinguished scholars including

Hellenists Helene P. Foley, and Gregory Nagy, and historians Mary Beard and Nicholas Purcell.[9] According to classicist Oliver Taplin, the chair is "the most prestigious [professorship] in the subject in the world".[1]

Impact

Writing for The Times Literary Supplement, poet and author Robert Bringhurst states that the Sather Lectures and its associated publications "include many major works of classical scholarship".[10] The 1969 Lectures, given by Hellenist Hugh Lloyd-Jones, offered "an important re-examination of the religious beliefs of the Greeks in the pre-classical and classical periods".[11] They resulted in 1971 in the publication of Lloyd-Jones' first influential publication, The Justice of Zeus.[11] In 1970,[9] historian F. W. Walbank delivered the Sather Lectures on the Greek writer Polybius. His resulting book (Polybius (1972)) was still considered the standard work on this topic in the early 21st century.[12] In 2007, Helene P. Foley gave the first Sather Lecture on the topic of classical reception studies. Analysing the re-performance of classical plays in the United States, her lectures are described by Taplin as "somewhat of a milestone" in moving the subject closer to the mainstream of classical scholarship.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Taplin 2013.
  2. ^ Dow 1965, p. 30.
  3. ^ Dow 1965, p. 32.
  4. ^ Dow 1965, pp. 32–33.
  5. ^ Dow 1965, p. 31.
  6. ^ Dow 1965, p. 38.
  7. ^ Fontenrose 1982, p. 17.
  8. ^ a b c Fontenrose 1982, p. 18.
  9. ^ a b "Past Sather Professors". University of California, Berkeley. Classics Department. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  10. ^ Bringhurst 2014.
  11. ^ a b Wilson 2009.
  12. ^ "Professor Frank Walbank". The Times. 13 November 2008.

Bibliography

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