Johann Gottfried Jakob Hermann (28 November 1772 – 31 December 1848) was a German classical scholar and

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined ...

. He published his works under the name Gottfried Hermann or its Latin equivalent . Medaille Gottfried Hermann 1840

Biography

He was born in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

. Entering its

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

at the age of fourteen, Hermann at first studied

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

, which he soon abandoned for the

classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

. After a session at

Jena Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a po ...

in 1793–1794, he became a lecturer on classical literature in Leipzig, in 1798 professor extraordinarius of

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. ...

in the university, and in 1803 professor of eloquence (and

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek '' poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meani ...

, 1809). His students included

Leopold von Ranke Leopold von Ranke (; 21 December 1795 – 23 May 1886) was a German historian and a founder of modern source-based history. He was able to implement the seminar teaching method in his classroom and focused on archival research and the analysis ...

. In 1840 in occasion of his 50th doctoral anniversary he received a medal. He died in Leipzig.

Views

Hermann maintained that an accurate knowledge of the Greek and Latin languages was the only road to a clear understanding of the intellectual life of the ancient world, and the chief, if not the only, aim of philology. As the leader of this grammatico-critical school, he came into collision with

Philipp August Böckh Philipp is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include: "Philipp" has also been a shortened version of Philippson, a German surname especially prevalent amongst German Jews and Dutch Jews. Surname * Adolf Philipp (1864� ...

and

Karl Otfried Müller Karl Otfried Müller ( la, Carolus Mullerus; 28 August 1797 – 1 August 1840) was a German scholar and Philodorian, or admirer of ancient Sparta, who introduced the modern study of Greek mythology. Biography He was born at Brieg (modern Brz ...

, the representatives of the historico-antiquarian school, which regarded Hermann's view of philology as inadequate and one-sided.

Works

Hermann devoted his early attention to the classical poetical metres, and published several works on that subject, the most important being ''Elementa doctrinae metricae'' (1816), in which he set forth a scientific theory based on the

Kantian Kantianism is the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher born in Königsberg, Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia). The term ''Kantianism'' or ''Kantian'' is sometimes also used to describe contemporary positions in philosophy of mind, ...

categories. He also wrote a ''Handbuch der Metrik'' (1798). His writings on Greek grammar are also valuable, especially ''De emendanda ratione Graecae grammaticae'' (1801), and notes and excursus on François Viger's treatise on Greek idioms.Vigeri, Francisci, ''De praecipuis graecae dictionis idiotismis liber'' (1802, 4th ed. 1834). The principles of the new method he introduced are not only explicitly developed in ''De Emendenda Ratione Græcæ Grammaticæ'', but are practically illustrated in his numerous editions of the ancient classics. His editions of the classics include several of the plays of

Euripides Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars ...

; the ''Clouds'' of

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; grc, Ἀριστοφάνης, ; c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme Kydathenaion ( la, Cydathenaeum), was a comic playwright or comedy-writer of ancient Athens and a poet of Old Attic Comedy. Eleven of his ...

(1799); ''Trinummus'' of

Plautus Titus Maccius Plautus (; c. 254 – 184 BC), commonly known as Plautus, was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the g ...

(1800); ''Poëtica'' of

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ...

(1802); ''Orphica'' (1805); the

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

ic ''Hymns'' (1806); and the ''Lexicon'' of

Photius Photios I ( el, Φώτιος, ''Phōtios''; c. 810/820 – 6 February 893), also spelled PhotiusFr. Justin Taylor, essay "Canon Law in the Age of the Fathers" (published in Jordan Hite, T.O.R., & Daniel J. Ward, O.S.B., "Readings, Cases, Materia ...

(1808). In 1825 Hermann finished the edition of

Sophocles Sophocles (; grc, Σοφοκλῆς, , Sophoklễs; 497/6 – winter 406/5 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. is one of three ancient Greek tragedians, at least one of whose plays has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or c ...

begun by Erfurdt. His edition of

Aeschylus Aeschylus (, ; grc-gre, Αἰσχύλος ; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian, and is often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Gree ...

was published after his death in 1852. The ''Opuscula'', a collection of his smaller writings in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

, appeared in seven volumes in Leipzig between 1827 and 1839. These show his power of dealing with chronological, topographical, and personal questions, and also contain some poems.

References

Bibliography

* This work in turn cites: ** Monograph by

Otto Jahn Otto Jahn (; 16 June 1813, in Kiel – 9 September 1869, in Göttingen), was a German archaeologist, philologist, and writer on art and music. Biography After the completion of his university studies at Christian-Albrechts-Universität in Kiel, ...

(1849) ** Monograph by

Hermann Köchly Hermann Köchly (born Leipzig, 5 August 1815; died Trieste, 3 December 1876) was a German philologist and educational reformer. Biography He studied at Leipzig, taught at the Saalfeld Progymnasium (1837) and at the Dresden Kreuzschule (1840). In F ...

(1874) **

Conrad Bursian Conrad Bursian (; 14 November 1830 – 21 September 1883) was a German philologist and archaeologist. Biography He was born at Mutzschen in Saxony. When his parents moved to Leipzig, he received his early education at Thomasschule zu Leipzig ...

, ''Geschichte der klassischen Philologie in Deutschland'' (1883) ** ** Sandys, ''History Class. Schol. iii.'' * This work in turn cites: ** Jahn, ''Gottfried Hermann, eine Gedächtnisrede'' (Leipzig, 1849) ** Köchly, ''Gottfried Hermann'' (Heidelberg, 1874) ** Bursian, ''Geschichte der klassischen Philologie in Deutschland'' (Munich, 1883) {{DEFAULTSORT:Hermann, Johann Gottfried Jakob 1772 births 1848 deaths People from the Electorate of Saxony German classical scholars German philologists Writers from Leipzig Leipzig University alumni Leipzig University faculty University of Jena alumni 18th-century philologists 19th-century philologists Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)