Neil Hopkinson () was an English Hellenist. Educated at

Peterhouse, Cambridge Peterhouse is the oldest constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Today, Peterhouse has 254 undergraduates, 116 full-time graduate students and 54 fellows. It is quite ...

, he served as a fellow and director of studies in

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 ...

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

from 1983 until his death in 2021. He has been described as "one of the most influential commentators of his generation". Hopkinson was an expert on

Ancient Greek literature Ancient Greek literature is literature written in the Ancient Greek language from the earliest texts until the time of the Byzantine Empire. The earliest surviving works of ancient Greek literature, dating back to the early Archaic Greece, Archa ...

of the

Hellenistic period In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

and under the

Roman empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...

. After a commentary on the ''Hymn to Demeter'' by

Callimachus Callimachus (; ) was an ancient Greek poet, scholar and librarian who was active in Alexandria during the 3rd century BC. A representative of Ancient Greek literature of the Hellenistic period, he wrote over 800 literary works in a wide varie ...

(1984) established his scholarly reputation, he went on to publish widely in his field. His publications include a critical edition of the ''

Dionysiaca The ''Dionysiaca'' {{IPAc-en, ˌ, d, aɪ, ., ə, ., n, ᵻ, ˈ, z, aɪ, ., ə, ., k, ə ( grc-gre, Διονυσιακά, ''Dionysiaká'') is an ancient Greek epic poem and the principal work of Nonnus. It is an epic in 48 books, the longest surv ...

'' of

Nonnus Nonnus of Panopolis ( grc-gre, Νόννος ὁ Πανοπολίτης, ''Nónnos ho Panopolítēs'', 5th century CE) was the most notable Greek epic poet of the Imperial Roman era. He was a native of Panopolis (Akhmim) in the Egyptian Theb ...

(1994) and commentaries on

Ovid Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom ...

's ''

Metamorphoses The ''Metamorphoses'' ( la, Metamorphōsēs, from grc, μεταμορφώσεις: "Transformations") is a Latin narrative poem from 8 CE by the Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his '' magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the ...

'' (2000) and on selected works of

Lucian Lucian of Samosata, '; la, Lucianus Samosatensis ( 125 – after 180) was a Hellenized Syrian satirist, rhetorician and pamphleteer who is best known for his characteristic tongue-in-cheek style, with which he frequently ridiculed supersti ...

(2008).

Life and career

Neil Hopkinson was born on 13 March 1957 in

Elland Elland is a market town in Calderdale, in the county of West Yorkshire, England. It is situated south of Halifax, by the River Calder and the Calder and Hebble Navigation. Elland was recorded as ''Elant'' in the Domesday Book of 1086. It h ...

, a town south of Halifax, West Riding of Yorkshire. He was educated at

Hipperholme Grammar School ) , established = , closed = , type = Independent school , religious_affiliation = Church of England , president = , head_label = Head Teacher , head = Mr Nick James , chair_label = Chair of Go ...

and in 1976 began studying

, where he was both an

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-le ...

and a

postgraduate Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate ( bachelor's) degree. The organization and ...

student. From 1982 to 1983, he worked at the same college as a research fellow. In 1983, Hopkinson was appointed fellow and director of studies in Classics at

. He held these positions for the rest of his life. Modelling his fellowship on that of the former Trinity classicist

A. S. F. Gow Andrew Sydenham Farrar Gow (27 August 1886 – 2 February 1978) was an English classical scholar and teacher. Apart from eleven years as a master at Eton College between 1914 and 1925 his career was entirely at Trinity College, Cambridge. At ...

, he was noted for the social gatherings he organised for students of the college, such as an annual reading holiday to his home county of

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

and events known as "desserts", where only dessert was served. On 5 January 2021, Hopkinson died after briefly suffering from myeloma.

Work

Hopkinson was an expert on

of the

and under

. His first major publication was an edition of the ''Hymn to Demeter'' by the Alexandrian poet

(1984), which was still considered the standard work on this text at the time of his death. His publications also included a critical edition of the ''

'' of

(1994), commentaries on Book 13 of

's ''

'' (2000), and on selected works of

(2008). His work on classical literature placed him among the leading

Hellenists In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in 3 ...

of his generation. The classicist Richard L. Hunter said that Hopkinson's knowledge of the classical languages was "unsurpassed"; by contrast, the Latinist Philip Hardie termed his commentary on the ''Hymn to Demeter'' as "a masterpiece of deep and judicious scholarship". A 2021 obituary published in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

'' quoted a fellow classicist describing him as "one of the most influential commentators of his generation".

Selected publications

* * * * * * *

References

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hopkinson, Neil 1957 births 2021 deaths Deaths from multiple myeloma People from Elland Alumni of Peterhouse, Cambridge Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge English classical scholars People educated at Hipperholme Grammar School