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 strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...

. 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 States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

. Entering its

university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

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, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

, which he soon abandoned for the

classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

. After a session at

Jena Jena (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany 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 in ...

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

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

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

poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

, 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 of ...

. 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 and

Karl Otfried Müller Karl Otfried Müller (; 28 August 1797 – 1 August 1840) was a German professor, scholar of classical Greek studies and philodorian. Biography He was born at Brieg (modern Brzeg) in Silesia, then in the Kingdom of Prussia. His father was a c ...

, 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 mi ...

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 edition. 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 () was a Greek tragedy, 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 attributed ninety-five plays to ...

; the ''Clouds'' of

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; ; ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Ancient Greek comedy, comic playwright from Classical Athens, Athens. He wrote in total forty plays, of which eleven survive virtually complete today. The majority of his surviving play ...

(1799); ''Trinummus'' of

Plautus Titus Maccius Plautus ( ; 254 – 184 BC) 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 genre devised by Livius Andro ...

(1800); ''Poëtica'' of

Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...

(1802); ''Orphica'', a collection of works of

Orphic literature Orphism is the name given to a set of religious beliefs and practices originating in the ancient Greece, ancient Greek and Hellenistic world, associated with literature ascribed to the mythical poet Orpheus, who descended into the Greek underwo ...

(1805); the ''

Homeric Hymns The ''Homeric Hymns'' () are a collection of thirty-three ancient Greek hymns and one epigram. The hymns praise deities of the Greek pantheon and retell mythological stories, often involving a deity's birth, their acceptance among the gods ...

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

Photius Photius I of Constantinople (, ''Phōtios''; 815 – 6 February 893), also spelled ''Photius''Fr. Justin Taylor, essay "Canon Law in the Age of the Fathers" (published in Jordan Hite, T.O.R., and Daniel J. Ward, O.S.B., "Readings, Cases, Mate ...

(1808). In 1825 Hermann finished the edition of

Sophocles Sophocles ( 497/496 – winter 406/405 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. was an ancient Greek tragedian known as one of three from whom at least two plays have survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or contemporary with, those ...

begun by Erfurdt. His edition of

Aeschylus Aeschylus (, ; ; /524 – /455 BC) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek Greek tragedy, tragedian often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek tragedy is large ...

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 spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, 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 (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)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hermann, Johann Gottfried Jakob 1772 births 1848 deaths People from the Electorate of Saxony 18th-century German scholars German classical scholars German philologists Writers from Leipzig Leipzig University alumni Academic staff of Leipzig University University of Jena alumni 18th-century philologists 19th-century philologists Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)