Gregor Wilhelm Nitzsch (22 November 1790 – 22 July 1861) was a German classical scholar known chiefly for his writings on

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient 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. Despite doubts about his autho ...

ic epic. Brother of Karl Immanuel Nitzsch, he was born at

Wittenberg Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is the fourth-largest town in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, in the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. It is situated on the River Elbe, north of Leipzig and south-west of the reunified German ...

. In 1827 he was appointed professor of ancient literature at the

University of Kiel Kiel University, officially the Christian Albrecht University of Kiel, (, abbreviated CAU, known informally as Christiana Albertina) is a public research university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in 1665 as the ''Academia Holsator ...

, but in 1852 was dismissed by the Danish government for his German sympathies. In the same year, he accepted a similar post at

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 ...

, which he held until his death. In opposition to F. A. Wolf and Karl Lachmann, Nitzsch maintained that the ''

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; , ; ) is one of two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and ...

'' and ''

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...

'' were not an aggregate of single, short poems but long and complete ones, composed by the same single author according to a uniform plan with a central dramatic idea. His writings were broad, dealing with every side of the

controversy Controversy (, ) is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin '' controversia'', as a composite of ''controversus'' – "turned in an op ...

. In the earlier part of his ''Meletemata'' (

1830 It is known in European history as a rather tumultuous year with the Revolutions of 1830 in France, Belgium, Poland, Switzerland and Italy. Events January–March * January 11 – LaGrange College (later the University of North Alabama) ...

), he took up the question of written or unwritten literature, on which Wolf's entire argument turned, and showed that the art of writing must be anterior to

Peisistratos Pisistratus (also spelled Peisistratus or Peisistratos; ; – 527 BC) was a politician in ancient Athens, ruling as tyrant in the late 560s, the early 550s and from 546 BC until his death. His unification of Attica, the triangular ...

. In the later part of the same series of discussions (

1837 Events January–March * January 1 – The destructive Galilee earthquake causes thousands of deaths in Ottoman Syria. * January 26 – Michigan becomes the 26th state admitted to the United States. * February 4 – Seminoles attack Fo ...

), and in his chief work (''Die Sagenpoesie der Griechen'', 1852), he investigated the structure of the Homeric poems, and their relation to the other epics of the Trojan cycle. Nitzsch died at

. His son, Karl Wilhelm Nitzsch (1818–1880), became professor of

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

in 1862 and at

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

in 1872.

Important works

*''De historia Homeri: maximeque de scriptorum carminum aetate meletemata'' (1830) *''Erklärende Anmerkungen zu Homers Odyssee, i.–xii.'' (1826–1840) *''Die Sagenpoesie der Griechen'' (1852) *''Beiträge zur Geschichte der epischen Poesie der Griechen'' (pub. 1862, ed. C. W. Nitzsch)

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nitzsch, Gregor Wilhelm German classical scholars People from Wittenberg People from the Electorate of Saxony 1790 births 1861 deaths Homeric scholars

Important works

See also

References