Karl Ludwig Lehrs (January 14, 1802 – June 9, 1878), was a German classical scholar. Born at

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 ...

, he was Jewish, but in 1822 he converted to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

. In 1845 he was appointed professor of ancient

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

Königsberg University 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 ...

, a post he held until his death.

Work

His most important works are: *'' De Aristarchi Studiis Homericis'' (1833), which laid a new foundation for Homeric

exegesis Exegesis ( ; from the Ancient Greek, Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation (philosophy), interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Bible, Biblical works. In modern us ...

(on the Aristarchean lines of explaining

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 ...

from the text itself) and textual criticism. *'' Quaestiones Epicae'' (1837). *'' De Asclepiade Myrleano'' (1845). *'' Herodiani Scripta Tria emendatiora. Accedunt Analecta'' (1848). The three treatises which are the object of this study are Περὶ μονήρους λέξεως, Περὶ Ἰλιακῆς προσωιδίας, and Περὶ διχρόνων. *'' Populäre Aufsätze aus dem Altertum'' (1856, Second much enlarged edition, 1875), his best known work. *'' Horatius Flaccus'' (1869), in which, on aesthetic grounds, he rejected many of the odes as spurious. *''

Die Pindarscholien Die, as a verb, refers to death, the cessation of life. Die may also refer to: Games * Die, singular of dice, small throwable objects used for producing random numbers Manufacturing * Die (integrated circuit), a rectangular piece of a semicondu ...

'' (1873). Lehrs was a man of decided opinions; his enthusiasm for everything Greek caused him to insist on the undivided authorship of 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 ...

'';

comparative mythology Comparative mythology is the comparison of myths from different cultures in an attempt to identify shared themes and characteristics.Littleton, p. 32 Comparative mythology has served a variety of academic purposes. For example, scholars have used ...

and the symbolical interpretation of myths he regarded as a species of sacrilege.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lehrs, Karl 19th-century German writers 19th-century German male writers German classical scholars Academic staff of the University of Königsberg Converts to Christianity from Judaism Scholars from the Kingdom of Prussia 19th-century German Jews Levites Writers from Königsberg 1802 births 1878 deaths