Sir Kenneth Dover
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Sir Kenneth James Dover, (11 March 1920 – 7 March 2010) was a distinguished British classical scholar and academic. He was president of
Corpus Christi College, Oxford Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517 by Richard Fo ...
, from 1976 to 1986. In addition, he was president of the
British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...
from 1978 to 1981, and chancellor of the University of St Andrews from 1981 to 2005. A scholar of Greek prose and Aristophanic comedy, he was also the author of '' Greek Homosexuality'' (1978), a key text on the subject.


Life

Kenneth Dover was born in London, the only child of Percy Dover and Dorothy Healey. He was educated at St Paul's School and
Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and aro ...
. He served with the
Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...
during the Second World War and was
mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...
for his service in Italy. After military service, Dover returned to Oxford and became
fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...
and
tutor Tutoring is private academic help, usually provided by an expert teacher; someone with deep knowledge or defined expertise in a particular subject or set of subjects. A tutor, formally also called an academic tutor, is a person who provides assis ...
at his old college in 1948. In 1955, Dover was appointed Professor of Greek at the
University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...
, and was twice dean of the university's
Faculty of Arts A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In North America, academic divisions are sometimes titled colleges, sc ...
during his twenty-one years there. He was elected to the
Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...
in 1975. Dover received a
knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...
two years later for services to Greek scholarship. In 1976, Dover became president of
Corpus Christi College, Oxford Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517 by Richard Fo ...
, a post he held for ten years. During this tenure Dover was engaged in a protracted dispute with the college librarian and a fellow in history, Trevor Henry Aston (1925–1985), who suffered from
manic depression Bipolar disorder (BD), previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that each last from days to weeks, and in some cases months. If the elevated m ...
. Dover attempted to help Aston with his problems for several years but Aston's erratic behaviour increasingly exasperated him and matters came to a head in 1985. In ''Marginal Comment'', his autobiography, Dover admitted: "It was clear to me by now that Trevor and the college must somehow be separated. My problem was one which I feel compelled to define with brutal candour: How to kill him without getting into trouble ... I had no qualms about causing the death of a fellow from whose nonexistence the college would benefit, but I balked at the prospect of misleading a coroner's jury ... consulting a lawyer to see if would be legally at risk if ignored a suicide call." Dover intentionally put pressure on Aston, but other factors too were in play, not least Aston's receipt of divorce papers from his wife's lawyers. Aston was found dead in his rooms on 17 October 1985 after an overdose. In 1978, he was elected to the presidency of the
British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...
, of which he had been a Fellow since 1966, and served for a term of three years. During the 1980s, he also held positions at
Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...
and
Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
. Dover returned to St Andrews as the university's
chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...
in 1981. He was the first chancellor in the university's history to be neither a peer nor an archbishop. Dover stepped down from the position after twenty-five years of service, effective 31 December 2005.


Scholarship

Dover's scholarly work focused especially on
Thucydides Thucydides ( ; ; BC) was an Classical Athens, Athenian historian and general. His ''History of the Peloponnesian War'' recounts Peloponnesian War, the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been d ...
,
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 ...
, and
Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born  BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...
, on the stylistics of Greek prose, and on Greek sexual morality. In addition to smaller editions of Thucydides books 6 and 7, he completed (with Antony Andrewes) the fourth and fifth volumes of the ''Historical Commentary on Thucydides'' begun by A.W. Gomme and left unfinished at his death. (The complete work is often referred to as "Gomme-Andrewes-Dover.") His work on Aristophanes included two editions with commentary (on ''Clouds'' and ''Frogs'') and a book on ''Aristophanic Comedy'' aimed at a more general readership. His interest in stylistics stretches from his early study of ''Greek Word Order'' (1960) to his last major book, ''The Evolution of Greek Prose Style'' (1997). He had previously been responsible for supervising the second edition of J.D. Denniston's ''The Greek Particles'' (1950); though Dover is not named on the title page, his signed preface notes that he made various cuts, additions and changes. His series of Sather lectures on the corpus of speeches attributed to
Lysias Lysias (; ; c. 445 – c. 380 BC) was a Logographer (legal), logographer (speech writer) in ancient Greece. He was one of the ten Attic orators included in the "Alexandrian Canon" compiled by Aristophanes of Byzantium and Aristarchus of Samothrac ...
was important for its early application of
stylometry Stylometry is the application of the study of linguistic style, usually to written language. Argamon, Shlomo, Kevin Burns, and Shlomo Dubnov, eds. The structure of style: algorithmic approaches to understanding manner and meaning. Springer Scie ...
to the study of Greek texts, as well as its agnostic conclusions. Since Athenian speechwriters adapted their style to the personality of their clients, Dover argued, it is difficult to make firm judgments about the authorship of speeches on the basis of style. Dover's ''Greek Homosexuality'' (1978) marked a watershed in the study of classical Greek society, discussing topics such as pederasty and what he memorably called "intercrural copulation" in matter-of-fact terms. In particular, Dover made use of copious evidence from vase painting as a counterweight to the idealized picture of homoerotic relationships found in Plato. A collection of papers on Dover's career, ''Scholarship and Controversy: Centenary Essays on the Life and Work of Sir Kenneth Dover'', edited by Stephen Halliwell and Christopher Stray, was published in 2023.


Honorary degrees

Dover received honorary degrees from the Universities of
Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
,
St Andrews St Andrews (; ; , pronounced ʰʲɪʎˈrˠiː.ɪɲ is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourth-largest settleme ...
,
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
,
Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...
,
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, Durham,
Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
, and Oglethorpe. He was also a foreign member of the American and the Royal Netherlands Academies of Arts and Sciences since 1979.


Hobbies

Beyond his academic honours and pursuits, Dover was well known for his skill and devotion to
bird watching Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device such as binoculars or a telescop ...
and was considered one of Britain's finest birders. As president of
Corpus Christi College, Oxford Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517 by Richard Fo ...
, in the 1970s and 80s he was impressive for being able to greet all Corpuscles by name. He achieved this by studying photographs and admitted to having occasional problems identifying new students when beards were in fashion.


Media appearances and controversy

Dover was the subject of an edition of the
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...
programme ''In the Psychiatrist's Chair'', presented by Anthony Clare. He also featured in a
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
Television series ''The Greeks'', presented by Christopher Burstall. In 1994 he published a controversial autobiography entitled ''Marginal Comment'' (republished, with additional editorial material, in 2023). This prompted media attention because of its frank description of his private life, and Dover's admission of having contemplated helping to bring about the death of one of the fellows of Corpus Christi College, the historian
Trevor Aston Trevor Henry Aston (14 June 1925 – 17 October 1985) was a British historian and academic at the University of Oxford. He was a tutor in history and fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, from 1952 to 1985. In addition, he served as Keeper of ...
, by refusing to respond to a suicide attempt.


Family

Dover resided in St Andrews, Fife, where he and his family had a home from around 1960. He married Audrey Ruth Latimer in March 1947; Lady Dover died in December 2009 after 62 years of marriage. Dover died in
Cupar Cupar ( ; ) is a town, former royal burgh and parish in Fife, Scotland. It lies between Dundee and Glenrothes. According to a 2011 population estimate, Cupar had a population around 9,000, making it the ninth-largest settlement in Fife, and the ...
on 7 March 2010, survived by a son and daughter.


Selected works

*''Greek Word Order'' (1960) *''Thucydides: Book VI'' (BCP Greek Texts) (1965) *''Thucydides: Book VII'' (1965) *''Aristophanes: Clouds'' (1968) *''Lysias and the Corpus Lysiacum'' (1968) *''Theocritus: Select Poems'' (1971) *''Aristophanic Comedy'' (1972) *''Thucydides'', (Greece & Rome New Surveys, 1973) *''Greek Popular Morality in the Time of Plato and Aristotle'' (1974) *'' Greek Homosexuality'' (1978) *''Plato: Symposium'' (Cambridge Greek and Latin Classics, 1980) *''The Greeks'' (1980) *''Ancient Greek Literature'' (1980) *''Greek and the Greeks: Collected Papers; language, poetry, drama'' (1987) *''The Greeks and their Legacy'' (1988) *''Aristophanes: Frogs'' (1993) *''Marginal Comment: a memoir'', (1994) *''The Evolution of Greek Prose Style'' (1997)


References


External links


Obituary in ''The Daily Telegraph''

Obituary in ''The Guardian''

Obituary in ''The Times''

Obituary in ''The Scotsman''


{{DEFAULTSORT:Dover, Kenneth 1920 births 2010 deaths Classical scholars of the University of St Andrews Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford British Army personnel of World War II English classical scholars Chancellors of the University of St Andrews Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Fellows of Balliol College, Oxford Fellows of the British Academy Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Knights Bachelor Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Members of the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies People educated at St Paul's School, London Presidents of Corpus Christi College, Oxford Royal Artillery officers Presidents of the British Academy Classical scholars of the University of Oxford Scholars of ancient Greek literature Presidents of the Classical Association Military personnel from London