Gerald Else
Gerald Frank Else was born in 1908 at Redfield, SD and died in 1982). Distinguished American classicist, he was professor of Greek and Latin at University of Michigan and University of Iowa.
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[edit] Biography
Else studied classics and philosophy at Harvard University and finished his PhD there in 1934. He taught at University of Harvard until he joined the U.S. Marine Corps as a Captain in 1943. After completing his service, in 1945 he became chair of the University of Iowa Classics Department, and in 1954 went to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where he remained for the rest of his career. He was chair of that department from 1957-1968. During that time he founded the Center for Coordination of Ancient and Modern Studies, seeking to unite the humanities and to show how the study of the ancient world is relevant to modern literature and modern concerns.
[edit] Accomplishments
Else's great work is entitled, Aristotle's Poetics: The Argument. It is a meticulous, monumental reading of Aristotle's treatise that was published in 1957. Widely regarded as a foundational work of literary theory, Else's other important contribution is The Origin and Early Form of Greek Tragedy, which was published in 1965. In this work he argued against the view of tragedy as having arisen from religious ritual. Else wrote several other works on Greek literature and philosophy.
Else was a member of the National Council in the Humanities, appointed by President Lyndon Johnson, and was President of the American Philological Association in 1964.
Else retired in 1977 and died in 1982. A Festschrift in his honor (Ancient and Modern: Essays in Honor of Gerald F. Else, ed. J. D'Arms and J. W. Eadie) was published in 1977. He is commemorated at Michigan by an annual lecture in the humanities.
[edit] Books
- Aristotle's Poetics: the argument. 1957
- Origin and early form of Greek tragedy. 1965
- Ancient and modern : essays in honor of Gerald F. Else. edited by John H. D'Arms, John W. Eadie. 1977
- Plato and Aristotle on poetry. Edited with introduction and notes by Peter Burian. 1986
- Aristotle Poetics. translated with an introd. and notes by Gerald F. Else.
