Arnold Wycombe Gomme (16 November 1886 – 17 January 1959) was a British
classical scholar
Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...
, lecturer in ancient Greek and Greek history (1911–1945), professor of ancient Greek,
University of Glasgow
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, latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis
, motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita
, ...
(1946–1957), Fellow of the
British Academy
The British Academy 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 same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars span ...
(1947).
Life
He was born to
Laurence
Laurence is an English and French given name (usually female in French and usually male in English). The English masculine name is a variant of Lawrence and it originates from a French form of the Latin ''Laurentius'', a name meaning "man from ...
and
Alice Gomme
Alice Bertha Gomme, Lady Gomme (born Merck; 4 January 1853, London – 5 January 1938, London), was a leading British folklorist, and a pioneer in the study of children's games.
Life
Gomme was the daughter of Charles Merck, a master tailor, and ...
, noted folklore experts. He studied at Merchant Taylor's School and
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...
. In 1911, he became assistant lecturer in Greek and Greek history at the University of Glasgow. In 1946, he became professor of ancient Greek at the same university.
In October 1914, he was commissioned in the Interpreters' Corps. From November 1914 to November 1915, he served with the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) 8th Division in France. In June 1915, he was transferred to the Army Service Corps in France. From November 1915 to October 1916, was chief of MI-1c political and economic intelligence in
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...
, Greece. He was invalided out of the Army. From March 1917 to January 1918, he worked for the Admiralty.
In 1917, he married Phyllis Emmerson. He was the father of
Andor Gomme
Austin Harvey Gomme ''known as'' Andor Gomme (7 May 1930 – 19 September 2008) was a British scholar of English literature and architectural history. He was a frequent reviewer for the ''Times Literary Supplement'', an author of books on both lit ...
, Professor of English Literature and Architectural History at
Keele University
Keele University, officially known as the University of Keele, is a public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, Keele ...
.
His major work was his commentary on the ''
History of the Peloponnesian War
The ''History of the Peloponnesian War'' is a historical account of the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), which was fought between the Peloponnesian League (led by Sparta) and the Delian League (led by Athens). It was written by Thucydides, an ...
'', the famous work of the Athenian historian
Thucydides
Thucydides (; grc, , }; BC) was an Athenian historian and general. His ''History of the Peloponnesian War'' recounts the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been dubbed the father of "scientifi ...
. The first volume was published in 1945. The theft of a suitcase set back the following two volumes to 1956. At his death, the work was unfinished (he had left notes on Book 5).
A. Andrewes and
K.J. Dover
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, from 1976 to 1986. In addition, he was president of the British Academy fro ...
wrote the final volumes.
Ernst Badian
Ernst Badian (8 August 1925 – 1 February 2011) was an Austrian-born classical scholar who served as a professor at Harvard University from 1971 to 1998.
Early life and education
Badian was born in Vienna in 1925 and in 1938 fled the Nazis wit ...
criticised Gomme's ''Commentary'' because he thought that the numerous speeches in Thucydides' work were verbatim reproductions of what was said, while the academic consensus is to consider the speeches to be inventions.
[Badian, ''From Plataea to Potidaea'', pp. 114, 115, writes: "The times when fundamentalists like Gomme could believe that practically every word was authentic are fortunately long past."]
Publications
* ''The Population of Athens in the Fifth and Fourth Centuries B.C. (Glasgow University Publications; XXVIII)''. Oxford: Blackwell, 1933.
* ''Essays in Greek History and Literature''. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1937.
* ''Greece''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1945.
* ''A Historical Commentary on Thucydides''.
** Vol. I: ''Introduction and Commentary on Book I''. Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1945.
** Vols. II–III: ''The Ten Years' War (Books II–III and Books IV–V)''. Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1956.
** Vol. IV: ''Books V.25–VII'' (with A. Andrewes and K.J. Dover). Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1970.
** Vol. V: ''Book VIII'' (with A. Andrewes and K.J. Dover). Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1981.
* ''The Greek Attitude to Poetry and History (Sather Classical Lectures; XXVII)''. Berkeley; Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1954.
* ''More Essays in Greek History and Literature'', edited by David A. Campbell. Oxford: Blackwell, 1962.
References
Bibliography
* Andrewes, A. "Arnold Wycombe Gomme†", ''Gnomon'' 32 (1960), 190–1.
*
Ernst Badian
Ernst Badian (8 August 1925 – 1 February 2011) was an Austrian-born classical scholar who served as a professor at Harvard University from 1971 to 1998.
Early life and education
Badian was born in Vienna in 1925 and in 1938 fled the Nazis wit ...
, ''From Plataea to Potidaea, Studies in the History and Historiography of the Pentecontaetia'', Baltimore/London, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993. .
*
Kitto, H.D.F. "Arnold Wycombe Gomme:
bituary, ''The Journal of Hellenic Studies'', Vol. 79. (1959), pp. 1–2.
1886 births
1959 deaths
British classical scholars
Historians of antiquity
Classical scholars of the University of Glasgow
Fellows of the British Academy
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