Hampstead
Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...
– 26 April 1952 in
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
) was a British
archeologist
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts ...
and
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 ...
, best known for his three-part work, ''Zeus: A Study in Ancient Religion''.
Early life and education
Arthur Bernard Cook was born in
Hampstead, London
Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the London Borough ...
on 22 October 1868. He was the son of William Henry Cook MD (1825-1882) and Harriet Bickersteth (1830-1918) His mother's family were leading ecclesiastical scholars of the time, including
Edward Bickersteth (Dean of Lichfield)
Edward Bickersteth (23 October 1814 – 7 October 1892) was an Anglican priest in the 19th century.
Life
Edward Bickersteth was born in Acton into a remarkable ecclesiastical family, the second son of John Bickersteth, sometime Rector of Sapcot ...
(1814-1892), Edward Bickersteth (bishop of Exeter) (1825-1906) and Edward Bickersteth (bishop of South Tokyo). (1850-1897)
Cook was educated at St. Paul's School, where he won several academic prizes.
He received an MA from the
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 ...
. The Chancellor's Gold Medal is a distinguished annual award at Cambridge University for poetry, paralleling Oxford University'sNewdigate prize. Cook's poem ''Windsor Castle'' won the
Chancellor's Gold Medal
The Chancellor's Gold Medal is a prestigious annual award at Cambridge University for poetry, paralleling Oxford University's Newdigate Prize. It was first presented by Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh during his time as ...
for poetry at Cambridge in 1889.
In 1893, he was awarded a prestigious fellowship at
Trinity College Trinity College may refer to:
Australia
* Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales
* Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...
.
Career
From 1892-1907, Cook was professor of Greek at
Bedford College, London
file:Bedford College in York place - photographer is unknown but guess 1908.png, Bedford College was in York Place after 1874
Bedford College was founded in London in 1849 as the first higher education college for education of women, women in th ...
. In 1900, he became Fellow of
Queens' College, Cambridge
Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the oldest colleges of the university, founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. The college spans the River Cam, colloquially referred to as the "light s ...
. From 1907 to 1931 he was
Reader
A reader is a person who reads. It may also refer to:
Computing and technology
* Adobe Reader (now Adobe Acrobat), a PDF reader
* Bible Reader for Palm, a discontinued PDA application
* A card reader, for extracting data from various forms of ...
of
Classical Archaeology
Classical archaeology is the archaeological investigation of the Mediterranean civilizations of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. Nineteenth-century archaeologists such as Heinrich Schliemann were drawn to study the societies they had read about i ...
at
University of Cambridge
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
Cambridge Ritualists
The Cambridge Ritualists were a recognised group of classical scholars, mostly in Cambridge, England, including Jane Ellen Harrison, F.M. Cornford, Gilbert Murray (actually from the University of Oxford), A. B. Cook, and others. They earned this ...
, and although he did not produce theoretical works, he has been called "perhaps the most typical disciple" of
J. G. Frazer
Sir James George Frazer (; 1 January 1854 – 7 May 1941) was a Scottish social anthropologist and folklorist influential in the early stages of the modern studies of mythology and comparative religion.
Personal life
He was born on 1 Janua ...
.Lowell Edmonds, ''Approaches to Greek Myth'' (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1990), p. 72.
Works
*The Metaphysical Basis of Plato's Ethics (1895)
*Zeus. A Study In Ancient Religion. (1914-1925)
** Volume 1: Zeus, God of the Bright Sky, Biblo-Moser, June 1, 1964, (reprint)
** Volume 2: Zeus, God of the Dark Sky (Thunder and Lightning), Biblo-Moser, June 1, 1964,
** Volume 3: Zeus, God of the Dark Sky (earthquakes, clouds, wind, dew, rain, meteorites)