Sir Denys Lionel Page (11 May 19086 July 1978) was a British
classicist
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 ...
and
textual critic
Textual criticism is a branch of textual scholarship, philology, and of literary criticism that is concerned with the identification of textual variants, or different versions, of either manuscripts or of printed books. Such texts may range in da ...
who served as the 34th
Regius Professor of Greek at the
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 ...
and the 35th
Master of Jesus College, Cambridge. He is best known for his critical editions of the
Ancient Greek lyric poets
Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history cove ...
and
tragedians.
Coming from a middle-class family in
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
, Page studied classics at
Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...
, and served the college as a lecturer for most of the 1930s. He spent the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
working on
Ultra
adopted by British military intelligence in June 1941 for wartime signals intelligence obtained by breaking high-level encrypted enemy radio and teleprinter communications at the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park. ' ...
intelligence material at the Government Code & Cypher School based at
Bletchley Park
Bletchley Park is an English country house and estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes ( Buckinghamshire) that became the principal centre of Allied code-breaking during the Second World War. The mansion was constructed during the years following ...
. In 1950, he was elected Regius Chair of Greek at Cambridge which he held until his retirement in 1973. Initially a fellow of
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 ...
, Page was appointed master of the university's Jesus College in 1959. He died of
lung cancer
Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...
in 1978.
Having published an edition of the poets
Sappho and
Alcaeus with fellow Oxford classicist
Edgar Lobel
Edgar Lobel (24 December 1888 – 7 July 1982) was a Romanian-British classicist and papyrologist who is best known for his four decades overseeing the publication of the literary texts among the Oxyrhynchus Papyri and for his edition of Sappho a ...
, Page went on to write the standard edition of the remaining Greek lyric poets, ''Poetae Melici Graeci'' (''PMG'') (1962). His other notable publications include commentaries on
Euripides' ''
Medea
In Greek mythology, Medea (; grc, Μήδεια, ''Mēdeia'', perhaps implying "planner / schemer") is the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, a niece of Circe and the granddaughter of the sun god Helios. Medea figures in the myth of Jason an ...
'' (1938) and
Aeschylus' ''
Agamemnon
In Greek mythology, Agamemnon (; grc-gre, Ἀγαμέμνων ''Agamémnōn'') was a king of Mycenae who commanded the Greeks during the Trojan War. He was the son, or grandson, of King Atreus and Queen Aerope, the brother of Menelaus, the husb ...
'' (1957). In 1971, he was
knighted for his services to classical scholarship.
Early life and education
Denys Lionel Page was born on 11 May 1908 in
Reading, Berkshire
Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, Southeast England, southeast England. Located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the rivers River Thames, Thames and River Kennet, Kennet, the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 mot ...
, to Frederick Page, a railway engineer at the
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...
and his wife Elsie. He spent part of his childhood in
South Wales
South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...
but returned to Berkshire and became a student at
Newbury Grammar School.
In 1926, he won a scholarship to study
classics
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 ...
at
Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...
. Although Page came from a modest background compared to most of his peers, he settled in well at the college and made a number of friends, including the future
Lord Chancellor
The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. The ...
Quintin Hogg and the
Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
politician
Patrick Gordon Walker. Among his tutors at Oxford, the
archaeologist
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
John Beazley
Sir John Davidson Beazley, (; 13 September 1885 – 6 May 1970) was a British classical archaeologist and art historian, known for his classification of Attic vases by artistic style. He was Professor of Classical Archaeology and Art at the Un ...
and the
Hellenist
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 ...
John Dewar Denniston
John Dewar Denniston (4 March 1887 in India – 2 May 1949 in Church Stretton) was a British classical scholar.
His parents were James Lawson Denniston, of the Indian Civil Service, and Agnes Guthrie. He was educated at Winchester College and New ...
exerted the greatest influence on his future work. He graduated with a
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
in 1930 and was awarded a Derby Scholarship. The award enabled him to spend a year at the
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...
with the German
philologist
Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...
Ludwig Radermacher
Ludwig Radermacher (31 October 1867 – 28 June 1952) was a German-Austrian classical philologist born in Siegburg.
In 1891 he earned his doctorate at the University of Bonn, where he was a student of Hermann Usener (1834–1905). Following gradu ...
.
Career
Lecturer at Christ Church, Oxford (1931–1939)
In 1931, Page was appointed a lecturer at Christ Church and became a Student (a full member of the college's governing body) the following year. It was during this period that he began working on the plays of the Greek poet
Euripides
Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian
Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful e ...
, which culminated in the publication of a critical edition and commentary of Euripides' ''
Medea
In Greek mythology, Medea (; grc, Μήδεια, ''Mēdeia'', perhaps implying "planner / schemer") is the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, a niece of Circe and the granddaughter of the sun god Helios. Medea figures in the myth of Jason an ...
'' (1938). Following in the footsteps of fellow Oxford classicist
Edgar Lobel
Edgar Lobel (24 December 1888 – 7 July 1982) was a Romanian-British classicist and papyrologist who is best known for his four decades overseeing the publication of the literary texts among the Oxyrhynchus Papyri and for his edition of Sappho a ...
, he also worked on the poems of the
archaic Greek lyric poets.
![Tom quad Tom tower by Pavel Kliuiev](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/Tom_quad_Tom_tower_by_Pavel_Kliuiev.jpg)
Page assumed an active role in college affairs. In 1936, he strongly opposed the candidacy of the Irish scholar
E. R. Dodds
Eric Robertson Dodds (26 July 1893 – 8 April 1979) was an Irish classics, classical scholar. He was Regius Professor of Greek (Oxford), Regius Professor of Greek at the University of Oxford from 1936 to 1960.
Early life and education
Dodds wa ...
for the
Regius Chair of Greek which was hosted at Christ Church. Dodds was elected to the position in spite of Page's reservations. In 1937 he was appointed to the office of junior censor at the college – the ''
Censor Naturalis Philosophiae'', responsible for undergraduate discipline. However, he resigned the position a year later to marry Katharine Elizabeth Dohan, daughter of the American archaeologist
Edith Hall Dohan. They had four daughters, one of whom is the
Assyriologist
Assyriology (from Greek , ''Assyriā''; and , ''-logia'') is the archaeological, anthropological, and linguistic study of Assyria and the rest of ancient Mesopotamia (a region that encompassed what is now modern Iraq, northeastern Syria, southea ...
Stephanie Dalley.
Wartime service at Bletchley Park (1939–1945)
In 1939, Page was recruited to the
Government Code and Cypher School
Government Communications Headquarters, commonly known as GCHQ, is an intelligence and security organisation responsible for providing signals intelligence (SIGINT) and information assurance (IA) to the government and armed forces of the Uni ...
and posted to
Bletchley Park
Bletchley Park is an English country house and estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes ( Buckinghamshire) that became the principal centre of Allied code-breaking during the Second World War. The mansion was constructed during the years following ...
. Page's command of German, acquired during his time at Vienna, was put to use in the interpretation activities of Hut 9A. In 1942 he joined the ISOS "illicit signals" section run by Oliver Strachey and later headed that unit. In this role, he joined the inter-services
XX Committee, and became a Deputy Director of GC&CS. After the
end of World War II in Europe, he was part of a mission to the British headquarters in Colombo, then Singapore and finally Sri Lanka near the end of the war.
Cambridge (1950–1973)
After
the end of the war, Page returned to Oxford from 1946 and was elected to the office of
Senior Proctor
Proctor (a variant of ''procurator'') is a person who takes charge of, or acts for, another.
The title is used in England and some other English-speaking countries in three principal contexts:
* In law, a proctor is a historical class of lawye ...
(1948). Page's tenure at Oxford came to an abrupt end in 1950: the
Regius Chair of Greek at
Cambridge University
, 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 ...
had become vacant after the retirement of
Donald Struan Robertson. Though he did not submit an application, Page was offered the post by the electors and accepted. He was duly elected a fellow of
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 ...
. At this time, Cambridge provided a less stimulating environment for scholars of the classics than Oxford. Page's arrival, together with that of the German Latinist
Charles Brink, marked a reinvigoration of classical teaching at the university.
![JesusCollegeChapelCourt](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/JesusCollegeChapelCourt.jpg)
Similarly to his time at Oxford, Page actively participated in the running of the university. Having been elected to the council of Trinity College soon after his arrival, he was chosen to replace classicist
E. M. W. Tillyard
Eustace Mandeville Wetenhall Tillyard (19 May 1889 – 24 May 1962) was an English classical scholar, classical and literary scholar who was List of Masters of Jesus College, Cambridge, Master of Jesus College, Cambridge from 1945 to 1959.
Bio ...
as the Master of
Jesus College in 1959. He held this position until his retirement in 1973. Many contemporaries considered Page suitable for the position of
vice-chancellor
A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system.
In most Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth and former Commonwealth n ...
but he was never elected. According to classicist
Hugh Lloyd-Jones
Sir Peter Hugh Jefferd Lloyd-Jones FBA (21 September 1922 – 5 October 2009məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ..., in 1982, and spent his last 27 years at their home in Wellesley.
Major publicat ...
, his failure to obtain the office was a consequence of his staunch opposition to the students involved in the
Garden House riot, a violent protest against the
Greek military junta
The Greek junta or Regime of the Colonels, . Also known within Greece as just the Junta ( el, η Χούντα, i Choúnta, links=no, ), the Dictatorship ( el, η Δικτατορία, i Diktatoría, links=no, ) or the Seven Years ( el, η Ε ...
. Having played as a
bowler while at Christ Church, Page also served as the president of
Cambridge University Cricket Club
Cambridge University Cricket Club, first recorded in 1817, is the representative cricket club for students of the University of Cambridge. Depending on the circumstances of each individual match, the club has always been recognised as holding ...
from 1971 to 1973.
His tenure at Cambridge saw the publication of a number of books on Greek poetry. In 1955, Lobel and Page published a
critical edition
Textual criticism is a branch of textual scholarship, philology, and of literary criticism that is concerned with the identification of textual variants, or different versions, of either manuscripts or of printed books. Such texts may range in da ...
of the poems of the
Lesbian
A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...
poets
Alcaeus and
Sappho, followed by a book on the same authors (''Sappho and Alcaeus''). He was also the sole author of studies on
Homer's ''
Odyssey
The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major Ancient Greek literature, ancient Greek Epic poetry, epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by moder ...
'' (''The Homeric Odyssey'', 1955) and the ''
Iliad
The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") 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 ''Odysse ...
'' (''History and the Homeric Iliad'', 1959). His most comprehensive work, an edition of all lyric poets apart from the Lesbians, appeared in 1962 under the title of ''Poetae Melici Graeci''. Resuming his earlier work on the tragedian
Euripides
Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian
Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful e ...
, he took over from the recently deceased Denniston an edition of
Aeschylus' ''
Agamemnon
In Greek mythology, Agamemnon (; grc-gre, Ἀγαμέμνων ''Agamémnōn'') was a king of Mycenae who commanded the Greeks during the Trojan War. He was the son, or grandson, of King Atreus and Queen Aerope, the brother of Menelaus, the husb ...
'', which was published in 1957 as a rival to
Eduard Fraenkel's edition of the play.
Retirement and death
Although Page had not reached the age of 67, the customary retirement age for his position, he stepped down from his university and college duties in 1973 after his wife's health deteriorated. The couple led a quiet life in
Northumberland
Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey.
It is bordered by land on ...
where he continued his research, drawing on the library of the
University of Newcastle. In 1978, he was diagnosed with
lung cancer
Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...
and died on 6 July of the same year. He was survived by his wife Katharine.
Legacy
Page's reputation as a scholar rested chiefly on his work as an editor of Greek poetic texts. He has been described by Lloyd-Jones as the most accomplished scholar amongst his contemporaries in this field, rivalled only by Edgar Lobel. His complete critical edition of the Greek Lyric poets (''Poetae Melici Graeci'') is consulted as the standard edition of their texts
and was praised for its "philological and critical judgement, and masterly knowledge of dialects" by classicist G. M. Kirkwood in a 1964 review. Although his work on tragedy has not garnered the same admiration from fellow classicists, Page's edition of Euripides' ''Medea'' was considered "indispensable" by a reviewer for the ''
Journal of Hellenic Studies
''The Journal of Hellenic Studies'' is an annual peer-reviewed academic journal covering research in Hellenic studies. It also publishes reviews of recent books of importance to Hellenic studies. It was established in 1880 and is published by Camb ...
''. In 1978, his contributions to the study of Greek poetry were honoured by the publication of ''Dionysiaca: nine studies in Greek poetry by former pupils, presented to Sir Denys Page on his seventieth birthday'', edited by a group of leading Hellenists.
An accomplished textual critic, Page was not among the leading
literary critics
Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical analysis, philosophical discussion of literature' ...
of his generation. His focus lay narrowly on philological questions and, according to Lloyd-Jones, he sometimes exhibited a tendency towards
dogmatism
Dogma is a belief or set of beliefs that is accepted by the members of a group without being questioned or doubted. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Isla ...
when dealing with literary matters. His 1955 book ''The Homeric Odyssey'', in the view of contemporary reviewer J. A. Davison, suffers from these weaknesses and is among his most poorly received publications.
Honours
Page was elected a
fellow of the British Academy
Fellowship of the British Academy (FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are:
# Fellows – scholars resident in the United Kingdom
# C ...
in 1952 and was awarded the institution's
Kenyon Medal
The Kenyon Medal is awarded every two years by the British Academy 'in recognition of work in the field of classical studies and archaeology'. The medal was endowed by Sir Frederic Kenyon and was first awarded in 1957.
List of recipients
SourceBr ...
in 1969. He later served as the academy's president from 1971 to 1974. He was also a corresponding member of the
Academy of Athens, the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...
, the
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
, and the
Greek Humanistic Society
Greek may refer to:
Greece
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 ...
. He was granted honorary fellowships by Trinity College, Cambridge, Jesus College, Cambridge, and Christ Church, Oxford. He held honorary degrees from the universities of Cambridge (1960), Oxford (1972),
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
, Newcastle,
Hull, and
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
. He was
knighted in 1971.
Selected publications
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References
Works cited
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Page, Denys
1908 births
1978 deaths
Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge
English classical scholars
Fellows of the British Academy
Fellows of Jesus College, Cambridge
Masters of Jesus College, Cambridge
Knights Bachelor
People from Reading, Berkshire
Presidents of the British Academy
People educated at St. Bartholomew's School
Members of the University of Cambridge faculty of classics
Scholars of ancient Greek literature
People from Northumberland
Regius Professors of Greek (Cambridge)