Douglass Stott Parker, Sr. (May 27, 1927 – February 8, 2011) was an American classicist, academic, and translator. Born in

LaPorte, Indiana La Porte (French for "The Door") is a city in LaPorte County, Indiana, United States, of which it is the county seat. Its population was estimated to be 21,341 in 2022. It is one of the two principal cities of the Michigan City, Indiana, Michig ...

, the son of Cyril Rodney Parker and Isobel (née Douglass) Parker, Douglass received an undergraduate degree from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

and a doctorate from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

. He was also a Fellow at the

Center for Hellenic Studies The Center for Hellenic Studies (CHS) is a research institute for classics located in Washington, D.C. at 3100 NW Whitehaven Street. It is affiliated with Harvard University. Nestled in Rock Creek Park behind Embassy Row, the Center for Hellen ...

in 1961-1962, its inaugural year, and a Guggenheim Scholar. His translation of ''The Congresswomen (

Ecclesiazusae ''Assemblywomen'' ( grc-gre, Ἐκκλησιάζουσαι ''Ekklesiazousai''; also translated as, ''Congresswomen'', ''Women in Parliament'', ''Women in Power'', and ''A Parliament of Women'') is a comedy written by the Greek playwright Aristo ...

)'' was among the Finalists for The National Book Award in the category of Translation in 1968. Parker is known for his work in Greek and Roman comedy, particularly his translations of

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; grc, Ἀριστοφάνης, ; c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme In Ancient Greece, a deme or ( grc, δῆμος, plural: demoi, δημοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Athens and other city-states ...

’ plays ''

Lysistrata ''Lysistrata'' ( or ; Attic Greek: , ''Lysistrátē'', "Army Disbander") is an ancient Greek comedy by Aristophanes, originally performed in classical Athens in 411 BC. It is a comic account of a woman's extraordinary mission to end the Peloponne ...

'' (1964), ''

The Wasps ''The Wasps'' ( grc-x-classical, Σφῆκες, translit=Sphēkes) is the fourth in chronological order of the eleven surviving plays by Aristophanes. It was produced at the Lenaia festival in 422 BC, during Athens' short-lived respite from the ...

'' (1962) and ''The Congresswomen (

)'' (1967). He is also known for his translations of

Terence Publius Terentius Afer (; – ), better known in English as Terence (), was a Roman African playwright during the Roman Republic. His comedies were performed for the first time around 166–160 BC. Terentius Lucanus, a Roman senator, brought ...

’s ''The Eunuch'' (

Eunuchus ''Eunuchus'' (''The Eunuch'') is a comedy written by the 2nd century BC Roman playwright Terence featuring a complex plot of rape and reconciliation. It was Terence's most successful play during his lifetime. Suetonius notes how the play was stage ...

), and

Plautus Titus Maccius Plautus (; c. 254 – 184 BC), commonly known as Plautus, was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the gen ...

' ''The Brothers Menaechmus'' (

Menaechmi ''Menaechmi'', a Latin-language play, is often considered Plautus' greatest play. The title is sometimes translated as ''The Brothers Menaechmus'' or ''The Two Menaechmuses''. The ''Menaechmi'' is a comedy about mistaken identity, involving a se ...

), as well as other classical and literary works. His translations of plays have been republished multiple times, and have been performed around the world.

has had over two hundred productions. Parker was Professor of Classics at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

for forty years, recruited there in 1967 by

William Arrowsmith William Ayres Arrowsmith (April 13, 1924 – February 21, 1992) was an American classicist, academic, and translator. Life Born in Orange, New Jersey, the son of Walter Weed Arrowsmith and Dorothy (Ayres) Arrowsmith, William grew up in Wellesle ...

. Earlier he had been a professor at

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

(1953-55) and at the

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public land-grant research university in Riverside, California. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The main campus sits on in a suburban distr ...

(1955-67). He taught classes in Greek and Latin languages and literature, as well as a discipline of his own creation, ''parageography''—the study of imaginary worlds. His courses crossed traditional disciplinary boundaries and were popular; he was known at the University of Texas for his breadth of knowledge and teaching, and won graduate and undergraduate teaching awards. In 2011 the Journal ''Didaskalia'' dedicated its new endeavors to "Douglass Parker, who embodied the interplay between scholarship and practice, between an acute understanding of the ancient world and a keen sense of modern audience." ''Didaskalia'' subsequently published a pair of wide-ranging interviews from 1981 and 1982. Parker had a passion for jazz, playing the trombone throughout his life, and elements of jazz improvisation and creativity were themes in his research and teaching. He also had interests in fantasy and science fiction, and published one of the first scholarly analyses of

Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlins ...

's '

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's boo ...

. Creativity and fantasy are foundations of imaginary worlds—including those of the

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

Land of Oz The Land of Oz is a magical country introduced in the 1900 children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. Oz consists of four vast quadrants, the Gillikin Country in the north, Quadli ...

, and

Middle Earth Middle or The Middle may refer to: * Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits. Places * Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man * Middle Bay (disambiguation) * Middle Brook (disambiguation) * Middle Creek ( ...

—and in parageography Parker sought insight on the creative process of writing. He referred to the parageography course as ''"a course in 'Applied Creativity'"''. Parker often combined elements of creativity with comedy, and starting in 1979 for example, developed installments of ''Zeus in Therapy'', a series of humorous verse monologues in which

Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label=Genitive case, genitive Aeolic Greek, Boeotian Aeolic and Doric Greek#Laconian, Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label=Genitive case, genitive el, Δίας, ''D� ...

reflects on his experiences and complains to his therapist about difficulties of managing the universe. The imagined sessions in these installments get at the power of one's innermost thoughts. A theatrical adaptation of "Zeus in Therapy" was developed by the

Tutto Theatre Company Tutto can refer to: ;Music * Tutto Live, album by Gianna Nannini * Tutto è possibile, debut album studio by Finley * Tutto Tony Tammaro, greatest hits album by Neapolitan parody singer-songwriter Tony Tammaro * Tutto Fabrizio De André, first album ...

in August 2013. Parker died after a bout with cancer in Austin, Texas, at age 83. He suggested that his epitaph read: ''"but I digress..."''.

Works

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Notes

External links

douglassparker.org
which has a freely-downloadabl
PDF eBook about the Parageography Course
an
PDF eBook about the Parageography Library''Google Books'' entries for Douglass Parker
* ttp://www.utexas.edu/cola/public-affairs/news/3544 Tribute to Parker by the University of Texas College of Liberal Artsbr>''Didaskalia'' memorial to Douglass ParkerVideo clips
(2000) of th
Thiasos Theater Company
from ttp://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/road_to_riches/prog2/prog2.stm BBC2's documentary series ''The Road to Riches''br>Video clips
(2001) of th
Thiasos Theater Company
* ttp://www.tuttotheatre.org/Shows/ZeusInTherapy.html Tutto Theatre Company's original stage adaptation of ''Zeus in Therapy'', August 2013 {{DEFAULTSORT:Parker, Douglass 1927 births 2011 deaths People from La Porte, Indiana American classical scholars Greek–English translators Latin–English translators University of Michigan alumni Princeton University alumni Classical scholars of the University of Texas at Austin University of California, Riverside faculty Classical scholars of Yale University American jazz trombonists Male trombonists 20th-century American translators American male jazz musicians