Franz Heinrich Ludolf Ahrens (6 June 1809,

Helmstedt Helmstedt (; Eastphalian: ''Helmstidde'') is a town on the eastern edge of the German state of Lower Saxony. It is the capital of the District of Helmstedt. The historic university and Hanseatic city conserves an important monumental heritage of ...

– 25 September 1881,

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

) was a 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 ...

. He was born in

. After studying at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...

(1826-1829) under

Karl Otfried Müller Karl Otfried Müller ( la, Carolus Mullerus; 28 August 1797 – 1 August 1840) was a German scholar and Philodorian, or admirer of ancient Sparta, who introduced the modern study of Greek mythology. Biography He was born at Brieg (modern Brze ...

and Georg Ludolf Dissen, he worked as schoolteacher at the Pädagogium in

Ilfeld Ilfeld is a village and a former municipality in the district of Nordhausen, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated at the south foot of the Harz, at the entrance to the Bährethal, north from Nordhausen by the railway to Wernigerode. Since 1 Ja ...

(from 1831). In 1845 he was appointed director of the gymnasium in

Lingen Lingen (), officially Lingen (Ems), is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. In 2008, its population was 52,353, and in addition there were about 5,000 people who registered the city as their secondary residence. Lingen, specifically "Lingen (Ems)" is ...

, and in 1849 succeeded GF Grotefend as director of the Lyceum at

, a post which he filled with great success for thirty years.ADB:Ahrens, Heinrich (Philologe)
@

Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie ''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie'' (ADB, german: Universal German Biography) is one of the most important and comprehensive biographical reference works in the German language. It was published by the Historical Commission of the Bavarian Aca ...

His most important work was "''De Graecae Linguae Dialectis''" (1839-1843), a study of

Aeolic In linguistics, Aeolic Greek (), also known as Aeolian (), Lesbian or Lesbic dialect, is the set of dialects of Ancient Greek spoken mainly in Boeotia; in Thessaly; in the Aegean island of Lesbos; and in the Greek colonies of Aeolis in Anatolia ...

and

Doric Doric may refer to: * Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece ** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians * Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture * Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode * Doric dialect (Scotland) * Doric ...

dialects that became a standard treatise on the subject. He also published "''Bucolicorum Graecorum Reliquiae''" (1855-1859); studies on the dialects of

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

and the Greek lyrists; on

Aeschylus Aeschylus (, ; grc-gre, Αἰσχύλος ; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian, and is often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek ...

("''De causis quibusdam Aeschyli Nondum satis emendati''"); and some excellent school textbooks. A volume of his minor works (edited by Carl Ernst Christian Häberlin) was published in 1891, which also contains a complete list of his writings.

Selected works

* ''De Athenarum statu politico et literario inde ab Achaici foederis interitu usque ad Antoninorum tempora'', 1829. * ''De causis quibusdam Aeschyli nondum satis emendati commentatio'', 1832. * ''De Graecae Linguae Dialectis''. Lib. 1, 2, Gottingae, apud Vandenhoek et Ruprecht, 1839–43. ** "Lib. I. De dialectis aeolicis et pseudaeolicis", 1839. ** "Lib. II. De dialecto dorica", 1843. * ''Griechisches Elementarbuch aus Homer'', 1850 – Greek primer on

. * ''Griechische Formenlehre des Homerischen und Attischen Dialektes'', etc., 1852 – Greek morphology on Homeric and Attican dialects. * "An Elementary Greek Reader, from Homer" eing the Odyssey, Book IX. 39 to End with Grammatical Introduction, Notes, and Glossary. By Dr. H.L. Ahrens. ... First Course. edited by T.K. Arnold; London, 1852 - 101 pages. * ''Epitaphius Adonidis'', 1854. * ''Bucolicorum Græcorum Theocriti, Bionis, Moschi Reliquiæ'', 1855. * ''Studien zum Agamemnon des Aeschylus'', 1860 – Studies of ''

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 ...

'' and

. * ''Beiträge zur griechischen und lateinischen Etymologie'', 1879 – On Greek and Latin

etymology Etymology ()The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the Phonological chan ...

. * ''Kleine Schriften'' (edited by Carl Haeberlin), 1891 – Smaller works.OCLC WorldCat
published works

References

1809 births 1881 deaths People from Helmstedt German philologists People from the Duchy of Brunswick University of Göttingen alumni Corresponding members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences Members of the First Chamber of the Diet of the Kingdom of Hanover Members of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities {{germany-academic-bio-stub