The Gaisford Prize is a prize in the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, founded in 1855 in memory of Dr Thomas Gaisford (1779–1855). For most of its history, the prize was awarded for

Classical Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

Verse and Prose. The prizes now include the Gaisford Essay Prize and the Gaisford Dissertation Prize.

History

Dr Thomas Gaisford,

Dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

of Christ Church, Regius Professor of Greek in the University of Oxford for more than forty years (1811–1855), died on 2 June 1855. Ten days later, at a meeting held in Christ Church on 12 June, it was resolved to establish a prize in his honour, to be called the Gaisford Prize, and to raise for that purpose £1,000 by public subscription, the interest to be applied "to reward a successful prizeman or prizemen, under such regulations as shall be approved by

Convocation A convocation (from the Latin ''wikt:convocare, convocare'' meaning "to call/come together", a translation of the Ancient Greek, Greek wikt:ἐκκλησία, ἐκκλησία ''ekklēsia'') is a group of people formally assembled for a speci ...

". The Prize was first awarded in 1857. When

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

won the Newdigate Prize in 1878, his prize poem, ''Ravenna'', was published by Thomas Shrimpton and Son of Oxford with two lists of names on the wrapper, one of the winners of the Newdigate Prize from 1840 to 1877, the other of the winners of the Gaisford Prize for Greek Prose from 1857 to 1876. There were originally two Gaisford Prizes, for Greek Verse and for Greek Prose. To these were added two more, for an Essay and for a Dissertation. However, under 'Part 21: Gaisford Fund', the current Schedule to the University's ''Statutes and Regulations'' provides for only two prizes:

Winners of the Gaisford Prize for Greek Verse

*1857: Joseph Henry Warner (Balliol) for Homeric verse: Milton's ''

Paradise Lost ''Paradise Lost'' is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton (1608–1674). The first version, published in 1667, consists of ten books with over ten thousand lines of verse (poetry), verse. A second edition fo ...

'' 6.56-98. *1858: Reginald Broughton (Balliol) for comic iambics: Shakespeare's ''

Henry IV, Part I ''Henry IV, Part 1'' (often written as ''1 Henry IV'') is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written no later than 1597. The play dramatises part of the reign of King Henry IV of England, beginning with the Battle of H ...

'', Act 2 Sc. 4. *1859: George Rankine Luke (Balliol) for hexameter verse: ''

Morte D'Arthur ' (originally written as '; inaccurate Middle French for "The Death of Arthur") is a 15th-century Middle English prose reworking by Sir Thomas Malory of tales about the legendary King Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, Merlin and the Knights of the Rou ...

.'' *1860: Chaloner William Chute (Balliol) for tragic iambic verse: Shakespeare's ''

Richard III Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Battl ...

'', Act 4, Sc. 4. *1861: James Bryce (Trinity) for Theocritean verse: ''The May Queen: a Greek idyll'' (from

Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of his ...

). *1862: Robert William Raper (Trinity) for comic iambic verse: Shakespeare's '' Henry IV, Part II'', Act 4, Sc. 3. *1863: Charles John Pearson for Homeric verse: ''Paradise Lost'' 6.824-877. *1864:

Evelyn Abbott Evelyn Abbott (; 10 March 1843 – 3 September 1901) was an English classical scholar, born at Epperstone, Nottinghamshire. He was educated at Balliol College, Oxford, where he excelled both academically and in sports, winning the Gaisford Prize ...

(Balliol) for tragic iambic verse: Shakespeare's ''

Pericles Pericles (; grc-gre, Περικλῆς; c. 495 – 429 BC) was a Greek politician and general during the Golden Age of Athens. He was prominent and influential in Athenian politics, particularly between the Greco-Persian Wars and the Pelopo ...

'', Act 5, Sc. 1. *1865: Ernest James Myers (Balliol and Wadham) for a Theocritean idyll: ''Ægon et Milo, qui ad Olympicum certamen profecti erant, domum redeuntes, inter se loquuntur''. *1866: George Nutt (New College) for comic iambics: ''Henry IV, Part II'', Act 1. Sc. 2. *1867
Alexander James Montgomerie Bell
(Balliol) for Homeric hexameters: ''Necryomanteia sive

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...

Poeta apud Inferos''. *1868:

Richard Lewis Nettleship Richard Lewis Nettleship (17 December 1846 – 25 August 1892) was an English philosopher. Life The youngest brother of Henry Nettleship, he was educated at Uppingham and Balliol College, Oxford, where he held a scholarship. He won the Hertfor ...

(Balliol) for tragic iambics: Shelley's ''Prometheus Unbound'', Act 2, Sc. 4. *1869: John Arthur Godley (Balliol) for Theocritean verse: Shakespeare's ''

Cymbeline ''Cymbeline'' , also known as ''The Tragedie of Cymbeline'' or ''Cymbeline, King of Britain'', is a play by William Shakespeare set in British Iron Age, Ancient Britain () and based on legends that formed part of the Matter of Britain concerni ...

'', Act 4, Sc. 2. *1870: Walter Sumner Gibson (Balliol) for comic iambic verse: ''Henry IV, Part II'', Act 5, Sc. 1. *1871: Edward Byron Nicholson (Trinity, and Bodley's librarian) for heroic hexameters: ''Ἄστρων νυκτέρων ὁμήγυρις''. *1872: Thomas Agar (Christ Church) for tragic iambic verse: Byron's ''

Manfred ''Manfred: A dramatic poem'' is a closet drama written in 1816–1817 by Lord Byron. It contains supernatural elements, in keeping with the popularity of the ghost story in England at the time. It is a typical example of a Gothic fiction. Byr ...

'', Act 1, "The Spirits I have raised..." *1873: Alfred Joshua Butler for Homeric verse: ''Paradise Lost'' 4.634-705. *1874: Edward Maclaine Field (Trinity) for comic iambics: ''Henry IV, Part I'', Act 5 Sc. 4. *1875: Thomas Herbert Warren (Balliol and Magdalen) for an idyll: ''The Ruins of Athens''. *1876:

Arthur Elam Haigh Arthur Elam Haigh (1855–1905) was an English classical scholar. Life Born at Leeds on 27 February 1855, he was third son, in a family of three sons and two daughters, of Joseph Haigh, a chemist, by his wife Lydia, daughter of Charles James Dunc ...

(Corpus Christi) for tragic iambics: Shakespeare's ''

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...

'', Act 1, Sc. 2. *1877: Sidney Graves Hamilton (Balliol and Hertford) for Homeric hexameters: ''Paradise Lost'' 4.223-287. *1878: Alfred Denis Godley (Balliol) for comic iambics: the Hampshire farmer's address in ''Rejected Addresses''. *1879: Alfred Temple Roberts (Magdalen) for idyllic hexameters: Milton's ''

Lycidas "Lycidas" () is a poem by John Milton, written in 1637 as a pastoral elegy. It first appeared in a 1638 collection of elegies, ''Justa Edouardo King Naufrago'', dedicated to the memory of Edward King, a friend of Milton at Cambridge who dro ...

'' 5.132. *1880: Ernest Alfred Upcott (Balliol) for tragic iambics: ''Paradise Lost'' 4.32-113. *1881: Christopher Cookson (Corpus Christi) for idyllic hexameter's: Matthew Arnold's '' Thyrsis''. *1882: William Ross Hardie (Balliol) for comic iambics: Shakespeare's ''

Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Vio ...

'', Act 2, Sc. 5 *1883: Cecil Henry St Leger RussellFoster, ''op. cit'': "Russell, Cecil Henry St. Leger, born at

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

, 18 April 1862 ; is. Richard, arm. TRINITY, matric. 15 Oct., 81, aged 19 (from Lancing coll.), scholar 81–5, B.A. 86, M.A. 88 (HONOURS: 2 classical mods. 82, Latin verse 82, Greek verse 83, Greek prose 84, 2 classics 85); a master at Clifton coll." (Trinity) for Homeric hexameters: ''The Death of Zohrab and Rustum''. *1884: Harry Hammond House (Corpus Christi) for iambics: ''Henry IV, Part II'', Act 1, Sc. 1. *1885: John Undershell Powell (St. John's) for idyllic hexameters" Shelley's ''

Adonaïs ''Adonais: An Elegy on the Death of John Keats, Author of Endymion, Hyperion, etc.'' () is a pastoral elegy written by Percy Bysshe Shelley for John Keats in 1821, and widely regarded as one of Shelley's best and best-known works.Gilbert Murray George Gilbert Aimé Murray (2 January 1866 – 20 May 1957) was an Australian-born British classical scholar and public intellectual, with connections in many spheres. He was an outstanding scholar of the language and culture of Ancient Greece ...

(St. John's) for comic iambics: ''Henry IV, Part II'', Act 3, Sc. 2. *1887: Frederick William Hall (Trinity) for Homeric hexameters: ''Paradise Lost'' 6.746-785. *1888: Frank Fletcher (Balliol) for tragic iambics: Shelley's ''Cenci'', Act 5, Sc. 4. *1889: René Louis Alphonse Du Pontet (Trinity) for hexameters on Columbus. *1890:

William Martin Geldart William Martin Geldart CBE (7 June 1870 – 12 February 1922) was a British jurist. A classical scholar of Balliol College, Oxford, he went on to become Vinerian Professor of English Law at Oxford and a leading jurist of his day. Biography ...

(Balliol) for comic iambics: ''

Henry V Henry V may refer to: People * Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026) * Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125) * Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161) * Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (121 ...

'', Act 2, Sc. 3. *1891: William Frederick Lofthouse (Trinity) for idyllic hexameters: 'Country Cousins at the Jubilee' (''Et quæ tanta fuit Romam tibi causa vivendi''). *1892: Wilfred Ormrod Bailey (Trinity) for tragic iambics: Milton's ''Samson Agonistes'' 1570–1660. *1893: Herbert Sidebotham (Balliol) for idyllic hexameters: ''Lycidas'' 15–84. *1894: George Stuart Robertson (New College) for comic iambic verse: ''Henry IV, Part II'', Act 2, Sc. 2. *1895: Frank Lloyd Edwards (New College) for tragic iambic verse: Matthew Arnold's '' Merope''. *1896: Edward L. D. Cole (Balliol) for hexameters: Virgil's ''

Aeneid The ''Aeneid'' ( ; la, Aenē̆is or ) is a Latin Epic poetry, epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy, Trojan who fled the Trojan_War#Sack_of_Troy, fall of Troy and travelled to ...

'' 2.162-249. *1897: W. F. Nicholson (Balliol) for Theocritean hexameters: Thomson's ''

Castle of Indolence ''The Castle of Indolence'' is a poem written by James Thomson, a Scottish poet of the 18th century, in 1748. According to the Nuttall Encyclopedia, the Castle of Indolence is ''"a place in which the dwellers live amid luxurious delights, to ...

'' 1.2-12. *1898: James Alexander Webster (Magdalen) for iambic verse: Marlowe's ''

Edward II Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir apparent to t ...

'', Act 5, Sc. 1. *1899: Harold Trevor Baker (New College) for comic iambic verse: Ben Jonson's ''

Every Man in His Humour ''Every Man in His Humour'' is a 1598 play by the English playwright Ben Jonson. The play belongs to the subgenre of the " humours comedy," in which each major character is dominated by an over-riding humour or obsession. Performance and pu ...

'', Act 1, Sc. 4. *1900: Julius Victor Scholderer (Trinity) for hexameters: R.L. Stevenson's '' Rahéro''. *1901: Frederick Lewisohn (Trinity) for Theocritean verse: Milton's ''

Comus In Greek mythology, Comus (; grc, Κῶμος, ''Kōmos'') is the god of festivity, revels and nocturnal dalliances. He is a son and a cup-bearer of the god Dionysus. He was represented as a winged youth or a child-like satyr and represents ana ...

'' 244–330. *1902:

Edward William Macleay Grigg Edward William Macleay Grigg, 1st Baron Altrincham, (8 September 1879 – 1 December 1955) was a British colonial administrator and politician. Biography Early years Grigg was the son of Henry Bridewell Grigg, CIE, a member of the Indian Civ ...

(New College) for iambic verse: ''Richard III'', Act 1, Sc. 2. *1903: H. L. Henderson (Christ Church) for comic iambics: ''Henry IV, Part II'', Act 3, Sc. 2. *1904: Cyril Charles Martindale (Pope's Hall

Campion Hall Campion Hall is one of the five permanent private halls of the University of Oxford in England. It is run by the Society of Jesus and named after Edmund Campion, a martyr and fellow of St John's College, Oxford. The hall is located on Brewer St ...

]) for hexameters: Virgil's ''Georgics'' 4.450-547. *1905: F. A. B. Newman (University College, Oxford, Univ) for Theocritean hexameters: Spenser's ''Shepherd's Calendar: Aegloga Sexta''. *1906: Leslie Whitaker Hunter (New College) for elegiac verse: Tennyson's '' Lotos-Eaters''. *1907: William Alexander Bain (Christ Church) for tragic iambics: Byron's ''

Marino Faliero Marino Faliero (1274 – 17 April 1355) was the 55th Doge of Venice, appointed on 11 September 1354. He was sometimes referred to simply as Marin Falier (Venetian rather than standard Italian) or Falieri. He was executed for attempting a coup d ...

'', Act 4, Sc. 2. *1908: Ronald Arbuthnott Knox (Balliol) for Theocritean hexameters: Robert Browning's ''

Pippa Passes ''Pippa Passes'' is a verse drama by Robert Browning. It was published in 1841 as the first volume of his ''Bells and Pomegranates'' series, in a low-priced two-column edition for sixpence, and republished in his collected ''Poems'' of 1849, ...

'' III. 'Evening: Talk By the Way'. *1909: Algernon E. F. Spencer (Christ Church) for comic iambics: Sheridan's ''

School for Scandal ''The School for Scandal'' is a comedy of manners written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. It was first performed in London at Drury Lane Theatre on 8 May 1777. Plot Act I Scene I: Lady Sneerwell, a wealthy young widow, and her hireling Sn ...

'', Act 4, Sc. 1. *1910: Roderick McKenzie (Trinity) for Homeric hexameters: Virgil's ''Aeneid'' 2.268-385. *1911: Edgar Lobel (Balliol) for tragic iambics: Racine's ''

Esther Esther is the eponymous heroine of the Book of Esther. In the Achaemenid Empire, the Persian king Ahasuerus seeks a new wife after his queen, Vashti, is deposed for disobeying him. Hadassah, a Jewess who goes by the name of Esther, is chosen ...

'' 3.1-3. *1912: Thomas Farrant Higham for Theocritean hexameters: George Meredith's ''Love in the Valley'' 1–9. *1913: George Dunn (Corpus Christi) for elegiacs: Pope's ''Elegy to the Memory of an Unfortunate Lady''. *1914: Frank Newton Tribe for tragic iambics: Browning's ''Strafford'', Act 5, Sc. 2, lines 268-end. *1915: Reuben Cohen for comic iambics: Oliver Goldsmith's ''

She Stoops to Conquer ''She Stoops to Conquer'' is a comedy by Oliver Goldsmith, first performed in London in 1773. The play is a favourite for study by English literature and theatre classes in the English-speaking world. It is one of the few plays from the 18th ...

'', Act 2. *1916:

Godfrey Rolles Driver Sir Godfrey Rolles Driver (20 August 1892 – 22 April 1975), known as G. R. Driver, was an English Orientalist noted for his studies of Semitic languages and Assyriology.J. A. Emerton, 'Driver, Sir Godfrey Rolles (1892–1975)'. In ''Oxfo ...

J. A. Emerton, 'Driver, Sir Godfrey Rolles (1892–1975)', in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 (New College) for A.H. Clough's ''Amour de Voyage'' rinted 1919 *1920: John Blackburne Poynton for Browning's ''Balaustion's Adventure'', lines 11-139. *1921: Asher Hyman for hexameters: from Virgil's 4th ''Georgic'', lines 425–527. *1922: Robert Graham Cockrane Levens for Shakespeare's ''

Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...

'', Act 3, Sc. 1. *1923: Cedric A. L. Cliffe for Racine's ''

Athalie ''Athalie'' (, sometimes translated ''Athalia'') is a 1691 play, the final tragedy of Jean Racine, and has been described as the masterpiece of "one of the greatest literary artists known" and the "ripest work" of Racine's genius. Charles Augus ...

'', Act 2, Sc. 5. *1924: Edmond Patrick Charles Cotter for Tennyson's ''

Godiva Lady Godiva (; died between 1066 and 1086), in Old English , was a late Anglo-Saxon noblewoman who is relatively well documented as the wife of Leofric, Earl of Mercia, and a patron of various churches and monasteries. Today, she is mainly reme ...

''. *1925: Henri Nicolas de Villiers for iambics: Byron's ''

Cain Cain ''Káïn''; ar, قابيل/قايين, Qābīl/Qāyīn is a Biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within Abrahamic religions. He is the elder brother of Abel, and the firstborn son of Adam and Eve, the first couple within the Bible. He wa ...

'', Act 3. *1927:

Ronald Syme Sir Ronald Syme, (11 March 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a New Zealand-born historian and classicist. He was regarded as the greatest historian of ancient Rome since Theodor Mommsen and the most brilliant exponent of the history of the Roman ...

(Oriel) for Homeric hexameters: a passage of Morris's ''

The Story of Sigurd the Volsung and the Fall of the Niblungs ''The Story of Sigurd the Volsung and the Fall of the Niblungs'' (1876) is an epic poem of over 10,000 lines by William Morris that tells the tragic story, drawn from the Volsunga Saga and the Elder Edda, of the Norse hero Sigmund, his son ...

''. *1928:

Denys Lionel Page Sir Denys Lionel Page (11 May 19086 July 1978) was a British classicist and textual critic who served as the 34th Regius Professor of Greek at the University of Cambridge and the 35th Master of Jesus College, Cambridge. He is best known for h ...

for Greek tragic iambics: John Masefield's ''

Pompey the Great Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey or Pompey the Great, was a leading Roman general and statesman. He played a significant role in the transformation of ...

'', Act 2, Sc. 1. *1929: Noël Kilpatrick Hutton for 'The Sad Shepherd', from Yeats's "The Wild Swans at Coole". *1930: Brian Davidson for a translation of Addison's '' Cato'', 4.4-5.1. *1931: John Saye Wingfield Twistleton-Wykeham-Fiennes for comic verse:

W.S. Gilbert Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (18 November 1836 – 29 May 1911) was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his collaboration with composer Arthur Sullivan, which produced fourteen comic operas. The most f ...

's ''

The Mikado ''The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen Gilbert and Sullivan, operatic collaborations. It opened on 14 March 1885, in London, whe ...

, or The Town of Titipu''. *1932: Archibald David Manisty Ross for 'The Story of Glam', from ''The Saga of Grettir the Strong''. *1933: Thomas Hunter Steen Wyllie for the 'Prologue in Heaven' from Goethe's ''

Faust Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust ( 1480–1540). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroads ...

''. *1934: (William) Spencer Barrett (Christ Church) for Congreve's '' Mourning Bride''. *1935: A. T. G. Holmes for Tennyson's ''Tithonus''. *1937: H. Thomson for Sheridan's ''The Rivals'', Act 3, Sc. 1. *1938:

Christopher Montague Woodhouse Christopher Montague Woodhouse, 5th Baron Terrington, (11 May 1917 – 13 February 2001) was a British Conservative politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Oxford from 1959 to 1966 and again from 1970 to 1974. He was also a visitin ...

(New College) for Pope's ''Sappho to Phaon'' 2.179-end. *1939:

Kenneth 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 ...

(Balliol) for lines from Racine's ''

Phèdre ''Phèdre'' (; originally ''Phèdre et Hippolyte'') is a French dramatic tragedy in five acts written in alexandrine verse by Jean Racine, first performed in 1677 at the theatre of the Hôtel de Bourgogne in Paris. Composition and premiere With ...

'', Act 1, Sc. 1, lines 1–133. *1995: No prize awarded (but honourably mentioned: Martin Revermann of Corpus Christi).Oxford University Gazette, 23 June 1995
at ox.ac.uk, accessed 14 August 2008 *1996: Jeremy Grant
at ox.ac.uk, accessed 14 August 2008 (Worcester). *1998: No prize awarded (but honourably mentioned: Letizia Palladini of Balliol).
at ox.ac.uk, accessed 14 August 2008 *1999: Luke Pitcher
at ox.ac.uk, accessed 14 August 2008 (Somerville). *2000: Laura Bender
at ox.ac.uk, accessed 14 August 2008 (Magdalen). *2018: Joost Botman'Academic prizes for Queen's students'
at ox.ac.uk, accessed 12 October 2018 (Queen's) & Phillip Bone'Exeter students win Classics prizes'
at ox.ac.uk, accessed 12 October 2018 (Exeter) for tragic and comic trimeter respectively: a passage from Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale. *2019: Jason WebberExonian Wins Gaisford Prize for Greek Vers

at ox.ac.uk, accessed 18 May 2021 (Exeter) for tragic trimeter: a passage from Shakespeare's Measure for Measure. *2020: Nicholas Stone (Christ Church) for tragicomic trimeter: a passage from Wordsworth's 'The Brothers Poem'. *2021: Benjamin Goodrick (Trinity) for tragic trimeter: a passage from Shakespeare's Richard the Third. *2022: Althea Sovani (Somerville)

Winners of the Gaisford Prize for Greek Prose

*1857: Robert Dobie Wilson (Balliol) for ''Empedocles, Dialogues Græcus''. *1858: George Rankine Luke (Balliol) for ''Nicias, sive De superstitione''. *1859:

Henry Nettleship Henry Nettleship (5 May 1839 – 10 July 1893) was an English classical scholar. Life Nettleship was born at Kettering, and was educated at Lancing College, Durham School and Charterhouse schools, and gained a scholarship for entry to Corpus Chri ...

(Corpus Christi and Lincoln) for ''Pygmaeorum Civitas''. *1860: James Bryce (Trinity and Oriel) for ''The Plague of London'', in the style of Herodotus or Plato. *1861:

Charles Bigg Charles Bigg (1840–1908) was a Church of England clergyman, theologian and church historian. Bigg was the winner of the Gaisford Prize for Greek Prose in 1861. In 1886, he delivered the Bampton Lectures, later published as''The Christian Platoni ...

(Corpus Christi and Christ Church) for ''Milo, sive de Gymnastica''. *1862: Charles John Pearson (Corpus Christi) for ''Timæus Novus, sive De Geologia: Dialogus Platonicus''. *1863: Augustine Ley (Christ Church) for ''Marco Polo: Narratio ad Examplar Herodoteum''. *1864: A Platonic Dialogue, ''Socrates apud inferos more suo Atheniensum principes reipublicæ interrogat''. ot awarded.*1865: William Henry Simcox (Queen's) for ''Sancti Ludovici mors, res gestæ, ingenium'', after Thucydides. *1866: Francis de Paravicini (Balliol and Christ Church) for ''Cratylus, sive de hominum sermonis origine''. *1867:

William Wallace Sir William Wallace ( gd, Uilleam Uallas, ; Norman French: ; 23 August 1305) was a Scottish knight who became one of the main leaders during the First War of Scottish Independence. Along with Andrew Moray, Wallace defeated an English army a ...

(Balliol and later Merton) for ''The Aztecs'' in Herodotean style. *1868: Alfred Goodwin (Balliol) for '' Ἀμαζόνες ἀντιάνειραι'', a Platonic dialogue. *1869: Robert Lowes Clarke (Balliol) for ''The Reign of Terror'', in the style of Thucydides. *1870: John Arthur Godley (Balliol) for '' Φειδίας ἢ περὶ ἀνδριαντοποιΐας: a Platonic dialogue''. *1871: George Edward Jeans (Pembroke and Hertford) for ''Iceland: in Herodotean prose'' * 1872: Alfred Joshua Butler (Trinity and Brasenose) for ''Ullane sint reconditioris doctrinæ vestigia apud Homerum reperienda?'' *1873: William Wardlaw Waddell (Balliol) for ''The

Siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition warfare, attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity con ...

of Londonderry'', in the style of Thucydides. *1874: o Candidate A Platonic dialogue, ''"Esse aliquid manes". De spectris et simulacris mortuorum quid revera sentiendum sit.'' *1875: Edward Maclaine Field (Trinity) for ''The Sources of the Nile. Prose in the Style of Herodotus'' (''Viator Anglus Nili fontes explorans quæ viderit narrat.''). *1876: George Spencer Bower (New College) for a Platonic dialogue, ''Socrates Aristophanes Sophocles de Arte Poetarum inter se colloquuntur''. *1877: Arthur Elam Haigh for ''The Popish Plot'', in the style of Thucydides. *1878: Philip Edward Raynor (New College) for a Platonic dialogue, '' Ἀναξίμανδρος ἢ περὶ ζῴων γενέσεως.'' *1879:

David Samuel Margoliouth David Samuel Margoliouth, FBA (; 17 October 1858, in London – 22 March 1940, in London) was an English orientalist. He was briefly active as a priest in the Church of England. He was Laudian Professor of Arabic at the University of Oxford ...

(New College) for ''Japanorum reipublicæ conversio''. *1880: William Yorke Fausset (Balliol) for a Platonic dialogue, ''De Œconomia quam vocant Politica''. *1881: Richard Edmund Mitcheson (St. John's) for ''Speeches in accusation and defence of

Warren Hastings Warren Hastings (6 December 1732 – 22 August 1818) was a British colonial administrator, who served as the first Governor of the Presidency of Fort William (Bengal), the head of the Supreme Council of Bengal, and so the first Governor-Genera ...

''. *1882: William Ross Hardie for a Platonic dialogue, ''Δημηγορία, Τίς ἐστιν ἡ ποιητική'' (''Inter Rhetoricam et Poeticam quid intersit''). *1883: William Edward Long (Magdlalen) for ''The Wandering Jew'', in the style of Herodotus. *1884: Cecil Henry St Leger Russell (Trinity) for ''The Athenian state: a platonic dialogue''. *1885:

Walter Ashburner Walter Ashburner (1864 – February 1936) was an America-born British classical and legal scholar. He was Professor of Jurisprudence at the University of Oxford from 1926 to 1929.{{Cite web , title=Walter Ashburner (1864-1936) , url=https://library ...

(Balliol and Merton) for ''The Spanish Armada'' in the style of Thucydides. *1886: Michael Henry Mansel Wood (Trinity) for ''Prometheus sive De hominum natura et origine'', a Platonic dialogue. *1887:

Gilbert Murray George Gilbert Aimé Murray (2 January 1866 – 20 May 1957) was an Australian-born British classical scholar and public intellectual, with connections in many spheres. He was an outstanding scholar of the language and culture of Ancient Greece ...

(St. John's) for ''

Mesolonghi Missolonghi or Messolonghi ( el, Μεσολόγγι, ) is a municipality of 34,416 people (according to the 2011 census) in western Greece. The town is the capital of Aetolia-Acarnania regional unit, and the seat of the municipality of Iera Polis ...

Capta'' (in the ''Historical Register'' (1900) as ''Missolonghi Capta''). *1888:

Frederick William Hall Frederick William Hall, (21 February 1885 – 24 April 1915) was an Irish-Canadian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwe ...

(Trinity) for ''Πότερον ἐὰν ἀπόληται τὸ κακὸν οὐδὲ πεινῆν ἔτι ἔστι ἢ διψῆν, ἤ τι ἄλλο τῶν τοιούτων...'' (or ''De origine Mali''). *1889: Reginald Carter (Balliol) for ''The Battle of Inkermann'', in the style of Thucydides. *1890:

Henry Stuart Jones Sir Henry Stuart Jones, FBA (15 May 1867 – 29 June 1939) was a British academic. He was educated at Balliol College, Oxford; he obtained a First in Classical Moderations in 1888 and a First in Literae Humaniores ('Greats', a combination of ph ...

(Balliol) for ''Δάμων ἢ περὶ μουσικῆς'' or ''De origine et vi artis musicæ''. *1891: Julian James Cotton (Corpus Christi) for ''The Story of

Husain Husain, a variant spelling of Hussein, is a common Arabic name, especially among Muslims because of the status of Husayn ibn Ali, grandson of Mohammad. Notable people with the name include: Arts and literature * Adrian A. Husain, Pakistani poet ...

and the Mohurram Celebration in the East''. *1892: Philip Herbert Hanson (Balliol) for '' Νικίας: Τῆς ἄνω ὁδοῦ ἀεὶ ἐσόμεθα''. *1893: Wilfred Ormrod Bailey (Trinity) for ''A supposed speech of Abraham Lincoln on the occasion of his second election to the presidency of the United States'', in the style of Thucydides. *1894: Herbert Sidebotham for '' Ἀριστοφάνης ἢ περὶ τοῦ γελοίου''. *1895: George Stuart Robertson (New College) for ''Herodotus in Britain''. *1896: Prose in the manner of Socrates: ''A Defence of Despotism''. ot awarded.*1897: Edward Launcelot Davey Cole (Balliol) for ''

Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Ballads'' (1798). Wordsworth's ' ...

'Of the Principles of Poetry' and the 'Lyrical Ballads'.'' *1898: Ernest Ely Genner (Balliol) for ''On the Causes and Conditions of Naval Supremacy''. *1899: Frederick Herbert Williamson (Balliol) for ''The Principle of Isolation in British Foreign Policy''. *1900 Heathcote William Garrod (Balliol) for ''Erasmus on the Renascence of Literature''. *1902: James McLean Watson (Oriel) for ''Relations Between a Mother Country and her Colonies''. *1903: Robert William Chapman (Oriel) for ''Advantages of an Academy of Letters''. *1904: William Moir Calder (Christ Church) for ''The Possibility of a Federal Union of the English-Speaking Peoples''. *1905:

Thomas Williams Phillips Sir Thomas Williams Phillips (20 April 1883 – 21 September 1966) was a senior official in the Civil Service. Phillips, a Welshman, was educated at Machynlleth County School and Jesus College, Oxford, where he obtained a first-class Bachelo ...

(Jesus) for ''Imperatores Divus Iulius et Napoleon de rebus a se domi militiaeque gestis apud inferos colloquuntur''. *1906: Hugh McKinnon Wood (Balliol) for '' Διογένης ἢ περὶ παρρησίας''. *1907: John Davidson Beazley (Balliol) for ''Herodotus at the Zoo''. *1908: Leslie Whitaker Hunter (New College) for ''Warren Hastings' Defence of his Administration in India''. *1909: George Douglas Brooks (Worcester) for ''The Relation between Art and Morality''. *1911: George Leicester Marriott (Exeter) for ''A Dialogue Between Socrates, Agathon and Aristophanes, τοῦ αὐτοῦ ἀνδρὸς εἶναι κωμῳδίαν καὶ τραγῳδίαν ἐπίστασθαι ποιεῖν''. *1912: Cecil John Ellingham for ''Πορφυρίων Δίης Τύραννος''. *1913:

(New College) for ''Στάσεως ἐν Βρεταννοῖς γενομένης, λέγει μὲν ὁ προστάτης τοῦ δήμου, ἀντιλέγει δὲ ὁ στρατηγός...'' *1914: Harry Samuels for ''Crates, sive De vita simplici'', a dialogue. *1915: Robert Walter Theodore Gordon Scott for ''Panama''. *1921: Christian James Fordyce (Balliol) for ''Herodotus in Ireland: being part of the third book of his account of Britain''. *1922: William Francis Ross Hardie (Balliol) for ''A Lucianic dialogue between Socrates in Hades and certain men of the present day''. *1923: Basil Edward Butler for '' Ἡράκλειτος, a translation of a passage from Prof. Eddington's Romanes

lecture A lecture (from Latin ''lēctūra'' “reading” ) is an oral presentation intended to present information or teach people about a particular subject, for example by a university or college teacher. Lectures are used to convey critical inform ...

(1922)''. *1926:

(Oriel) for a section of

Thomas More Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry VIII as Lord ...

's ''

Utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', describing a fictional ...

'' into

Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...

nic prose.Millar, Fergus, Hannah M. Cotton, & Guy M. Rogers, ''Rome, the Greek World, and the East''
page 401
online at books.google.co.uk, accessed 14 August 2008 *1927:

Colin Hardie Colin Graham Hardie (16 February 1906 – 17 October 1998) was a British classicist and academic. From 1933 to 1936, he was Director of the British School at Rome. From 1936 to 1973, he was a Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, and a tutor in clas ...

(Balliol). *1930: Peter J. McGowen for a translation of

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...

's '' The First Step'', chapter 7. *1931:

John Langshaw Austin John Langshaw Austin (26 March 1911 – 8 February 1960) was a British people, British philosophy of language, philosopher of language and leading proponent of ordinary language philosophy, perhaps best known for developing the theory of speech ...

(Balliol). *1932: Humphry Gilbert Bohun Lynch (Merton) for a translation of the ''

Areopagitica ''Areopagitica; A speech of Mr. John Milton for the Liberty of Unlicenc'd Printing, to the Parlament of England'' is a 1644 prose polemic by the English poet, scholar, and polemical author John Milton opposing licensing and censorship. ''Are ...

''. *1933: Arthur Frederick Hall for ''Boswell's Life of Johnson'' (Everyman Edition, vol. 1, pp. 272–275) in the style of Lucian. *1934: W.H. Walsh for ''Envoys from Russia and Japan seek alliance with Chinese Republic''. *1936: John Godfrey Griffith for a translation of Tolstoy's ''

Thou Shalt Not Kill Thou shalt not kill (LXX; ), You shall not murder (Hebrew: ; ') or You shall not kill (KJV), is a moral imperative included as one of the Ten Commandments in the Torah. The imperative not to kill is in the context of ''unlawful'' killing resul ...

''. *1937:

Henry Arthur Pears Fisher Sir Henry Arthur Pears Fisher (20 January 1918 – 10 April 2005) was an English lawyer who served as a judge of the High Court of England and Wales and as President of Wolfson College, Oxford. Early life and education Fisher was born at The ...

for Burke's ''Letters on a Regicide Peace''. *1938: Vincent Turner for '' A.E. Housman's Introductory Lecture (1892)''. *1939: David Penistan Simpson for ''Characters in the Style of

Theophrastus Theophrastus (; grc-gre, Θεόφραστος ; c. 371c. 287 BC), a Greek philosopher and the successor to Aristotle in the Peripatetic school. He was a native of Eresos in Lesbos.Gavin Hardy and Laurence Totelin, ''Ancient Botany'', Routledge ...

: the Snob, the Prig, and the Pedant''. *1948: John Francis Bligh for ''Thomas Erskine's Speech in Defence of Mr. John Frost, 1793''. *1981:

Armand D'Angour Armand D'Angour (born 23 November 1958) is a British classical scholar and classical musician, Professor of Classics at Oxford University and Fellow and Tutor in Classics at Jesus College, Oxford. His research embraces a wide range of areas acros ...

(Merton). *1995: Deborah W. Rooke (Regent's Park). *1996: Holger Gzella (Worcester). *1997: Martin Revermann (Corpus Christi). *1998: Sinead Willis (New College). *1999: Letizia Poli-Palladini (Balliol). *2000: Luke Pitcher (Somerville). *2002: Oliver Thomas (New College). *2009: Christopher White (Magdalen). *2019: Lucas Jones (Magdalen). *2020: Jason WebberOxford University Gazette, 25 June 2020
at ox.ac.uk, accessed 20 May 2021 (Magdalen). *2021: Nicholas StoneOxford University Gazette, 17 June 2021 at ox.ac.uk, accessed 17 June 2021 (Christ Church). *2022: Lucas Barron (Magdalen).

Winners of the Gaisford Essay Prize

*1996: Ben Rowland (Balliol). *1997: Nicholas Larkin (Brasenose). *1998: No prize awarded (but honourably mentioned: David Hodgkinson, Balliol). *2007: Sarah Cullinan (Oriel). *2008: Robert Colborn (New College). *2009: Scott Liddle (New College). *2014: Supratik Baralay (Wadham College).

Winners of the Gaisford Dissertation Prize

*1987: Richard Maxwell Gaskin (St Edmund Hall), ''Tragedy and Subjectivity in Virgil’s Aeneid''. *1998: No prize awarded. *1999: Letizia Poli-Palladini (Balliol) and Tobias Reinhardt (Corpus Christi) jointly. *2002: Wolfgang David Cirilo de Melo (jointly), for work on the Latin verb system. *2008: Oliver Thomas (New College and Balliol).Oliver Thomas CV
at users.ox.ac.uk, accessed 16 August 2008 *2014: Thomas Nelson (University) *2017: Timothy Foot (Merton) and Elinor Garnett (Christ Church) jointly.Oxford University Gazette, 6 July 2017
at ox.ac.uk, accessed 8 July 2017 *2021: Charles Baker (New College).

Notable winning entries

John Davidson Beazley's winning entry for the 1907 Greek Prose prize, ''Herodotus at the Zoo'', was reprinted by Blackwell in 1911 and later appeared in a collection of classical parodies produced in Switzerland in 1968. The ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'' calls it "an enchanting work". George Stuart Robertson won the prize for Greek Verse in 1894 with a translation of a hundred lines of Shakespeare into comic iambic verse, and the next year he won the prize for Greek Prose and a

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when obs ...

for hammer throwing. He heard about the

1896 Summer Olympics The 1896 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 1896, Therinoí Olympiakoí Agónes 1896), officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 1ης Ολυμπιάδας, Agónes tis 1is Ol ...

, the first of the modern era, and later explained "Greek classics were my proper academic field, so I could hardly resist a go at the Olympics, could I?" On arrival in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, he found to his dismay that his discipline of hammer throwing was not to be competed in, so in the spirit of amateurism he entered the

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

, the discus and the

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

. In the discus, he recorded the Games' worst ever throw, and in the tennis doubles he lost his only match but nevertheless won a

Bronze Medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receive ...

. In a ceremony after the Games, Robertson recited an ode to athletic prowess which he had composed in

Greek 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 ...

In fiction

Max Beerbohm Sir Henry Maximilian Beerbohm (24 August 1872 – 20 May 1956) was an English essayist, parodist and caricaturist under the signature Max. He first became known in the 1890s as a dandy and a humorist. He was the drama critic for the '' Saturday ...

's satirical tragedy of undergraduate life at Oxford, ''

Zuleika Dobson ''Zuleika Dobson'', full title ''Zuleika Dobson, or, an Oxford love story'', is the only novel by English essayist Max Beerbohm, a satire of undergraduate life at Oxford published in 1911. It includes the famous line "Death cancels all engageme ...

'' (1911), the hero, called the Duke of Dorset,''Or in full'', John Albert Edward Claude Orde Angus Tankerton Tanville-Tankerton, fourteenth Duke of Dorset, Marquis of Dorset, Earl of Grove, Earl of Chastermaine, Viscount Brewsby, Baron Grove, Baron Petstrap, and Baron Wolock has won one of the Prizes:

References

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