James Riddell (1823–1866) was an English classical scholar.

Life

Born on 8 June 1823, he was the eldest son of James Riddell (1796–1878), rector of

Easton, Hampshire Easton is a village in Hampshire, England, situated on the River Itchen, Hampshire, River Itchen, 2¾ miles north east of Winchester. It is in the civil parish of Itchen Valley. In 1870–72, John Goring's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales ...

, by Dorothy, daughter of John Foster, of Leicester Grange,

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avo ...

. After spending seven years at Mr. Browne's school at

Cheam Cheam () is a suburb of London, England, south-west of Charing Cross. It is divided into North Cheam, Cheam Village and South Cheam. Cheam Village contains the listed buildings Lumley Chapel and the 16th-century Whitehall. It is adjacent to ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...

, Riddell entered

Shrewsbury School Shrewsbury School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13 –18) in Shrewsbury. Founded in 1552 by Edward VI by Royal Charter, it was originally a boarding school for boys; girls have been admitted into ...

in 1838 as a pupil of Benjamin Hall Kennedy. He gained a scholarship at

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the ...

, his father's old college, in November 1840, and, leaving Shrewsbury as head boy in 1841, he began residence in Oxford in the Michaelmas term of that year. He was placed in the first class in literæ humaniores with

Thomas Arnold Thomas Arnold (13 June 1795 – 12 June 1842) was an English educator and historian. He was an early supporter of the Broad Church Anglican movement. As headmaster of Rugby School from 1828 to 1841, he introduced several reforms that were wide ...

and

Goldwin Smith Goldwin Smith (13 August 1823 – 7 June 1910) was a British historian and journalist, active in the United Kingdom and Canada. In the 1860s he also taught at Cornell University in the United States. Life and career Early life and education S ...

. He was elected Fellow of Balliol, serving his college as lecturer or tutor till his death. He was classical examiner in 1858–9, classical moderator in 1865–6, and senior proctor and select preacher in 1862. He died at

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Rocks. T ...

on 14 September 1866.

Works

Riddell was invited by the delegates of the

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print book ...

to edit the ''

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) 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 '' Iliad'', ...

'' for their series; and

Benjamin Jowett Benjamin Jowett (, modern variant ; 15 April 1817 – 1 October 1893) was an English tutor and administrative reformer in the University of Oxford, a theologian, an Anglican cleric, and a translator of Plato and Thucydides. He was Master of B ...

, for an edition of

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 ...

, assigned to him the '' Apology'', ''

Crito ''Crito'' ( or ; grc, Κρίτων ) is a dialogue that was written by the ancient Greek philosopher Plato. It depicts a conversation between Socrates and his wealthy friend Crito of Alopece regarding justice (''δικαιοσύνη''), ...

'', ''

Phædo ''Phædo'' or ''Phaedo'' (; el, Φαίδων, ''Phaidōn'' ), also known to ancient readers as ''On The Soul'', is one of the best-known dialogues of Plato's middle period, along with the '' Republic'' and the '' Symposium.'' The philosophic ...

'', and ''

Symposium In ancient Greece, the symposium ( grc-gre, συμπόσιον ''symposion'' or ''symposio'', from συμπίνειν ''sympinein'', "to drink together") was a part of a banquet that took place after the meal, when drinking for pleasure was acc ...

''. These works were left incomplete. His commentary on ''Odyssey'', i.–xii., was completed by his pupil

William Walter Merry William Walter Merry (1835–1918) was an English classical scholar, clergyman, and educator. Life William Merry was born in Evesham, Worcestershire, and was educated at Cheltenham College and Balliol College, Oxford, where he gained the Chan ...

(Clarendon Press, 1st edit. 1876). Of his work on Plato he lived to finish only the ''Apology''. It was printed after his death at the Clarendon Press in 1867. In the same volume appeared a ''Digest of Platonic Idioms''. He made various translations, in the ''Anthologia Oxoniensis'' and in ''Sabrinæ Corolla''. These were collected, with additions, in ''Reliquiæ Metricæ'' (Oxford and London, 1867).

References

* ;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Riddell, James 1823 births 1866 deaths English classical scholars Fellows of Balliol College, Oxford English male writers Homeric scholars