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Joachim Latacz (born 4 April 1934) is a German
classical philologist 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. Classi ...
. Latacz studied Classical Philology, Indo-Germanic languages, Ancient History and Archaeology from 1954-1956 at the
Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university i ...
. He then studied Classical Philology, Ancient History and Philosophy at the
Free University of Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public research university in Berlin, Germany. It is consistently ranked among Germany's best universities, with particular strengths in political science and ...
, completing his first degree in 1960. From 1960–1966 was a research associate at the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae under Bruno Snell and
Hartmut Erbse Hartmut Erbse (23 November 1915 – 7 July 2004) was a German classical philologist. Life The son of a dentist from Thüringen, Erbse studied classical philology in Hamburg, where he was well known for his lively hat-wear and received his doctora ...
at the University of Hamburg. He earned his
Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
at the Free University of Berlin under Uvo Hölscher in 1963. Latacz is a specialist in ancient Greek literature and culture, and is widely considered one of the most distinguished experts in the German-speaking world on Homer and epic.


Life and research

For over twenty years he was one of the most important supporters of
Manfred Korfmann Manfred Osman Korfmann (April 26, 1942 – August 11, 2005) was a German archeologist. He excavated Hisarlik, the present site of Troy situated in modern-day Turkey. He continued his research in Turkey, excavating from 1982 to 1987 at Besik ...
, the archaeologist and
Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in present-day Turkey, south-west of Çan ...
specialist. Latacz repeatedly defended the hypothesis that the
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 ...
ic account of the
Trojan War In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans (Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and has ...
essentially goes back to genuine historical events in the late
Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...
. In 1972 he submitted his habilitation in Classical Philology at the University of Würzburg, and was appointed associate professor thereat in 1978. Shortly afterwards he accepted a call to the Chair of Classical Philology (Greek) at the University of Mainz. From 1981 until his retirement Latacz was Ordinarius (Full Professor) of Greek Philology and Head of Department at the University of Basel (Switzerland). In addition to his teaching activity, he occupied himself with early Greek literature and published numerous works on Homer and the performance of Greek
tragedy Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy i ...
and lyrics. At present, he is working on a complete
commentary Commentary or commentaries may refer to: Publications * ''Commentary'' (magazine), a U.S. public affairs journal, founded in 1945 and formerly published by the American Jewish Committee * Caesar's Commentaries (disambiguation), a number of works ...
on 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 ''Odyss ...
'', with two volumes (text plus commentary) for each book of the epic (this will make it the largest commentary since that of Eustathius). A volume of prolegomena and six volumes of the commentary itself have been published so far.See also :de:Basler Homer-Kommentar.


Bibliography

;Monographs * (1966) ''Zum Wortfeld ‚Freude‘ in der Sprache Homers'', Heidelberg (PhD thesis at Freie Universität Berlin 1963) * (1977) ''Kampfparänese, Kampfdarstellung und Kampfwirklichkeit in der Ilias, bei Kallinos und Tyrtaios'', München( Zetemata 66,
Habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including a ...
thesis, Würzburg 1972) * (1985) ''Homer. Der erste Dichter des Abendlands'', München/Zürich, 2nd ed. 1989, 3rd ed. Düsseldorf/Zürich 1997; 4th continuously revised ed. 2003. (Also translated into Italian 1990, nd ed. 1998, Dutch 1991, English 1996, 1998 (paperback), Greek 2000 and Turkish 2001.) * (1992, with Bernhard Kytzler and Klaus Sallmann) ''Klassische Autoren der Antike: Literarische Porträts von Homer bis zu Boethius'', Frankfurt/Main 1992. * (1993) ''Einführung in die griechische Tragödie'', 2nd continuously updated ed. 2003. (Also in Turkish in 2006.) * (1994) ''Erschließung der Antike: Kleine Schriften zur Literatur der Griechen und Römer. Edited by Fritz Graf, Jürgen von Ungern-Sternberg, Arbogast Schmitt and Rainer Thiel'', Stuttgart/Leipzig. * (1995) ''Achilleus. Wandlungen eines europäischen Heldenbildes'', Stuttgart/Leipzig, 2nd ed. 1997. * (1996, with Bernhard Kytzler and Klaus Sallmann) ''Kleine Enzyklopädie der antiken Autoren. Literarische Porträts von Homer bis Boethius'', Frankfurt/Main. * (1998) ''Fruchtbares Ärgernis. NietzschesGeburt der Tragödie‘ und die gräzistische Tragödienforschung'', Basel. * (2001) ''Troia und Homer. Der Weg zur Lösung eines alten Rätsels''. München/Berlin, 2nd ed. 2001, 3rd ed. 2001, 4th entirely updated ed. 2003, 5th continuously reupdated and extended ed. Leipzig 2005, 6th updated and extended ed. 2010. (With translations into Spanish 2003, English 2004 and Greek 2005; Turkish in progress). * (2001) ''Troia – Wilios – Wilusa. Drei Namen für ein Territorium''. Basel, 2nd ed. 2002. (Special print for the exhibition „Troia – Traum und Wirklichkeit“ in the
Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany) is one of the most visited museums in Germany. Known as the ''Bundeskunsthalle'' for short, it is part of the so-called "Mu ...
, Bonn (16 November 2001 — 17 February 2002); obtainable from the author) ;Edition (books) * (1979) ''Homer. Tradition und Neuerung'', Darmstadt (
Wege der Forschung ''Wege der Forschung'' (WdF, ''Ways of Research'') is the name of a historic interdisciplinary book series about topics of humanities, first published by Hermann Gentner Verlag in Bad Homburg, later by Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft The W ...
436). * (1991) ''Griechische Literatur in Text und Darstellung. I: Archaische Periode (von Homer bis
Pindar Pindar (; grc-gre, Πίνδαρος , ; la, Pindarus; ) was an Ancient Greek lyric poet from Thebes. Of the canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Quintilian wrote, "Of the nine lyric poets, Pindar is ...
). Herausgegeben, eingeleitet, übersetzt und kommentiert von Joachim Latacz'', Stuttgart, 2nd revised ed. 1998. * (1991) ''Homer. Die Dichtung und ihre Deutung'' (Wege der Forschung 634), Darmstadt. * (1991) ''Zweihundert Jahre Homer-Forschung. Rückblick und Ausblick'', Stuttgart/Leipzig. * (2008) ''Homer. Der Mythos von Troia in Dichtung und Kunst'', München 2008 (= academic companion volume for the exhibition of Homer in Basel-Mannheim 2008–09). ;Edition (journals, book series) * (1975–1998) ''Würzburger Jahrbücher für die Altertumswissenschaft''. * (1991–) ''Studia Troica''. * (2000–) '' Homers Ilias. Gesamtkommentar''.


Notes


External links


Outline of the BK (''Basel Kommentar'') projectHomepage

Publication list
(Vollständiges Schriftenverzeichnis PDF 242 KB) {{DEFAULTSORT:Latacz, Joachim 1934 births Living people German classical scholars Hellenists University of Hamburg alumni Free University of Berlin alumni