Johann Heinrich Voss (german: Johann Heinrich Voß, ; 20 February 1751 – 29 March 1826) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

classicist and poet, known mostly for his translation 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 ...

's ''

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'', th ...

'' (1781) and ''

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 '' Odys ...

'' (1793) into

Life

Voss was born at Sommersdorf in

Mecklenburg-Strelitz The Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was a duchy in northern Germany consisting of the eastern fifth of the historic Mecklenburg region, roughly corresponding with the present-day Mecklenburg-Strelitz district (the former Lordship of Stargard), ...

as the son of a farmer. After attending the Gymnasium at

Neubrandenburg Neubrandenburg (lit. ''New Brandenburg'', ) is a city in the southeast of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is located on the shore of a lake called Tollensesee and forms the urban centre of the Mecklenburg Lakeland. The city is famous for its ...

from 1766–1769, he was obliged to accept a private tutorship in order to earn money to enable him to study at a university. At the invitation of Heinrich Christian Boie, whose attention he had attracted by poems contributed to the ''Göttinger Musenalmanach'', he went to 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 ...

in 1772. Here he studied

philology 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 ...

, his studies encompassing both classical and

modern language A modern language is any human language that is currently in use. The term is used in language education to distinguish between languages which are used for day-to-day communication (such as French and German) and dead classical languages such a ...

s, and became one of the leading spirits in the famous ''Hain'' or ''Dichterbund''. In 1775 Boie made over to him the editorship of the '' Musenalmanach'', which he continued to issue for several years. He married Boie's sister Ernestine in 1777. In 1778 Voss was appointed rector of the school at

Otterndorf Otterndorf () is a town on the coast of the North Sea in the federal state of Lower Saxony, Germany, and is part of the collective municipality (''Samtgemeinde'') of Land Hadeln. The town, located in the administrative district (''Landkreis'') of ...

. In 1781, after the publication of several treatises, he produced a

German-language German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is also a ...

text for

's ''

''. This work made the poem national with the

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

(new ed. by Bernays, 1881). In 1782, Voss accepted the rectorship of the gymnasium at

Eutin Eutin () is the district capital of Eastern Holstein county located in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein. As of 2020, the town had some 17,000 inhabitants. History The name Eutin (originally Utin) is of Slavic origin. Its meaning i ...

. There, in 1789, he published translations of

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: th ...

's ''

Eclogues The ''Eclogues'' (; ), also called the ''Bucolics'', is the first of the three major works of the Latin poet Virgil. Background Taking as his generic model the Greek bucolic poetry of Theocritus, Virgil created a Roman version partly by offer ...

'' and ''

Georgics The ''Georgics'' ( ; ) is a poem by Latin poet Virgil, likely published in 29 BCE. As the name suggests (from the Greek word , ''geōrgika'', i.e. "agricultural (things)") the subject of the poem is agriculture; but far from being an example ...

''. In 1793, his translation of Homer's ''Iliad'' appeared, along with the ''Odyssey'' in a new form. He also produced two volumes of controversial letters addressed to Christian Gottlob Heine (''Mythologische Briefe'', 1794). He retired from Eutin in 1802 with a pension of 600 thalers, and settled at

Jena Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a po ...

. In 1805, although

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as t ...

used his utmost endeavours to persuade him to stay, Voss accepted a call to a professorship of classical literature at the

University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

. Here, in the enjoyment of a considerable salary, he devoted himself entirely to his literary labours, translations and antiquarian research until his death.

Work

Poetry and essays

Voss was a man of a remarkably independent and vigorous character. From 1785 to 1795 he published in two volumes a collection of original poems, to which he afterwards made many additions. An edition of his poems in four volumes was issued in 1825. Of these original works, the idyllic poem ''Luise'', is uniformly singled out as his most successful. It was first printed in 1783, and reissued with changes in 1795. In this work, he sought to apply the style and methods of classical poetry to the expression of modern German thought and sentiment. The later works ''Wie ward Fritz Stolberg ein Unfreier'' (1819) and ''Antisymbolik'' (2 vols., 1824–1826), the latter written in opposition to

Georg Friedrich Creuzer Georg Friedrich Creuzer (; 10 March 1771 – 6 February 1858) was a German philologist and archaeologist. Life He was born at Marburg, the son of a bookbinder. After studying at Marburg and at the University of Jena, he went to Leipzig as a ...

, have been characterized as painstaking and dignified, but dreary. His poems were often set by contemporary composers such as C.P.E. Bach,

Johann Friedrich Reichardt Johann Friedrich Reichardt (25 November 1752 – 27 June 1814) was a German composer, writer and music critic. Early life Reichardt was born in Königsberg, East Prussia, to lutenist and ''Stadtmusiker'' Johann Reichardt (1720–1780). Johann Fr ...

, and Johann Abraham Peter Schulz, and also later composers such as Felix Mendelssohn,

Carl Maria von Weber Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber (18 or 19 November 17865 June 1826) was a German composer, conductor, virtuoso pianist, guitarist, and critic who was one of the first significant composers of the Romantic era. Best known for his operas, ...

, and Johannes Brahms. Many of his poems and settings of them were published in the ''Musenalmanach''. Based on his correspondence with Schulz, he favored a folklike style of Lied composition. Voss's ''Mythologische Briefe'', his ''Antisymbolik'', and other writings made important contributions to the study of

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narra ...

. He was also prominent as an advocate of the right of free judgment in religion, and at the time when some members of the Romantic school were being converted to the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, he produced a strong impression by a powerful article, in ''Sophronizon'', on his friend Friedrich von Stolberg's repudiation of

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

(1819).

Reception and criticism

According to the ''Metzler Lexikon'', the heroines of the Voss's ballad ''Der Freier'' and a German traditional song share not only the black colour of hair (eyes), but also some primitive — or even erotic — ″sensuality".

Translations

It is, however, as a translator that Voss chiefly owes his place in German literature. His translations indicate not only sound scholarship but a thorough mastery of the laws of German diction and rhythm. The most famous of his translations are those of Homer. The translation of the ''

'', as originally issued in 1781, is singled out as the most successful. He also translated

Hesiod Hesiod (; grc-gre, Ἡσίοδος ''Hēsíodos'') was an ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. He is generally regarded by western authors as 'the first written poet ...

(1806),

Theocritus Theocritus (; grc-gre, Θεόκριτος, ''Theokritos''; born c. 300 BC, died after 260 BC) was a Greek poet from Sicily and the creator of Ancient Greek pastoral poetry. Life Little is known of Theocritus beyond what can be inferred from h ...

, Bion and

Moschus Moschus ( el, Μόσχος), ancient Greek bucolic poet and student of the Alexandrian grammarian Aristarchus of Samothrace, was born at Syracuse and flourished about 150 BC. Aside from his poetry, he was known for his grammatical work, nothing o ...

(1808), the whole of

(1799, rev. ed. 1821), Horace (1806),

Tibullus Albius Tibullus ( BC19 BC) was a Latin poet and writer of elegies. His first and second books of poetry are extant; many other texts attributed to him are of questionable origins. Little is known about the life of Tibullus. There are only a f ...

(1810), Propertius (1830) and selections from

Ovid Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the th ...

(1798). He prepared a critical edition of Tibullus. From 1818 to 1829, a translation of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's plays in 9 volumes was published. This work Voss completed with the help of his sons Heinrich and Abraham, both of whom were scholars and writers of considerable ability, though the result has been characterized as less successful than

Schlegel Schlegel is a German occupational surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Anthony Schlegel (born 1981), former American football linebacker * August Wilhelm Schlegel (1767–1845), German poet, older brother of Friedrich * Brad Schlege ...

's work. Voss's ''Sämtliche poetische Werke'' were published by his son Abraham in 1835; new ed. 1850. A selection is in A. Sauer, ''Der Göttinger Dichterbund'', vol. i. (

Joseph Kürschner Joseph Kürschner (20 September 1853, in Gotha – 29 July 1902, on a journey to Huben) was a German author and editor most often cited for his critical edition of classics from German literature. Biography At first engaged in mechanical en ...

's ''Deutsche National-literatur'', vol. 49, 1887). His ''Letters'' were published by his son in 3 or 4 volumes (Halberstadt, 1829–1833). Voss left a short autobiography, ''Abriß meines Lebens'' (1818). See also Wilhelm Herbst, ''Johann Heinrich Voß'' (3 volumes, Leipzig, 1872–1876); Friedrich Heussner, ''Johann Heinrich Voß als Schulmann in Eutin. Festschrift zum hundertjährigen Gedenktage seiner Ankunft daselbst'' (1882); and another life by Paulus (Heidelberg, 1826); also Prutz, ''Der Göttinger Dichterbund'' (Leipzig, 1841). According to ''

Bartlett's Familiar Quotations ''Bartlett's Familiar Quotations'', often simply called ''Bartlett's'', is an American reference work that is the longest-lived and most widely distributed collection of quotations. The book was first issued in 1855 and is currently in its ninet ...

'', Voss is the most likely source for the phrase ''Wein, Weib und Gesang'', or, in English, '' wine, women and song''. Voss's full phrase is ''Wer nicht liebt Wein, Weib und Gesang / Der bleibt ein Narr sein Lebelang'' ("He who loves not wine, woman and song / Remains a fool his whole life long").

Notes

References

* * *

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Voss, Johann Heinrich 1751 births 1826 deaths German classical scholars 18th-century German poets 19th-century German poets German translators People from Mecklenburg-Strelitz University of Göttingen alumni Heidelberg University faculty Translators of William Shakespeare German male poets German male dramatists and playwrights 18th-century German dramatists and playwrights 19th-century German dramatists and playwrights 19th-century German male writers Translators of Homer Translators of Virgil