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August Böckh or Boeckh (; ; 24 November 1785 – 3 August 1867) was a German
classical scholar Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...
and
antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic si ...
.


Life

He was born in
Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...
, and educated at the local gymnasium; in 1803 he left for the University of Halle, where he studied
theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...
. F. A. Wolf was teaching there, and creating an enthusiasm for classical studies; Böckh transferred from theology to
philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...
, and became the best of Wolf's scholars. In 1807, he established himself as '' Privatdozent'' in the University of Heidelberg and was shortly afterwards appointed professor extraordinarius, becoming professor two years later. The common misconception of Böckh's forenames being Philipp August originated in Heidelberg where staff of the university misread the abbreviation 'Dr phil' (doctor philosophiae) as 'Dr Philipp August Böckh'. In 1811, he moved to the new University of Berlin, where he had been appointed professor of eloquence and classical literature. He remained there till his death. He was elected a member of the Academy of Sciences of Berlin in 1814, and for a long time acted as its secretary. Many of the speeches contained in his ''Gesammelte kleine Schriften'' were delivered in this latter capacity. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...
in 1853. Böckh died in
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
in 1867, aged 81.


Works

Böckh worked out the ideas of Wolf in regard to philology and illustrated them by his practice. Discarding the old idea that philology consisted in a minute acquaintance with words and the exercise of the critical art, he regarded it as the entire knowledge of antiquity (''totius antiquitatis cognitio''), historical and philosophical. He divides philology into five parts: first, an inquiry into public acts, with a knowledge of times and places, into civil institutions, and also into law; second, an inquiry into private affairs; third, an exhibition of the religions and arts of the ancient nations; fourth, a history of all their moral and physical speculations and beliefs, and of their literatures; and fifth, a complete explanation of the language. Böckh set forth these ideas in a
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
oration delivered in 1822 (''Gesammelte kleine Schriften'', i.). In his speech at the opening of the congress of German philologists in 1850, he defined philology as the historical construction of the entire life – therefore, of all forms of culture and all the productions of a people in its practical and spiritual tendencies. He allows that such a work is too great for any one person; but the very infinity of subjects is the stimulus to the pursuit of truth, and scholars strive because they have not attained. An account of Böckh's division of philology will be found in Freund's ''Wie studiert man Philologie?'' From 1806, till his death Böckh's literary activity was unceasing. His principal works include an edition of
Pindar Pindar (; ; ; ) was an Greek lyric, Ancient Greek lyric poet from Thebes, Greece, Thebes. Of the Western canon, canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Quintilian wrote, "Of the nine lyric poets, Pindar i ...
, the first volume of which (1811) contains the text of the Epinician odes; a treatise, ''De Metris Pindari'', in three books; and ''Notae Criticae'': the second (1819) contains the ''Scholia''; and part ii. of volume ii. (1821) contains a
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
translation, a commentary, the fragments and indices. It was for a long time the most complete edition of Pindar. But it was especially the treatise on the metres which placed Böckh in the first rank of scholars. This treatise forms an epoch in the treatment of the subject. In it the author threw aside all attempts to determine the Greek metres by mere subjective standards, pointing out at the same time the close connection between the music and the poetry of the Greeks. He investigated minutely the nature of Greek music as far as it can be ascertained, as well as all the details regarding Greek musical instruments; and he explained the statements of the ancient Greek writers on rhythm. In this manner he laid the foundation for a scientific treatment of Greek metres. His ''Die Staatshaushaltung der Athener'' (1817; 2nd ed. 1851, with a supplementary volume ''Urkunden über das Seewesen des attischen Staats''; 3rd ed. 1886) was translated into English under the title of ''The Public Economy of Athens''. In it he investigated a subject of peculiar difficulty with profound learning. He amassed information from the whole range of Greek literature, carefully appraised the value of the information given, and shows throughout every portion of it rare critical ability and insight. A work of a similar kind was his ''Metrologische Untersuchungen über Gewichte, Münzfüsse, und Masse des Alterthums'' (1838). In regard to the taxes and revenue of the Athenian state he derived a great deal of his most trustworthy information from inscriptions, many of which are given in his book. When the Berlin Academy of Sciences projected the plan of a ''Corpus Inscriptionum Graecarum'', Böckh was chosen as the principal editor. This work (1828–1877) is in four volumes, the third and fourth volumes being edited by J. Franz, E. Curtius, A. Kirchhoff and H. Röhl. Böckh's activity was continually digressing into widely different fields. He gained for himself a foremost position amongst the investigators of ancient chronology, and his name occupies a place by the side of those of Ideler and Mommsen. His principal works on this subject were: ''Zur Geschichte der Mondcyclen der Hellenen'' (1855); ''Epigraphisch-chronologische Studien'' (1856); ''Über die vierjährigen Sonnenkreise der Alten'' (1863), and several papers which he published in the ''Transactions'' of the Berlin Academy. Böckh also occupied himself with
philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
. One of his earliest papers was on the
Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born  BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...
nic doctrine of the world, ''De Platonica corporis mundani fabrica et de vera Indole, Astronomiae Philolaice'' (1810), to which may be added ''Manetho und die Hundsternperiode'' (1845). In opposition to Otto Gruppe, he denied that Plato affirmed the diurnal rotation of the earth (''Untersuchungen über das kosmische System des Platon'', 1852), and when in opposition to him Grote published his opinions on the subject (''Plato and the Rotation of the Earth''), Böckh was ready with his reply. Another of his earlier papers, and one frequently referred to, was ''Commentatio Academica de simultate quae Platoni cum Xenophonte intercessisse fertur'' (1811). Other philosophical writings were ''Commentatio in Platonis qui vulgo fertur Minoem'' (1806), and ''Philolaos des Pythagoreers Lehren nebst den Bruchstücken'' (1819), in which he endeavoured to show the genuineness of the fragments. Besides his edition of Pindar, Böckh published an edition of the ''Antigone'' of
Sophocles Sophocles ( 497/496 – winter 406/405 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. was an ancient Greek tragedian known as one of three from whom at least two plays have survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or contemporary with, those ...
(1843) with a poetical translation and essays. An early and important work on the Greek tragedians is his ''Graecae Tragoediae Principum ... num ea quae supersunt et genuine omnia sint et forma primitive servata'' (1808). The smaller writings of Böckh began to be collected in his lifetime. Three of the volumes were published before his death, and four after (''Gesammelte kleine Schriften'', 1858–1874). The first two consist of orations delivered in the university or academy of Berlin, or on public occasions. The third, fourth, fifth and sixth contain his contributions to the ''Transactions'' of the Berlin Academy, and the seventh contains his critiques. Böckh's lectures, delivered from 1809-1865, were published by Bratusehek under the title of ''Encyklopädie und Methodologie der philologischen Wissenschaften''A systematic articulation of Friedrich Schleiermacher's hermeneutics (). (1877; 2nd ed. Klussmann, 1886). His philological and scientific theories are set forth in Elze, ''Über Philologie als System'' (1845), and Reichhardt, ''Die Gliederung der Philologie entwickelt'' (1846). His correspondence with Karl Otfried Müller appeared at Leipzig in 1883. John Paul Pritchard has made an abridged translation of Böckh's ''Encyclopädie und Methodologie der philologischen Wissenschaften'': August Boeckh, ''On Interpretation and Criticism'', University of Oklahoma Press, 1968.


Works


''Philolaos des Pythagoreers Lehren nebst den Bruchstücken seines Werkes''
(1819) *'' Manetho und die Hundssternperiode, Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Pharaonen'' " Manetho and the Dog Star Period, A Contribution to the History of the Pharaohs" (1845)


See also

* Friedrich August Wolf


References


Citations


Sources

* * Frederick C. Beiser, ''The German Historicist Tradition'', Oxford University Press, 2011. *Max Hoffmann, ''August Böckh'', 1901. *S. Reiter, in ''Neue Jahrbücher für das klassische Altertum'' (1902), p. 436. *Sachse, ''Erinnerungen an August Böckh'', 1868. *Stark, in the ''Verhandlungen den Würzburger Philologensammlung'', 1868.


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Boeckh, August 1785 births 1867 deaths People from the Margraviate of Baden Scholars from the Kingdom of Prussia German classical scholars Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres Members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class) University of Halle alumni Academic staff of Heidelberg University Academic staff of the Humboldt University of Berlin Writers from Karlsruhe Members of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities