Boeckh, PHILIPP AUGUST

Boeckh, PHILIPP AUGUST, classical antiquary, was born at Karlsruhe, November 24, 1785, and entered the university of Halle in 1803. The prelections of Wolf determined him to the science of philology, of which, in 1809, he became professor at the university of Heidelberg. In 1811 he was translated to the chair of Rhetoric and Ancient Literature at Berlin, where he lectured for upwards of forty years, and where he died, August 3, 1867. Boeckh's conception of philology as an organically constructed whole aimed at nothing short of an intellectual reproduction of antiquity, and consequently excited for a long time great opposition among his professional contemporaries, but it undoubtedly gave an impetus to a deeper study of the old classical world. His lectures include not merely a grammatico-historical interpretation of the ancient authors, but also archaeology proper, the history of ancient literature, philosophy, politics, religion, and social life. His four great works, which have in fact opened up new paths in the study of antiquity, are (1) his edition of Pindar (2 vols. 1811-21), in which the metre and rhythm of the poet, as well as his artistic skill, are investigated and discussed with profound knowledge of the subject; (2) Die Staatshaushaltung der Athener (2 vols. 1817; 3d ed. by Frankel, 1887), a work which remains unsurpassed for subtle research, surprising results, and clear exposition; it was translated into English by Sir George Cornewall Lewis under the title of The Public Economy of Athens (1828); (3) Metrologische Untersuchungen über Gewichte, Münzfusse, und Masse des Altertums (1838); (4) Urkunden über das Seewesen des Attischen Staats (1840). His lesser works are all valuable, and besides investigations in ancient chronology, editions of the Antigone of Sophocles (1843), and of the fragments ascribed to Philolaus (1819), and dissertations on Plato's cosmical system, include lectures and critiques collected under the title Gesammelte kleine Schriften (7 vols. 1858-74). Boeckh has also the honour of having commenced in 1824 the great work entitled Corpus Inscriptionum Græcarum, published at the expense of the Royal Academy of Berlin, which was continued by Franz, Kirchhoff, Curtius, and Rühl.