Godofredi Hermanni Opuscula

Gottfried Hermann's Opuscula (1827-1877) collects in eight volumes the shorter writings of this central figure of nineteenth-century classical philology. Best known for his work on Greek metrics and his editions of Aeschylus, Euripides and others, Hermann (1772-1848) drew on Kantian phenomenology as well as his own formidable understanding of ancient grammars to advance a compelling program of classical scholarship that took language itself as the primary witness to the distant past. Hermann's grammar-based scholarship drew criticism, but established him as foundational to modern philology. As Sihler wrote in 1933, 'He accepted nothing on mere authority, but investigated the causes and roots of every matter.' Volume 1 (1827) contains essays on Greek literature, including a fragment from Sophocles' Clytemnestra, as well as occasional works, such as a poem dedicated to his university, Leipzig. This diverse collection provides fuller insight into the mind of this highly influential scholar.