Gerald Else

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Gerald F. Else (d. 1982) was a distinguished American classicist, was born in Lincoln, Nebraska.

[edit] Biography

Else studied classics and philosophy at Harvard University and finished his PhD there in 1934. He taught at Harvard until he joined the U.S. Marine Corps as a Captain in 1943. After completing his service, in 1945 he became chair of the University of Iowa Classics Department, and in 1954 went to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where he remained for the rest of his career. He was chair of that department from 1957-1968. During that time he founded the Center for Coordination of Ancient and Modern Studies, seeking to unite the humanities and to show how the study of the ancient world is relevant to modern literature and modern concerns.

[edit] Accomplishments

Else's great work is entitled, Aristotle's Poetics: The Argument. It is a meticulous, monumental reading of Aristotle's treatise that was published in 1957. Widely regarded as a foundational work of literary theory, Else's other important contribution is The Origin and Early Form of Greek Tragedy, which was published in 1965. In this work he argued against the view of tragedy as having arisen from religious ritual. Else wrote several other works on Greek literature and philosophy.

Else was a member of the National Council in the Humanities, appointed by President Lyndon Johnson, and was President of the American Philological Association in 1964.

Else retired in 1977 and died in 1982. He is commemorated at Michigan by an annual lecture in the humanities.