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Benjamin KennedyBritish classical philologist and translator.
Date of Birth: 06.11.1804
Country:  Great Britain |
Content:
- Benjamin Kennedy: Classical Scholar and Translator
- Headmaster and Professor
- Contributions to Classics
- The Anecdote of the Latin Distich
Benjamin Kennedy: Classical Scholar and Translator
Early Life and EducationBenjamin Kennedy was born near Birmingham, England, and studied at Shrewsbury School and St John's College, Cambridge University. He began teaching at Cambridge in 1828.
Headmaster and Professor
From 1836 to 1866, Kennedy served as one of the headmasters of Shrewsbury School. In 1867, he became Regius Professor of Greek at Cambridge.
Contributions to Classics
Kennedy authored several influential Latin grammar textbooks. He also wrote original Latin verse and translated English poetry into Latin. He published highly regarded annotated translations of Sophocles' "Oedipus Rex," Aeschylus' "Agamemnon," and Aristophanes' "The Birds," as well as Plato's "Theaetetus."
The Anecdote of the Latin Distich
Benjamin Kennedy is credited with the origin of a famous historical anecdote about a bet between two philologists. One claimed that a Latin distich could fit any content, while the other proposed the topic of a business meeting invitation. The first philologist supposedly rendered this document into Latin verse, demonstrating the versatility of the language.
