Bernadotte Perrin

Bernadotte Perrin
Born	15 September 1847 Goshen, Connecticut, United States
Died	31 August 1920 Saratoga, New York, United States
Nationality	American
Occupation	Classical philologist, Greek scholar, university professor
Education	Yale University (B.A., Ph.D.)
Academic Positions	Professor of Greek, Adelbert College; Lampson Professor of Greek Literature and History, Yale University
Known For	His eleven-volume translation of Plutarch's Lives for the Loeb Classical Library
Major Works	Caesar's Civil War; editions of Homer's Odyssey; Greek Dramas; Plutarch's Lives

Bernadotte Perrin (15 September 1847 – 31 August 1920) was an American classical philologist and academic who specialized in Greek literature and history. He was a professor at Western Reserve University and Yale University, where he held the Lampson Professorship of Greek Literature and History. He is best known for his eleven-volume translation of Plutarch's Lives for the Loeb Classical Library. He also edited works by Homer and Julius Caesar, published studies of Greek history and literature, and served as president of the American Philological Association.

Early Life and Education

Perrin was born in Goshen, Connecticut, on 15 September 1847. He was the son of the Reverend Lavalette Perrin, a Congregational minister, and Ann Eliza (Comstock) Perrin. He attended Hartford High School before entering Yale University, from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1869.

After graduation, Perrin taught at Hartford High School. He subsequently studied at the Yale Divinity School during 1870–1871 before undertaking postgraduate work in philology at Yale. He received his Ph.D. in 1873. His doctoral dissertation was entitled The Electra of Sophocles and the Choephoroi of Æschylus Compared.

From 1876 to 1878 he continued his philological studies in Europe, attending universities in Tübingen, Leipzig, and Berlin. He returned to the United States and resumed academic and teaching work in Connecticut before accepting a university appointment in Ohio.

Academic Career

In 1881 Perrin was appointed Professor of Greek at Western Reserve College in Hudson, Ohio. Following the college's relocation to Cleveland in 1882, it became known as Adelbert College of Western Reserve University. Perrin remained there until 1893, when he was appointed Professor of Greek at Yale University. In 1893 he also received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Western Reserve University.

At Yale, Perrin became Lampson Professor of Greek Literature and History in 1901. He also served as the university's public orator from 1898 to 1908. He retired from active teaching in 1909, although he continued his scholarly work and maintained an interest in classical studies.

Perrin was elected president of the American Philological Association for 1896–1897. He was also a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. From 1889 he served on the Managing Committee of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, initially representing Adelbert College and subsequently Yale University. For several years he chaired the committee's Publication Committee, which supervised the publication of the School's papers.

Classical Scholarship

Perrin's scholarship covered Greek literature, historiography, mythology, and the interpretation of ancient historical sources. His work included editions of classical texts for educational use, studies published in leading classical journals, and translations of ancient authors.

His early publication on Julius Caesar was a school edition of C. Iulii Caesaris De bello civili, published in New York in 1882 under the English title Caesar's Civil War. He subsequently published several studies concerning the campaigns and historiography of Caesar's civil war, including The Crastinus Episode at Palaepharsalus (1884) and Pharsalia, Pharsalus, Palaepharsalus (1885).

Perrin also worked extensively on Homer. He published editions of the first four books of the Odyssey in 1889 and Books V–VIII in 1894. In 1897 he collaborated with Thomas Day Seymour on further editions of Homer's Odyssey.

In 1900 he published Greek Dramas by Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes. The volume brought together Greek plays with biographical notes and a critical introduction by Perrin. His articles also examined Greek historiography, literary traditions, and the historical reliability of ancient authors.

Plutarch's Lives

Perrin's most extensive scholarly undertaking was his translation of Plutarch's Lives for the Loeb Classical Library. Before beginning the complete series, he had published individual translations of Themistocles and Aristides (1901), Cimon and Pericles with the Funeral Oration of Pericles (1910), and Nicias and Alcibiades (1912).

The Loeb edition of Plutarch's Lives was published in eleven volumes between 1914 and 1926. It presented the Greek text and English translation on opposite pages. Perrin was responsible for the English translation and, in the Greek edition of the first volume, is also identified in the Perseus catalogue as the editor of the Greek text. The catalogue specifically credits him as both editor and translator for the 1914 edition containing Theseus and Romulus.

Perrin completed the translation before his death. The 1920–1921 annual report of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens records that he had finished the eleven-volume work, describing it as a major scholarly undertaking. The publication record for the complete set extends to 1926, although Perrin died in 1920.

The first volume, published in 1914, contained Theseus and Romulus, Lycurgus and Numa, and Solon and Publicola. It is the edition used for the English translation and Greek text of the Life of Romulus in the Original Source Project.

Works

Perrin's principal publications include:

• C. Iulii Caesaris De bello civili: Caesar's Civil War (1882), school edition.
• The Crastinus Episode at Palaepharsalus (1884).
• Lucan as Historical Source for Appian (1884).
• Pharsalia, Pharsalus, Palaepharsalus (1885).
• The Odyssey under Historical Source-Criticism (1887).
• Homer's Odyssey, Books I–IV (1889).
• Homer's Odyssey, Books V–VIII (1894).
• Genesis and Growth of an Alexander-Myth (1895).
• The Ethics and Amenities of Greek Historiography (1897).
• Eight Books of Homer's Odyssey and Four Books of Homer's Odyssey, with Thomas Day Seymour (1897).
• Greek Dramas by Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes (1900), with biographical notes and a critical introduction by Perrin.
• Plutarch's Themistocles and Aristides (1901), translation.
• The Nikias of Pasiphon and Plutarch (1902).
• The Death of Alcibiades (1906).
• Recognition Scenes in Greek Literature (1909).
• The Austere Consistency of Pericles (Plutarch, Pericles ix–xv) (1909).
• Plutarch's Cimon and Pericles with the Funeral Oration of Pericles (1910), translation.
• Plutarch's Nicias and Alcibiades (1912), translation.
• Plutarch's Lives, eleven volumes, Loeb Classical Library (1914–1926).

External Links

• Bernadotte Perrin, Database of Classical Scholars, Rutgers University.
• Bernadotte Perrin Papers (MS 1018), Yale University Library.
• E. P. Morris, "Bernadotte Perrin: 1847–1920," American Journal of Philology, Vol. 41 (1920), pp. 405–406.