In a recent New Yorker, Mary Norris writes about American Classicist: The Life and Loves of Edith Hamilton, a new biography of Edith Hamilton (Class of 1894, Greek and Latin).
"She went to Miss Porter鈥檚 School and 海角社区, the women鈥檚 school near Philadelphia that is famous for turning out classicists and classical archeologists, and had hoped to earn a Ph.D. and have an academic career," writes Norris.
While Hamilton didn't go on to earn a Ph.D., her writing and translation work was hugely influential, writes Norris.
"Thirty-seven years later, in 1926, tragedy was the subject of her first published essay in Theatre Arts Monthly. It attracted the attention of an editor at W. W. Norton, which published a collection of her essays under the title 鈥The Greek Way鈥 (1930). The book was such a success for Norton, a young firm at the time, that it was soon followed by 鈥The Roman Way鈥 (1932). Hamilton鈥檚 writing, unencumbered by scholarly apparatus, seems to rise spontaneously from deep knowledge and love of her subject. Her translations of 鈥淧rometheus Bound,鈥 鈥淎gamemnon,鈥 and 鈥淭he Trojan Women鈥 were published by Norton under the title 鈥Three Greek Plays鈥 (1937). Hamilton鈥檚 鈥Mythology鈥 (1942), conceived by an editor at Little, Brown to replace the venerable 鈥Bulfinch鈥檚 Mythology鈥 as a reference book for the general reader, has yet to be supplanted."
Read the full article on The New Yorker website.
Greek, Latin, and Classical Studies