Anne Lefèvre
Encyclopedia
Anne Le Fèvre Dacier better known during her lifetime as Madame Dacier, was a French
scholar and translator
of the classics
.
She was born at Saumur
and was raised there. Her father, Tanneguy Le Fèvre, died in 1672 and she moved to Paris
, carrying with her part of an edition of Callimachus
, which she afterwards published. This was so well received that she was engaged as one of the editors of the Delphin
series of classical authors, in which she edited Publius Annius Florus
, Dictys Cretensis
, Sextus Aurelius Victor and Eutropius. Through her father she met her husband André Dacier
, who was his pupil.
In 1681 appeared her prose version of Anacreon and Sappho
, and in the next few years, she published prose versions of Terence
and some of the plays of Plautus
and Aristophanes
. In 1684 she and her husband retired to Castres
, with the object of devoting themselves to theological studies. In 1685 the Daciers were rewarded with a pension by Louis XIV of France
for their conversion to Roman Catholicism .
In 1699 appeared the prose translation of the Iliad
(followed nine years later by a similar translation of the
Odyssey
), which earned her the esteem in which she is held in French literature
. This version, which made Homer
known for the first time to many French men of letters (including Antoine Houdar de la Motte
) gave rise to a famous literary controversy. In 1714, La Motte published a poetical version of the Iliad, abridged and altered to suit his own taste, together with a Discours sur Homère, stating the reasons why Homer failed to satisfy his critical taste. Mme. Dacier replied in the same year in her work, Des causes de la corruption du goût.
La Motte carried on the discussion with light gaiety and badinage, and had the happiness of seeing his views supported by the abbé Jean Terrasson
, who in 1715 produced two volumes entitled Dissertation critique sur L'Iliade, in which he maintained that science
and philosophy
, and especially the science and philosophy of René Descartes
, had so developed the human mind that the poets of the eighteenth century were immeasurably superior to those of ancient Greece
.
In the same year, Claude Buffier
published Homère en arbitrage, in which he concluded that both parties were really agreed on the essential point that Homer was one of the greatest geniuses the world had seen, and that, as a whole, no other poem could be preferred to his; and, soon after (on 5 April 1716) in the house of Jean-Baptiste de Valincourt, Mme. Dacier and La Motte met at supper, and drank to the health of Homer
. Nothing of importance marks the rest of Mme. Dacier's life. She died at the Louvre
in 1720, aged 66.
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
scholar and translator
Translation
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. Whereas interpreting undoubtedly antedates writing, translation began only after the appearance of written literature; there exist partial translations of the Sumerian Epic of...
of the classics
Classics
Classics is the branch of the Humanities comprising the languages, literature, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and other culture of the ancient Mediterranean world ; especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during Classical Antiquity Classics (sometimes encompassing Classical Studies or...
.
She was born at Saumur
Saumur
Saumur is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France.The historic town is located between the Loire and Thouet rivers, and is surrounded by the vineyards of Saumur itself, Chinon, Bourgueil, Coteaux du Layon, etc...
and was raised there. Her father, Tanneguy Le Fèvre, died in 1672 and she moved to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, carrying with her part of an edition of Callimachus
Callimachus
Callimachus was a native of the Greek colony of Cyrene, Libya. He was a noted poet, critic and scholar at the Library of Alexandria and enjoyed the patronage of the Egyptian–Greek Pharaohs Ptolemy II Philadelphus and Ptolemy III Euergetes...
, which she afterwards published. This was so well received that she was engaged as one of the editors of the Delphin
Delphin Classics
The Delphin Classics was an edition of the Latin classics, intended to be comprehensive, which was originally created in the 17th century.The 25 volumes were created in the 1670s for the Louis, le Grand Dauphin, heir of Louis XIV , and were written in Latin...
series of classical authors, in which she edited Publius Annius Florus
Publius Annius Florus
Publius Annius Florus, Roman poet and rhetorician, identified by some authorities with the historian Florus.The introduction to a dialogue called Virgilius orator an poeta is extant, in which the author states that he was born in Africa, and at an early age took part in the literary contests on...
, Dictys Cretensis
Dictys Cretensis
Dictys Cretensis of Knossus was the legendary companion of Idomeneus during the Trojan War, and the purported author of a diary of its events, that deployed some of the same materials worked up by Homer for the Iliad...
, Sextus Aurelius Victor and Eutropius. Through her father she met her husband André Dacier
André Dacier
André Dacier , Latin Andreas Dacerius, was a French classical scholar and editor of texts. He began his career with an edition and commentary of Festus' De verborum significatione, and was the first to produce a "readable" text of the 20-book work.- Biography:Dacier was born at Castres in upper...
, who was his pupil.
In 1681 appeared her prose version of Anacreon and Sappho
Sappho
Sappho was an Ancient Greek poet, born on the island of Lesbos. Later Greeks included her in the list of nine lyric poets. Her birth was sometime between 630 and 612 BC, and it is said that she died around 570 BC, but little is known for certain about her life...
, and in the next few years, she published prose versions of Terence
Terence
Publius Terentius Afer , better known in English as Terence, was a playwright of the Roman Republic, of North African descent. His comedies were performed for the first time around 170–160 BC. Terentius Lucanus, a Roman senator, brought Terence to Rome as a slave, educated him and later on,...
and some of the plays of Plautus
Plautus
Titus Maccius Plautus , commonly known as "Plautus", was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest surviving intact works in Latin literature. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the genre devised by the innovator of Latin literature, Livius Andronicus...
and Aristophanes
Aristophanes
Aristophanes , son of Philippus, of the deme Cydathenaus, was a comic playwright of ancient Athens. Eleven of his forty plays survive virtually complete...
. In 1684 she and her husband retired to Castres
Castres
Castres is a commune, and arrondissement capital in the Tarn department and Midi-Pyrénées region in southern France. It lies in the former French province of Languedoc....
, with the object of devoting themselves to theological studies. In 1685 the Daciers were rewarded with a pension by Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
for their conversion to Roman Catholicism .
In 1699 appeared the prose translation of the Iliad
Iliad
The Iliad is an epic poem in dactylic hexameters, traditionally attributed to Homer. Set during the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles...
(followed nine years later by a similar translation of the
Odyssey
Odyssey
The Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other work ascribed to Homer. The poem is fundamental to the modern Western canon, and is the second—the Iliad being the first—extant work of Western literature...
), which earned her the esteem in which she is held in French literature
French literature
French literature is, generally speaking, literature written in the French language, particularly by citizens of France; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak traditional languages of France other than French. Literature written in French language, by citizens...
. This version, which made Homer
Homer
In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
known for the first time to many French men of letters (including Antoine Houdar de la Motte
Antoine Houdar de la Motte
Antoine Houdar de la Motte was a French author.He was born and died in Paris. In 1693 his comedy, Les Originaux, was a complete failure, and so depressed the author that he contemplated joining the Trappists. Four years later he began writing texts for operas and ballets, e.g...
) gave rise to a famous literary controversy. In 1714, La Motte published a poetical version of the Iliad, abridged and altered to suit his own taste, together with a Discours sur Homère, stating the reasons why Homer failed to satisfy his critical taste. Mme. Dacier replied in the same year in her work, Des causes de la corruption du goût.
La Motte carried on the discussion with light gaiety and badinage, and had the happiness of seeing his views supported by the abbé Jean Terrasson
Jean Terrasson
Jean Terrasson , often referred to as the Abbe Terrasson, was a French priest, author, and most notably a member of the Académie française....
, who in 1715 produced two volumes entitled Dissertation critique sur L'Iliade, in which he maintained that science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
and philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
, and especially the science and philosophy of René Descartes
René Descartes
René Descartes ; was a French philosopher and writer who spent most of his adult life in the Dutch Republic. He has been dubbed the 'Father of Modern Philosophy', and much subsequent Western philosophy is a response to his writings, which are studied closely to this day...
, had so developed the human mind that the poets of the eighteenth century were immeasurably superior to those of ancient Greece
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
.
In the same year, Claude Buffier
Claude Buffier
Claude Buffier , French philosopher, historian and educationalist, was born in Poland, of French parents, who returned to France, and settled at Rouen, soon after his birth....
published Homère en arbitrage, in which he concluded that both parties were really agreed on the essential point that Homer was one of the greatest geniuses the world had seen, and that, as a whole, no other poem could be preferred to his; and, soon after (on 5 April 1716) in the house of Jean-Baptiste de Valincourt, Mme. Dacier and La Motte met at supper, and drank to the health of Homer
Homer
In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
. Nothing of importance marks the rest of Mme. Dacier's life. She died at the Louvre
Louvre
The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
in 1720, aged 66.
Sources
- C.A. Sainte-BeuveCharles Augustin Sainte-BeuveCharles Augustin Sainte-Beuve was a literary critic and one of the major figures of French literary history.-Early years:...
, Causeries du lundi, vol. ix - J. F. Bodin, Recherches historiques sur la ville de Saumur (1818-1814)
- Hippolyte Rigault, Histoire de la querelle des anciens et des modernes (1856)
External links
- Émile EggerÉmile EggerÉmile Egger was a French scholar who was born in Paris.From 1840 to 1855, Egger was assistant professor, and from 1855 until his death he was professor of Greek literature in the Faculté des Lettres at Paris University...
, L'Hellénisme en France, ii. (1869), - Mémoires de Saint-Simon, iii.
- Anne Dacier
- 1911 encyclopaedia/Andre Dacier