John V. Luce
Encyclopedia
John Victor Luce was an Irish classicist, former professor and emeritus Fellow of Classics
at Trinity College, Dublin
. He was also the College Orator between 1971 and 2005.
Luce entered Trinity in 1938 to read Classics, and was elected a Foundation Scholar in his first year, a highly unusual achievement. He took a double Moderatorship in Classics and Philosophy
and was awarded Gold Medals for both subjects. He was Auditor of the College Classical Society in 1942-43. He was elected a Fellow of Trinity in 1948 and served as Erasmus Smith's
Professor of Oratory until 1989.
John Luce was the son of Arthur Aston Luce, the long serving fellow of TCD, nephew of Gordon Hannington Luce, the noted scholar of Burmese and Asian History and Bloomsbury group member, first cousin of Rex Warner, classicist and author of novels such as the Airodrome.
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...
at Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...
. He was also the College Orator between 1971 and 2005.
Luce entered Trinity in 1938 to read Classics, and was elected a Foundation Scholar in his first year, a highly unusual achievement. He took a double Moderatorship in Classics 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 was awarded Gold Medals for both subjects. He was Auditor of the College Classical Society in 1942-43. He was elected a Fellow of Trinity in 1948 and served as Erasmus Smith's
Erasmus Smith
Erasmus Smith was an English merchant, landowner and philanthropist in the field of education who lived during a period of political and religious turbulence....
Professor of Oratory until 1989.
John Luce was the son of Arthur Aston Luce, the long serving fellow of TCD, nephew of Gordon Hannington Luce, the noted scholar of Burmese and Asian History and Bloomsbury group member, first cousin of Rex Warner, classicist and author of novels such as the Airodrome.
Partial bibliography
- The End of AtlantisAtlantisAtlantis is a legendary island first mentioned in Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias, written about 360 BC....
: New Light on an Old Legend, London 1969 - The Quest for UlyssesOdysseusOdysseus or Ulysses was a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem the Odyssey. Odysseus also plays a key role in Homer's Iliad and other works in the Epic Cycle....
(with William Bedell StanfordWilliam Bedell StanfordWilliam Bedell Stanford was an Irish classical scholar and senator. He was Regius Professor of Greek at Trinity College, Dublin between 1940 and 1980 and served as the twenty-second Chancellor of the University between 1982 and 1984.He was born in Belfast, the son of a Dublin-born Church of...
), London 1974 - HomerHomerIn 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...
and the Heroic Age, London 1975 - Trinity College Dublin: The First 400 Years, Dublin 1991
- An Introduction to Greek Philosophy, London 1992
- Orationes Dublinienses Selectae (1971-1990), Dublin 1991
- Celebrating Homer's Landscapes: Troy and Ithaca Revisited, New Haven 1999
- Orationes Dublinienses Selectae II (1990-2002), Dublin 2004