Richard Porson

Richard Porson 1759-1808, English classical scholar, b. Norfolk. A poor boy, he showed such astonishing powers of memory that patrons sent him through Eton and Cambridge. He was appointed regius professor of Greek at Cambridge in 1792, and lived in London, where he edited several plays of Euripides. A scrupulous scholar, Porson was a textual critic of the highest order and changed existing ideas of Greek meter. His treatises and criticism were edited by Thomas Kidd (1815) and his correspondence by H. R. Luard (1851).

Bibliography: See biography by M. L. Clarke (1937).

Porson, Richard (1759–1808), distinguished classical scholar. He edited four plays of Euripides (most notably Hecuba), and advanced Greek scholarship by his elucidation of Greek idiom and usage, by his study of Greek metres, and by his emendation of texts. He is also remembered for various witticisms and for contributions to the Gentleman's Magazine.

Porson, Richard (1759–1808). Scholar. Of comparatively humble family in Norfolk, Porson's youthful promise was so obvious that means were found to send him to Eton. Further contributions sent him to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was elected to a fellowship. In July 1792, being unwilling to take holy orders, he lost the fellowship, but five months later was elected to the regius chair of Greek. He did not lecture, rarely visited the university, but studied in London, producing a celebrated edition of Euripides.