T. B. L. Webster

Thomas Bertram Lonsdale WebsterFRAFSA(3 July 1905 – 31 May 1974)was a BritisharchaeologistandClassicist,known for his studies ofGreek comedy.

Professor Thomas B. L. Webster FRAFSA
T. B. L. Webster
Born	3 July 1905
Died	31 May 1974
Academic background
Alma mater	Charterhouse University of Oxford
Academic work
Discipline	Archaeology Classics
Institutions	University of Manchester University College,London Stanford University

Background

He was the son ofSir Thomas Lonsdale Webster.DuringWorld War Ihe attendedCharterhouse.As a student atOxford University,he first studiedGreek vasesthatJohn Beazleyhad brought in, but soon switched toMenanderand developed a lifelong interest inGreek comedythat resulted in "reconstructions of the plots of lost plays and... collections of evidence from widely disparate sources bearing on the history of the Greek theater".

Career

He followed William Moir Calder (1880–1960) as Hulme Professor of Greek atManchester University,a position he held 1931–48, when he was followed byH. D. (Henry) Westlake(1906–92). He then wasProfessor of GreekatUniversity College London1948–68 and in 1953 established theInstitute of Classical Studies.DuringWorld War IIhe served as an officer in themilitary intelligence.After his wife, the ClassicistA. M. Dale,died in 1967, he moved toStanford Universityas professor of classics and as an emeritus.

Awards and honours

• President of theJoint Association of Classical Teachers
• President of theHellenic Societyand theClassical Association
• Honorary Doctor of Letters atUniversity of Manchester1966 (also atTrinity College, Dublin)
• Fellowships of theRoyal Academyand theSociety of Antiquaries of London
• In honour of his work, a street in theAcropolisdistrict ofAthenshas been renamed to Webster Street (transliterated Gouemster on some signs and maps).

Publications

• A.S. Owen; T.B.L. Webster (1930).Excerpta ex antiquis scriptoribus quae adForum Romanumspectant / comparaverunt.Clarendon Press.
• T.B.L. Webster (1936).An introduction to Sophocles.Clarendon Press.
• —— (1939).Greek art and literature 530-400 B.C.Clarendon Press.
• —— (1950).Greek terracottas.Penguin Books.
• —— (1950).Studies inMenander.Manchester University Press.
• —— (1953).Studies in latergreek comedy.Manchester University Press.
• —— (1956).Greek theatre production.Methuen Publishing.
• —— (1956).Art and literature in fourth century Athens.Athlone Press.
• —— (1958).From Mycenae to Homer. A study in early Greek literature and art.Methuen Publishing.
• —— (1959).Greek art and literature 700–530 BC. The beginnings of modern civilization.Methuen Publishing.
• —— (1959).The birth of modern comedy of manners.Griffin Press,Adelaide.
• —— (1960).Monuments illustrating old and middle comedy.Bull.Suppl.,Institute of Classical Studies.
• —— (1961).Monuments illustrating new comedy.Bull.Suppl.,Institute of Classical Studies.
• —— (1962).Monuments illustrating tragedy and satyr play.Bull.Suppl.,Institute of Classical Studies.
• —— (1964).Hellenistic poetry and art.Methuen Publishing.
• —— (1966).The art of Greece. The age of hellenism.Crown Publishing.
• —— (1967).The tragedies ofEuripides.Methuen Publishing.
• —— (1969).Everyday life in classical Athens.Illustrated by Eva Wilson.B.T. Batsford.
• —— (1970).The Greek chorus.Methuen Publishing.
• —— (1970).Sophocles:Philoctetes.Cambridge University Press.
• Arthur Dale Trendall;—— (1971).Illustrations of Greek drama.Phaidon Press.
• —— (1972).Potter and patron in classical Athens.Methuen Publishing.
• —— (1973).Athenian culture and society.University of California Press,Berkeley.

External links

• T. B. L. Websterat the Database of Classical Scholars