'James Duport' (
1606,
Cambridge -
July 17 1679,
Peterborough) was an
English classical scholar. His father,
John Duport, who was descended from an old
Norman family (the Du Ports of Caen, who settled in
Leicestershire during the reign of
Henry IV), was master of
Jesus College. The son was educated at
Westminster School and at
Trinity College, where he became fellow and subsequently vicemaster. In
1639 he was appointed
Regius Professor of
Greek, in
1664 dean of Peterborough, and in
1668 master of
Magdalene College.
Throughout the troublous times of the
Civil War, in spite of the loss of his clerical offices and eventually of his professorship, Duport quietly continued his lectures. He is best known by his ''Homeri gnomologia'' (
1660), a collection of all the aphorisms, maxims and remarkable opinions in the ''
Iliad'' and ''
Odyssey'', illustrated by quotations from the
Bible and classical literature. His other published works chiefly consist of translations (from the Bible and
Prayer Book into Greek) and short original
poems, collected under the title of ''Horae subsecivae'' or ''Stromata''. They include congratulatory
odes (inscribed to the king); funeral odes; ''carmina comitialia'' (tripos verses on different theses maintained in the schools, remarkable for their philosophical and metaphysical knowledge); sacred
epigrams; and three books of miscellaneous poems (''Sylvae''). The character of Duports work is not such as to appeal to modern scholars, but he deserves the credit of having done much to keep alive the study of classical literature in his day.
The chief authority for the life of Duport is J. H. Monks ''Memoir'' (
1825); see also Sandys, (1st. Class. Schol. (1908), ii. 349).
References
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External links
★ includes "Quem Juppiter" from ''Homeri Gnomologia''