Died 26 October 1884, New Haven, Connecticut, United States | ||
Lewis Richard Packard was an American scholar best known for his work, ‘’Morality and Religion of the Greeks’’.
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Early life
He was born on August 22, 1836 in Philadelphia. His father was Friedrich Adolphus Packard. He graduated from Yale in 1856 with the intention of entering the ministry, but following a year of study at Berlin in 1857-8, a tour of Greece confirmed him as a Hellenist.
Yale professor
He returned to Yale and served as tutor (1859–63) and upon receipt of his Ph.D. in 1863 was hired as Professor of Greek at the age of 27. In 1866 he was named Hillhouse Professor of Greek.
His career was focused on teaching Greek language, literature, and culture. With John Williams White (1849–1917) of Harvard, he began the “College Series of Greek Authors” series of textbooks, but he was soon replaced by his colleague Thomas Day Seymour.
At the age of 35 he was diagnosed with a chronic illness, but he maintained an active professional life in spite of it. He chiefly published articles in organs of the American Philological Association, of which he was President in 1880-1.
In 1881 he published his most significant work, ‘’Morality and Religion of the Greeks’’ and was a leader in the founding of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, of which he was its second director, succeeding William Watson Goodwin in 1883-4.
Death
Following a trip to Athens to visit the school during his directorship, he fell ill and died in New Haven on October 26, 1884 at the age of 48.