SCALIGER, Julius Caesar

SCALIGER, Julius Caesar
(1484-1558)
Julius Caesar Scaliger, a French classicist of Italian birth, wrote on such varied topics as botany, zoology, grammar, and literary criticism. He composed a con­siderable volume of Latin verse, introduced a generation of French scholars to the Greco-Roman classics, and fathered a brilliant classicist, Joseph Justus Scaliger.*
Born in the Republic of Venice, Scaliger claimed, inaccurately, to descend from the Della Scala family who had ruled Verona for centuries. He left Italy in 1525 to become a physician in France. He first achieved fame in 1531 by attacking Erasmus's* Ciceronianus: O Dello stile migliore (Ciceronian: A Di­alogue on the Best Style of Speaking), a work in which Erasmus had ridiculed the purists for refusing to admit nonclassical terms into their Latin prose. Scaliger's attack indicates that he may not have understood precisely what Erasmus was ridiculing. In 1539 he wrote a commentary on a work by Hippocrates; a year later he wrote De causis linguae Latinae (On the Subject of the Latin language), a Latin grammar based on scientific principles. In 1556 he wrote a commentary on an ancient book about plants that had been incorrectly attributed to Aristotle. In 1557 he addressed some of the problems raised by a contemporary natural philosopher, Girolamo Cardano.* Two unfinished commentaries, one on Aristotle, the other on Theophrastus, were published posthumously.
His most influential work was another posthumous book, his Poetice (Poetics) of 1561, in which he grounded a theory of literary criticism in the ancient works on rhetoric and poetics, including those of Aristotle. It was this wider conception of "criticism," in which the critic judges the quality of the work, rather than simply argues for the correctness of the text, that was the greatest contribution of the elder Scaliger.
Bibliography
A. Grafton, Joseph Scaliger: A Study in the History ofClassical Scholarship, 2 vols., 1983-93.
Tim McGee

Renaissance and Reformation 1500-1620: A Biographical Dictionary. . 2001.

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  • Scaliger, Julius Caesar — • Article by Paul Lejay on this scholar s life and writings Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006 …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • SCALIGER Julius Caesar — Criticus, Poeta, Medicus et Philosophus insignis, magnum sibi in orbe nomen peperit, saeculô praeteritô. Hunc Italia genuit, educavit Germania, Gallia ad mortem usque tenuit. Natus A. C. 1484. in castro Ripa, territorii Veronensis, ex Principibus …   Hofmann J. Lexicon universale

  • Scaliger,Julius Caesar — Scal·i·ger (skălʹə jər), Julius Caesar. 1484 1558. Italian physician and scholar noted for his scientific and philosophical writings. His son Joseph Justus Scaliger (1540 1609), a French scholar, pioneered the modern study of classical texts. * * …   Universalium

  • Scaliger, Julius Caesar — ▪ French scholar Scaliger also spelled  Scaligeri   born April 23, 1484, Riva, Republic of Venice [Italy] died Oct. 21, 1558, Agen, Fr.       French classical scholar of Italian descent who worked in botany, zoology, grammar, and literary… …   Universalium

  • Scaliger, Julius Caesar — (1484 1558)    Italian humanist, fa ther of Josephus Justus Scaliger. Born Giulio Bordone, the son of a painter of miniatures who settled in Venice, he claimed to be de scended from the della Scala family that had formerly ruled Verona. For a… …   Historical Dictionary of Renaissance

  • Scaliger, Julius Caesar, and Scaliger, Joseph Justus — born April 23, 1484, Riva, Republic of Venice died Oct. 21, 1558, Agen, France born Aug. 5, 1540, Agen, France died Jan. 21, 1609, Leiden, Holland Classical scholars. Julius worked in botany, zoology, and grammar but was chiefly interested in… …   Universalium

  • Julius Caesar Scaliger — (* 23. April 1484 in Riva del Garda; † 21. Oktober 1558 in Agen, Lot et Garonne) war ein italienischer Humanist, Dichter und Naturforscher …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Julius Caesar Scaliger — or Giulio Cesare della Scala (April 23, 1484 ndash; October 21, 1558), was an Italian scholar and physician spending a large part of his career in France. He employed the techniques and discoveries of Renaissance humanism to defend… …   Wikipedia

  • Julius Caesar Scaliger —     Julius Caesar Scaliger     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► Julius Caesar Scaliger     (It., DELLA SCALA).     Humanist, b. at Riva on Lake Garda in 1484; d. at Agen, France, 21 Oct., 1558. He was brought to France as physician to Antonio de la… …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Caesar — /see zeuhr/, n. 1. Gaius /gay euhs/ (or Caius) /kay euhs/ Julius, c100 44 B.C., Roman general, statesman, and historian. 2. a title of the Roman emperors from Augustus to Hadrian, and later of the heirs presumptive. 3. any emperor. 4. a tyrant or …   Universalium

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