Richard Bentley

Richard Bentley, born on January twenty-seventh, sixteen sixty-two, was a distinguished English classical scholar, critic, and theologian. Renowned as the founder of historical philology, Bentley played a pivotal role in establishing the English school of Hellenism. His contributions to the field were so significant that in eighteen ninety-two, A. E. Housman referred to him as 'the greatest scholar that England or perhaps that Europe ever bred.'

One of Bentley's most notable works, the Dissertation upon the Epistles of Phalaris, published in sixteen ninety-nine, challenged the authenticity of letters attributed to the Sicilian tyrant Phalaris. His groundbreaking investigation revealed that these letters were forgeries created by a Greek sophist in the second century CE, marking a landmark moment in textual criticism. Additionally, Bentley's research demonstrated that the sound represented by the letter digamma in some Greek dialects was also present in Homeric poetry, despite its absence in written form.

In seventeen hundred, Bentley ascended to the position of Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, where his autocratic style and contentious interactions with college fellows sparked considerable controversy and litigation. Nevertheless, he held this esteemed position for over four decades until his passing. In seventeen seventeen, he was appointed the Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Cambridge, where he introduced the first competitive written examinations in a Western university, revolutionizing academic assessment.

A fellow of the Royal Society, Bentley's interests extended to natural theology and the emerging physical sciences, leading him to correspond with the eminent Isaac Newton. He was responsible for overseeing the second edition of Newton's Principia Mathematica, although he entrusted much of the scientific work to his pupil, Roger Cotes, showcasing his collaborative spirit in the pursuit of knowledge.