DISSEN, GEORGE LUDOLF, an eminent German scholar, was born on the 17th of December 1784, at Grosscn-Schneen, near Got tingen, where his father was pastor. He lost both his parents at the age of thirteen, but a benevolent friend procured for him admission, free of expense, to tilt celebrated school at Pforta in Saxony, whither the boy was sent in his fourteenth year, and there he laid an excellent foundation for his future philological studies. In 1804 he went to the university of Gottingen, where until the year 1808 he devoted himself to the study of philology and philosophy under Heyne and Herbert. His former friend continued to support him in the university ; but he was obliged to increase his means by private tuition. The study of art and poetry, and of the beautiful in general, was his delight, and gave to his mind that tone and tendency which we can trace in all his literary productions. On his return to Gottingen he obtained the degree of Doctor in Philosophy, together with permission to deliver lectures in the university. On that occasion he published his first work, a dissertation—' Da Tern poribus et Modis Verbi Greed,' Got tingen, 1809, 4to. The principal subjects with which he now occupied himself, and on which he lectured, were Greek Grammar and Greek philosophy, especially Plato, the study of whose writings brought about an intimate friendship between him and Boeckh, who then used to visit Gottingen very often. His natural tendency to assemble around him young men of talent and congenial pursuits, induced him, towards the end of 1811, to form a philological society at GOttingen, of which be was elected president. In 1812 hq accepted the offer of an extraordinary professorship of Classical Philology in the University of Marburg. He entered upon his new office with an inaugural disser tation= De Philosophia llorali in Xenophoutis de Secrete Com mentariis tradita: Marburg, 1812. Philological studies were at that time rather neglected at Marburg, but Disaen gave a fresh impulse to them, although he did not remain there more than eighteen months ; for in the autumn of 1813 he accepted an invitation as extraordinary professor of Classical Literature in the University of Gottingen, which was always his favourite place, and where in 1817 he was appointed ordinary professor. Incessant study and a secluded life had already impaired his health, but his activity as a lecturer was very great. His lecture-room was always filled, and he succeeded in inspiring his audience with an ardent love of the study of antiquity. The zeal with which he devoted himself to his professional duties and the cultiva tion of his own mind prevented his doing much as an author; and all that was published by him during the period from 1815 to 1825 con sists of the part be took in Boeckh's great edition of Pinder, and some reviews which he wrote for the ' Gottinger Gelehrteu Anzeigen.' In regard to ancient writers, and poets in particular, Dissen directed his attention more particularly to analysing the connection of the ideas, a point which had been much neglected by previous commentators. With a view to supply this want he prepared a new edition of Pinder, which appeared in 1830 in 2 vols. 8vo ; and of which a second edition
with some improvements was published by Schneidewin iu 1843. In this work Dissen propounded his teathetical views respecting the artistic construction of the Pindario odes. The manner in which be has executed his task clearly shows that Dissen was not only no poet, but that he had little conception of the manner iu which a poet seta to work. He displays great analytical powers, but they would have been more properly applied to the works of a philosopher than to those of a poet. His edition of Pinder is nevertheless one of the best that we have.
Dissen's illness was of an asthmatic nature, and about this time had become so much worse, that he was obliged to give up lecturing ; b':t in proportion as his professional occupations decreased, his literary activity increased. Thus be produced in 1835 an edition of Tibullua, with valuable dissertations and a commentary, and in 1837 an editibis of Demosthenea's oration De Corona.' The great object of these two publications is the same as that of his Pinder, to establish a mode of interpreting the ancients, which should not merely explain the lan guage and subject-matter of a writer, but the artistic construction of his work, and should thus, as it were, trace the secret processes in the author's own mind. This mode of treating an ancient author may be very interesting and instructive, but it opens a wide field of specula tion, and the results are seldom satisfactory. Immediately after the appearance of his 'Pinder,' Dissen was severely criticised, and among others by his friend Boeckh, which greatly irritated him. His edition of Tibullus is perhaps his best and most satisfactory production : it should not be used without Disaen's Supplementum editionis Albii Tibulli Heynio-Wunderlichianw; which he published in 1819. His edition of the oration of Demosthenes contains many valuable remarks on the style and peculiarities of that orator : it was his last production, and appeared only a few days before his death, which took place about the middle of September, 1837.
Dissen was never married; but he supported with paternal care several young men of talent whose fathers had been his friends during their lifetime. He was a man of great sensibility, enthusiastic) for everything great and noble, and capable of the most devoted friend ship, though in his social intercourse he seldom conversed on any other topics than those relating to the study of antiquity, for his whole mental faculties were absorbed in his pursuits. Besides the works already mentioned, we must not leave unnoticed an excellent little treatise entitled 'Anleitung fiir Erzieher, die Odyssee mit Knaben zu lesen: with a preface by the philosopher Herbert, Gottingen, 1809, 8vo. A number of smaller dissertations in Latin and German, together with a selection of the reviews written by Diesel:, was published as a collection after his death by his friend K. 0. Moller, under the title of 'Kleine Lateinische and Deutsche Schriften, von Ludolf Dissent Got tingen, 1839, 8vo. It is preceded by biographical notices written by his friends Fr. Thierseh, F. G. Welcker, and K. 0. Mailer, from which the above notice is derived.