Brooks Otis

Who was Brooks Otis?

Brooks Otis was an American scholar of Classical languages and literature. Born in Boston, he graduated from Harvard in 1929, took the M.A. in 1930, and received the Ph.D. in 1935. He was one of the founders of the Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies in Rome, Italy, in 1965. He was a member of the Guild of Scholars of The Episcopal Church.

He was known for some of the most concise and penetrating critical essays written on classical literature. His first book, published at the age of 55, was Virgil: A Study in Civilized Poetry, which was immediately recognized as a classic. He also wrote Ovid as an Epic Poet and the posthumous Cosmos and Tragedy: An Essay on the Meaning of Aeschylus, which was part of a long manuscript left unfinished at his death, entitled "The Transcendence of Tragedy".