William C. Scott, professor emeritus of classics, died on Oct.13.
Scott was a distinguished scholar of ancient Greek literature and was widely recognized for his work on the Homeric poems.
“In his 38 years at Dartmouth, Bill Scott’s brilliance as a scholar was matched only by his generosity as a teacher and leader,” Arts and Sciences Interim Dean of Faculty John Carey said in a community message. “His research reshaped our understanding of Greek drama, and his visionary leadership helped transform Baker-Berry Library for the digital age. Even in retirement, he remained deeply committed to teaching, attracting eager learners to his Osher Lifelong Learning classes with the same passion and care that defined his career.”
Scott grew up in Winnetka, Illinois, and earned his BA in classics from Princeton University in 1959 as Phi Beta Kappa. After teaching at three private high schools, Scott returned to Princeton, earning his MA in 1962 and PhD in 1964, with a dissertation on “The Oral Nature of the Homeric Simile.” He also studied at the University of Munich in 1962-63 on a grant from the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst.
Scott met his wife, Mary Lyons (Baldwin), in graduate school at Princeton. They married in 1964, and that summer traveled throughout Europe for his museum research, marking the beginning of a lifetime of exploration together.
That fall Scott joined Haverford College as an assistant professor, and in 1966 he joined Dartmouth’s classics department, where he would spend his career. Over the following decades, he progressed through faculty and administrative leadership roles, serving as associate dean of the faculty, chairman of the Department of Classics, and chairman of the Humanities Division. He became Professor of Classics and Drama in 1975, was appointed Humanities Distinguished Research Professor in 1988, and was named Dartmouth Professor of Classics in 1994.
Among his many contributions to Dartmouth, Scott took particular pride in chairing the Task Force on the Library of the 21st Century in 1993, leading the renovation and expansion of Baker-Berry Library to ensure it would remain vital to students and faculty in an increasingly digital world. He also served as co-chair of the University Seminar on Information Technology and as member and chairman of the Council on Honorary Degrees.
Throughout his career, Scott demonstrated a deep commitment to his students and colleagues, supporting productions of Greek drama and special faculty seminars on world cultures. He also served as a guide on alumni tours to Greece, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, Israel, and the Black Sea.
A prolific scholar, Scott was the author of six books on classical studies, including Musical Design in Aeschylean Theater (1984), which was awarded the Goodwin Award of Merit by the American Philological Association as the year’s best book in the field. His 1996 book, Musical Design in Sophoclean Theater, extended his pioneering analysis of how metrical patterns functioned as a central feature of musical organization in Greek drama, arguing that significant portions of the plays cannot be fully realized on stage unless the musical effects created by the poet are incorporated.
His other major works include The Oral Nature of the Homeric Simile (1974), Prometheus Bound (1980), and Plato’s The Republic (1985). Ahead of his time in embracing open-access publishing, Scott made The Artistry of the Homeric Simile (2009) freely available online. He later reflected: “I have written several books on Greek literature, and yet have found the widest readership through a book on oral literature, The Artistry of the Homeric Simile, that I published open access with the Dartmouth College Library.”
In addition to his books, Scott published dozens of scholarly articles on Homer, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Catullus in leading journals. He often commented that his most insightful contribution to the field of classics was his introduction of the concept of the “simileme”—the idea that Homer’s repetition of certain descriptors for characters in the Iliad and the Odyssey had deeper meaning than had previously been realized by other scholars.
In 1997, Scott delivered Dartmouth’s 10th Annual Presidential Lecture, titled “The Gospel According to Odysseus.”
Scott served on several national scholarly committees, including as a member of the Managing Committee of the American School of Classical Studies in Athens and the Archbishop’s Commission on Greek Language and Culture for the Greek Orthodox Church.
Dartmouth peers remember Scott as a warm, generous colleague who regularly taught beyond his course load to support the ancient Greek curriculum. He thoughtfully reviewed junior colleagues’ manuscripts, even outside his expertise, doing background research to offer substantive feedback. Each morning, he spent half an hour in the Classics library, in what he called “the coffee klatch,” connecting with members of the Classics department to discuss teaching methods or catch up on their research.
After his retirement in 2004, Scott continued to teach through Dartmouth’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. His classes on Homer and Greek tragedies always filled quickly and received top reviews.
Scott’s curiosity and enthusiasm extended far beyond the classroom. In addition to Latin and Greek, he learned Spanish, German, Italian, and French. He embraced the natural beauty of the Upper Valley, spending time hiking, skiing, and skating. He regularly played squash and tennis with colleagues, and found joy in cooking, painting, and playing the piano.
Scott is survived by his wife Mary Lyons; his son Charles Scott (Virginia Scott); his daughters Ellen Delaney (Joseph Stanovich) and Alice Paik (David Paik); and six grandchildren: Caitlin Delaney; Lily, Eddie, and Sophie Scott; and Henry and Lyons Paik.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Scott’s memory to the William C. Scott Humanities Distinguished Research Professor and Family Fund.
A memorial service will take place on Friday, Nov. 21, at 2 p.m. at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Hanover, with a reception to follow in the Hayward Room of the Hanover Inn.
The Dartmouth flag will be lowered in Scott’s honor on Nov. 20 and 21.