author
Lewis Richard Farnell
1856–1934
A leading British classicist of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, he is best remembered for major studies of Greek religion and myth. His long Oxford career also took him to the university’s top offices, including rector of Exeter College and vice-chancellor.
3 Audiobooks
Greece and Babylon : A comparative sketch of Mesopotamian, Anatolian and Hellenic religions
by Lewis Richard Farnell
The evolution of religion : An anthropological study
by Lewis Richard Farnell
Outline-history of Greek religion
by Lewis Richard Farnell
About the author
Born in Salisbury in 1856, he was educated at the City of London School and then at Exeter College, Oxford, where he earned a first in Literae Humaniores. He became a fellow of Exeter College in 1880 and went on to build a long academic career there.
His reputation rests especially on his work in classical scholarship and the study of ancient religion. Among his best-known books are The Cults of the Greek States and The Evolution of Religion, works that helped shape English-language study of Greek cult, myth, and ritual.
Later in life, he served as rector of Exeter College and as vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford from 1920 to 1923. He died in 1934, leaving behind a body of scholarship that remained influential for students of Greek religion and the ancient world.