Franz Heinrich Ludolf Ahrens

Franz Heinrich Ludolf Ahrens (June 6, 1809 – September 25, 1881), was a German philologist.

He was born at Helmstedt. After studying at the University of Göttingen (1826–1829) under Otfried Müller and Ludolf Dissen, and holding several educational appointments, in 1849 he succeeded GF Grotefend, director of the Lyceum at Hanover, a post which he filled with great success for thirty years.

His most important work is De Graecae Linguae Dialectis (1839–1843), which, although unfortunately incomplete, dealing only with Aeolic and Doric, and in some respects superseded by modern research, became a standard treatise on the subject. He also published Bucalicorum Graecorum Reliquiae (1855–1859); studies on the dialects of Homer and the Greek lyrists; on Aeschylus; and some excellent school textbooks. A volume of his minor works (ed. Haberlin) was published in 1891, which also contains a complete list of his writings.

This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica.