North American Scholar

BURRISS, Eli Edward

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  • Date of Birth (YYYY-MM-DD): 1891-04-08
  • Born City: Bristol
  • Born State/Country: PA
  • Parents: Rev. E. F. & Sarah Mathilda Hergesheimer B.
  • Date of Death (YYYY-MM-DD): 1950-03-17
  • Death City: New York
  • Death State/Country: NY
  • Education:

    A.B. U. Pennsylvania, 1914; A.M. 1918; Ph.D., NYU, 1923.
  • Professional Experience:

    Instr. Eng. Prep. Sch., Dickinson Coll., 1914-6; fell. American U. (Washington, DC), 1916-7; instr. Eng. Penn. State. 1917-8; Lat. tchr. Horace Mann Sch., Columbia U., 1918-22; instr. to prof, class. NYU, 1922-50.
  • Dissertation:

    "Seneca in Corsica" (NYU, 1922), printed (New York, 1922).
  • Publications:

    "The Nature of Taboo and Its Survival in Roman Life," CP 24 (1929) 142-63; "The Magic Elements in Roman Prayers," CP 25 (1930) 47-55; Taboo, Magic, and Spirits: A Study of Primitive Elements in Roman Religion (New York, 1931); "The Place of the Dog in Superstition as Revealed in Latin Literature," CP 30 (1935) 32-42; Latin and Greek in Current Use, with Lionel Casson (New York, 1939; 2d ed., 1949); "Three Notes on the Text of the Satyricon of Petronius," CP 36 (1941) 274-5; "Two Notes on Petronius," AJP 62 (1941) 356-8; "Breaks in Conversation and the Text of Petronius," CP 42 (1947) 244-8.
  • Notes:

    Eli Burriss was a skilled Latinist and an authority on certain aspects of Roman religion. His courses in Lucretius, Petronius, and Ovid's Fasti, illuminated by his expert knowledge of Rome's traditional religious rites and superstitious practices, were among his department's most highly regarded offerings. At his death he was working on an edition of Petronius.
  • Sources:

    DAS 1942:117; NYTimes (19 Mar. 1950) 94.
  • Author: Lionel Casson