All Scholars

MASON, Hugh John

  • Hugh John Mason near Old Church of Aylos Stephanos Lesbos, Greece, Spring 2007 www.hughmason.net
  • Date of Birth: July 29, 1943
  • Born City: Norwich
  • Born State/Country: England
  • Parents: The Rev. Leonard, a Unitarian minister, & Joan Mary Edmondson M.
  • Date of Death: March 27, 2023
  • Death City: Toronto, Ontario
  • Death State/Country: Canada
  • Married: Lou Ellen Halperin, July 11, 1970.
  • Education:

    B.A. (first class honours), McGill, 1964; A.M. Harvard, 1965; Ph.D., 1968.
  • Dissertation:

    “Greek Versions of Roman Governmental Terminology” (Harvard, 1968).
  • Professional Experience:

    Asst. prof. Toronto, 1968-72; assoc. prof., 1972-2011; Registrar, New College, 1977-1992; acting principal, 1982-3; Undergraduate Coordinator, Dept. Classics, 1995-9, 2008-11; Graduate Coordinator, 2003-4; secretary, CAC, 1974-5; assoc. ed., Phoenix, 1995-2006.
  • Publications:

    “Greek Versions of Roman Governmental Terminology,” HSCP 73 (1969) 321-3; “The Roman Government in Greek Sources. The Effect of Literary Theory on the Translation of Official Titles,” Phoenix 24 (1970) 150-9; “An Inscription of Appius Claudius at Karystos,” AJA 75 (1971) 208; “Lucius at Corinth,” Phoenix 25 (1971) 160-5; “Appius Claudius Pulcher and the Hollows of Euboia,” with M.B. Wallace, Hesperia 41 (1972) 128-40; “Glabrio, Archon of Asia,” CP 68 (1973) 121-4; Greek Terms for Roman Institutions. A Lexicon and Analysis (Toronto: Hakkert, 1974); “Fabula Graecanica: Apuleius and His Greek Sources,” in Aspects of Apuleius' Golden Ass, ed. Benjamin Lodewijk Hijmans & Rudi Th. Van der Paardt (Groningen: Bouma, 1978) 1-15; “Favorinus' Disorder; Reifenstein's Syndrome in Antiquity,” Janus 66 (1979) 1-13; “Longus and the Topography of Lesbos,” TAPA 109 (1979) 149-63; “The Distinction of Lucius in Apuleius' Metamorphoses,” Phoenix 37 (1983) 135-43; “Physiognomy in Apuleius Metamorphoses 2.2,” CP 79 (1984) 307-9; “Mytilene and Methymna: Quarrels, Borders and Topography,” LEC 37 (1993) 225-50; “Greek and Latin Versions of the Ass-Story,” ANRW 34, 2, ed. Wolfgang Haase (Berlin: De Gruyter, 1994) 1665-1707; “The End of Antissa,” AJP116 (1995) 399-410; “The Metamorphoses of Apuleius and Its Greek Sources,” in Latin Fiction: The Latin Novel in Context, ed. Heinz Hofmann (London: Routledge, 1999) 103-12; “Romance in a Limestone Landscape,” CP 90 (1995) 263-6; “Λεσβία οἰκοδομία: Aristotle, Masonry, and the Cities of Lesbos,” Mouseion 1 (2001) 31-53; “Chaireas in Chariton and New Comedy,” CB 78 (2002) 21-7; “Winter on Lesbos: Imagination and Reality,” Mouseion 3 (2003) 285-93; “Sappho's Apples,” in Metamorphic Reflections: Essays Presented to Ben Hijmans at his 75th Birthday, ed. Maaike Zimmerman & Rudi Th. Van der Paardt (Leuven: Peeters, 2004) 243-53; “The ‘Aura of Lesbos’ and the Opening of Daphnis and Chloe,” in Authors, Authority, and Interpreters in the Ancient Novel: Essays in Honor of Gareth L. Schmeling, ed. Byrne, Shannon Nora Byrne, Edmund Paul Cueva, & Jean Alvares, (Eelde: Barkhuis, 2006) 186-95; Re-Wiring the Ancient Novel 1, Greek Novels, with Edmund Cueva & Stephen Harrison (Groningen: Barkhuis, 2018); “Hunters’ Dedications: Longus and Lesbos,” in Literary Currents and Romantic Forms: Essays in Memory of Bryan Reardon, ed. Kathryn Chew, Stephen M. Trzaskoma, & J.R. Morgan (Gronigen: Barkhuis, 2018) 137-47.
  • Notes:

    Hugh Mason emigrated from Leicester to Montreal with his family at the age of 18 in 1960. He was naturalized in 1969, one year after receiving his doctorate from Harvard. He served the University of Toronto for 43 years, teaching Greek language, literature, and culture. Culture Kind and generous. His only book, published early in his career and based on his dissertation, is a study of Roman institutional vocabulary in Greek sources. It was recognized early and for 50 years has been a staple of the sub-field of Roman loan-words in Greek. He published regularly but not prolifically, devoting much of his research program to the ancient novelists, especially Apuleius and Longus. He also published important papers on the history and geography of Lesbos, particularly in a 2018 article connecting ancient Lesbos to its setting as a subject for modern Greek writers. 

            A good portion of his time at Toronto was given over to service as registrar and then principal of New College, graduate and undergraduate coordinator for his department, and serving on the editorial staff of Phoenix. He served the CAC as secretary and gave more than a dozen papers at its meetings.

            Despite the prominence of his book, Mason remained an associate professor for nearly four decades despite his record of publication and service. He was considered a kind and generous teacher and colleague. He spread his career across teaching, editing, and administration as much as it was to research. He pursued interests in modern Greek literature and eighteenth-century music.
  • Sources:

    DAS 8th ed., 3:312; “In Memoriam” CAC; Toronto Star (April 1, 2023).
  • Author: Ward Briggs