Philip Humphrey Vellacott (16 January 1907 – 24 August 1997) was an English classical scholar, known for his numerous translations of Greek tragedy.

He was educated at St Paul's School, London and Magdalene College, Cambridge

Magdalene College, Cambridge

Magdalene College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary Magdalene...

, where he took a double first in the Classics Tripos

Tripos

The University of Cambridge, England, divides the different kinds of honours bachelor's degree by Tripos , plural Triposes. The word has an obscure etymology, but may be traced to the three-legged stool candidates once used to sit on when taking oral examinations...

.

During the 1930s, he taught at Liverpool University, and schools including Alleyn's College, Dulwich. He remained as a teacher during the Second World War, as he was a conscientious objector. It was during his time as a teacher that he completed most of his Penguin Books

Penguin Books

Penguin Books is a publisher founded in 1935 by Sir Allen Lane and V.K. Krishna Menon. Penguin revolutionised publishing in the 1930s through its high quality, inexpensive paperbacks, sold through Woolworths and other high street stores for sixpence. Penguin's success demonstrated that large...

 Classical translations. He retired in 1967.

The artist Elisabeth Vellacott was his sister.

Works, other than translations

• Writing in Latin (1970) with D. P. Simpson
• Sophocles and Oedipus: A Study of Oedipus Tyrannus with a New Translation (1971)
• Ironic drama. A study of Euripides' method and meaning (1975)
• Logic of Tragedy: Morals and Integrity in Aeschylus' Oresteia (1984)