He was particularly notable as a Latinist for his work on the Roman poets Ovid, Propertius, and Catullus; he also translated Virgil's Eclogues, Tibullus, and Persius.
He taught at the University of Cambridge for most of his career, where he was admitted as a fellow of St John's College in 1946.
He was later posted to French North Africa, Belgium, Italy, Norway, and Germany.
Upon returning to Cambridge, Lee served as a librarian, tutor, praelector, and lecturer of classics at various times.
[4][5] He died in Cambridge in 2005, and is buried at Ascension Parish Burial Ground.