Peter Wilhelm Forchhammer (23 October 1801 – 8 January 1894) was a German classical

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

born at

Husum Husum (, frr, Hüsem) is the capital of the ''Kreis'' (district) Nordfriesland in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The town was the birthplace of the novelist Theodor Storm, who coined the epithet "the grey town by the sea". It is also the home of ...

in Schleswig. He was educated at the Lübeck gymnasium and the university of Kiel, with which he was connected for nearly 65 years. In 1830–1834 and 1838–1840 he travelled in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, Greece,

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

, and

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

. In 1843 he was appointed professor of

philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and writing, written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defin ...

at Kiel and director of the

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

museum founded by himself in co-operation with Otto Jahn. Forchhammer was an active

democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, and from 1871 to 1873 represented the progressive party of

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sch ...

in the German Reichstag. His published works deal chiefly with topography and ancient

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...

. His travels had convinced him that a full and comprehensive knowledge of classical antiquity could be acquired only by a thorough acquaintance with Greek and

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

monuments and works of art, and a detailed examination of the topographical and climatic conditions of the chief localities of the ancient world. These principles are illustrated in his ''Hellenika Griechenland im Neuen das Alte'' (1837), which contains his theory of the origin and explanation of the Greek myths, which he never abandoned, in spite of the attacks to which it was subjected. According to him, the myths arose from definite local (especially atmospheric and aquatic) phenomena, and represented the annually recurring processes of nature as the acts of gods and heroes; thus, in ''Achill'' (1853), the

Trojan War In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans (Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and has ...

is the winter conflict of the elements in that district. Other similar short treatises are: * ''Die Gründung Roms'' (1868) * ''Daduchos'' (1875), on the language of the myths and mythical buildings * ''Die Wanderwangen der Inachostochter Io'' (1880) * ''Prolegomena zur Mythologie als Wissenschaft und Lexikon der Mythensprache'' (1891). Among his topographical works mention may be made of: * ''Topographie von Athen'' (1841) * ''Beschreibung der Ebene von Troja'' (1850), a commentary on a map of the locality executed by T. A. Spratt (see Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, xii., 1842) * ''Topographia Thebarum Heptapylarum'' (1854); ''Erklärung der Ilias'' (1884), on the basis of the topographical and physical peculiarities of the plain of

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in prese ...

. His ''Demokratenbüchlein'' (1849), in the main a discussion of the Aristotelian theory of the state, and ''Die Athener und Sokrates'' (1837), in which, contrary to the almost universal opinion, he upheld the procedure of the

Athenians Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...

as perfectly legal and their verdict as a perfectly just one, also deserve notice.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Forchhammer, Peter Wilhelm 1801 births 1894 deaths People from Husum People from the Duchy of Schleswig German Lutherans German Progress Party politicians Members of the Prussian House of Representatives Members of the 1st Reichstag of the German Empire Members of the Prussian House of Lords Archaeologists from Schleswig-Holstein University of Kiel alumni Academic staff of the University of Kiel 19th-century Lutherans