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Walter Friedrich Gustav Hermann Otto (22 June 1874, in
Hechingen Hechingen ( Swabian: ''Hächenga'') is a town in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated about south of the state capital of Stuttgart and north of Lake Constance and the Swiss border. Geography The town lies at the foot of t ...
– 23 September 1958, in
Tübingen Tübingen (, , Swabian: ''Dibenga'') is a traditional university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer rivers. about one in three ...
) was a German
classical philologist Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature Latin literature includes the essays, histories, poems, plays, and ot ...
particularly known for his work on the meaning and legacy of Greek religion and mythology, especially as represented in his seminal 1929 work '' The Homeric Gods''.


Life

Walter F. Otto was born to pharmacist Hermann Ernst Otto in
Hechingen Hechingen ( Swabian: ''Hächenga'') is a town in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated about south of the state capital of Stuttgart and north of Lake Constance and the Swiss border. Geography The town lies at the foot of t ...
(
Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...
),
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
in 1874. In 1882, after his family moved to Stuttgart, Otto began attending the
Eberhard-Ludwigs-Gymnasium Eberhard-Ludwigs-Gymnasium is a gymnasium in Stuttgart established in 1686. History The school was established in 1686 as Gymnasium illustre (zu Stuttgart), seemingly honouring the Illustrious Gymnasium in Gotha, known by that name since about ...
. Instead of completing the
Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen ye ...
, he took the so-called ''Konkurs'' exam, the successful completion of which secured him admission to the
Tübinger Stift The Tübinger Stift () is a hall of residence and teaching; it is owned and supported by the Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Württemberg, and located in the university city of Tübingen, in South West Germany. The Stift was founded as an Augus ...
. As was expected of him by the Stift, Otto began studying Protestant theology, but switched to classical philology after two semesters, and continued his studies under professors Otto Crusius,
Ludwig Schwabe Ludwig Schwabe (June 24, 1835 – February 20, 1908) was a German classical philologist and professor of classical archaeology born in Giessen. He studied classical philology and archaeology at the Universities of Giessen and Göttingen, rece ...
and Wilhelm Schmid. Schmid convinced Otto to transfer from Tübingen to
Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...
, where he completed his studies under
Hermann Usener Hermann Karl Usener (23 October 1834 – 21 October 1905) was a German scholar in the fields of philology and comparative religion. Life Hermann Usener was born at Weilburg and educated at its Gymnasium. From 1853 he studied at Heidelberg ...
and Franz Bücheler. Bücheler, renowned for his work as a Latinist, influenced the young Otto to such a degree that the latter dedicated the bulk of the following 20 years to topics centred on Roman culture and literature - this, despite the fact that he is principally remembered as a Hellenist. Otto graduated in 1897 with the thesis ''Nomina propria latina oriunda a participiis perfecti'' ("Latin Personal Names derived from the Perfect Participle"). Shortly thereafter, he acquired the license to teach in secondary schools. The following year, he became an assistant to the preparations of the ''
Thesaurus Linguae Latinae The ''Thesaurus Linguae Latinae'' (abbreviated as ''ThLL'' or ''TLL'') is a monumental dictionary of Latin founded on historical principles. It encompasses the Latin language from the time of its origin to the time of Isidore of Seville (died ...
'' and moved to
Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...
to carry out his new duties. He served in the positions of editor and author of the ''Onomasticum Latinum'' until 1911, by which time he had completed his doctoral work under Crusius. In the Fall of that year, Otto was offered and accepted a professorship at
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
, where he met fellow philologist Hans von Arnim, and the two became close friends. Two years later, in 1913, Otto transferred to
Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (B ...
, where he took up the position of ''Ordinarius''. The following year he transferred again, this time to the newly founded University of Frankfurt, where he remained for next 20 years as professor for classical philology. During this time, he developed a close friendship with Hellenist Karl Reinhardt. In 1934, the Nazi regime forced Otto to accept the offer to serve as the successor to Paul Maas, who was removed from his position for being of Jewish descent, in Königsberg. From 1933 to 1945, Otto was a member - and from 1935, the administrator - of the "Scientific Committee" of the Nietzsche Archive. In 1939 and 1940, he, together with Karl Reinhardt and Ernesto Grassi, published a yearbook entitled ''Geistige Überlieferung'' ("Spiritual Tradition"). In the introduction, Otto expressed his concern regarding the destiny of the classical tradition, and the yearbook was subsequently banned by the government. He was able to flee Königsberg in 1944, but through the process lost all of his possessions, including his personal library and manuscripts. From that point until the end of the Second World War, Otto found refuge in Elmau near Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria, where he entertained the local community with lectures and small theatrical performances. After the war, Otto was only able to secure positions as a substitute: 1945 in Munich, 1946 in Göttingen and, later, in Tübingen as visiting professor. After the reinstitution of the department in Tübingen, he was a member of the faculty of the university as professor emeritus. In Tübingen, Otto was able to settle in, and found good working conditions and students: at 83, he was still holding lectures and colloquia. He died there in the Fall of 1958 while working on the essay ''Die Bahn der Götter'' ("The Path of the Gods"). His remains were interred in the Tübingen Woodland Cemetery.


Reception

In his work on Greek religion and mythology, especially in his studies '' The Homeric Gods'' (German: ''Die Götter Griechenlands''; 1929) and ''Dionysos'' (1933), Otto emphasized the 'rational' aspects of classical mythology, and thus clearly distinguished his own position from that found in the more traditional school of Hermann Usener. In Otto's description, the faith of the ancient Greeks was a kind of "religion of objective realization" (Reinhardt). This explains the palpable and continuing influence Otto's writings have had, not only on classical philologists such as
Karl Kerényi Karl may refer to: People * Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne * Karl Marx, German philosopher and political writer * Karl of Austria, last Austrian ...
, but particularly on scholars from fields unrelated to philology. For the same reason, his works — particularly ''Theophania'' (1959) — have been misinterpreted and attacked by Christian theologians as an attempt to revive classical religion. Otto himself described such an interpretation as absurd.


Bibliography

* ''Nomina propria latina oriunda a participiis perfecti'' (Dissertation), Bonn: Georgi, 1897 (auch erschienen als Supplement Band Nr. 24 (1898) der Jahrbücher für classische Philologie) * ''Der Geist der Antike und die christliche Welt'', Bonn, 1923. * ''Die Manen oder Von den Urformen des Totenglaubens'', Berlin, 1923 (2. Aufl. Darmstad, 1958; 3. Aufl. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1962; 1983). * ''Kulturgeschichte d. Altertums. Überblick üb. neue Erscheinungen'', München: Beck, 1925. * ''Die altgriechische Gottesidee'', Berlin, 1926. * Binding, Rudolf G.; Otto, W. F. : ''Nähe der Antike / Zeit und Antike. Zwei Ansprachen'', Frankfurt am Main: Englert und Schlosser, 1926. * '' Die Götter Griechenlands. Das Bild des Göttlichen im Spiegel des griechischen Geistes'', Bonn, 1929 (Frankfurt am Main, 2002 (9) ) * ''Der europäische Geist und die Weisheit des Ostens'', Frankfurt am Main, 1931. * ''Dionysos. Mythos und Kultus'', Frankfurt am Main, 1933 (6. Aufl., 1996 ). * ''Der griechische Göttermythos bei Goethe und Hölderlin'', Berlin, 1939. * Grassi, Ernesto; Otto, W. F.; Reinhardt, K. (Hrsg.): ''Geistige Überlieferung'', Berlin: Helmut Küpper, 1940 SS. * ''Der Dichter und die alten Götter'', Frankfurt am Main: Klostermann, 1942. * ''Das Vorbild der Griechen'', Tübingen/Stuttgart, 1949. * ''Gesetz, Urbild und Mythos'', Stuttgart, 1951. * ''Die Musen und der Göttliche Ursprung des Singens und Sagens'', Düsseldorf: Diederichs, 1954. * ''Die Gestalt und das Sein. Gesammelte Abhandlungen über den Mythos und seine Bedeutung für die Menschheit'', Düsseldorf: Diederichs, 1955. * ''Theophania. Der Geist der altgriechischen Religion'', Hamburg: Rowohlt, 1956 (2. Aufl. 1959; 3. Aufl. 1993 ). * ''Mythos und Welt'', Stuttgart: Klett, 1962. * ''Das Wort der Antike'', Stuttgart: Klett, 1962. * Grassi, Ernesto (Hrsg.): ''Die Wirklichkeit der Götter. Von der Unzerstörbarkeit griechischer Weltsicht'', Reinbek bei Hamburg: Rowohlt, 1963. * ''Epikur'', Stuttgart: Klett, 1975. * ''Aufsätze zur römischen Religionsgeschichte'', Meisenheim (am Glan): Hain, 1975.


References

* *
Karl Kerényi Karl may refer to: People * Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne * Karl Marx, German philosopher and political writer * Karl of Austria, last Austrian ...
: ''Walter Friedrich Otto. Erinnerung und Rechenschaft'', in: ''Paideuma'' VII (1959); Nachdruck in: Walter F. Otto, ''Die Wirklichkeit der Götter. Von der Unzerstörbarkeit der griechischen Weltsicht'', hg. von Ernesto Grassi, Reinbek bei Hamburg 1963, 144–154. *Gerhard Perl: ''Walter F. Otto (1874–1958) in Königsberg'', in: ''Eikasmos'' 4 (1993), S. 283–286. *Karl Reinhardt: ''W. F. Otto.'' In: derselbe, ''Vermächtnis der Antike'', Göttingen 1960, S. 377–379. *Willy Theiler: ''Walter F. Otto (†)'', in: ''
Gnomon A gnomon (; ) is the part of a sundial that casts a shadow. The term is used for a variety of purposes in mathematics and other fields. History A painted stick dating from 2300 BC that was excavated at the astronomical site of Taosi is the ...
'' 32 (1960) 87–90. *''Otto, Walter F(riedrich Gustav Hermann)'', in: Walter Killy, Rudolf Vierhaus (Hrsg.), ''
Deutsche Biographische Enzyklopädie The ''Deutsche Biographische Enzyklopädie'' (''DBE'') is a biographical dictionary published by Walther Killy and Rudolf Vierhaus (from the third to fourth volume), the first edition of which was published from 1995 to 2003 in 13 volumes by K. ...
'' (DBE), vol. 7 (2001), 536. {{DEFAULTSORT:Otto, Walter Friedrich 1874 births 1958 deaths Scholars of Greek mythology and religion German philologists Mythographers University of Tübingen alumni Homeric scholars People from Hechingen Corresponding Fellows of the British Academy