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Karl Otfried Müller (; 28 August 1797 – 1 August 1840) was a German professor, scholar of
classical Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archa ...
studies and philodorian.


Biography

He was born at Brieg (modern
Brzeg Brzeg (; Latin: ''Alta Ripa'', German: ''Brieg'', Silesian German: ''Brigg'', , ) is a town in southwestern Poland with 34,778 inhabitants (December 2021) and the capital of Brzeg County. It is situated in Silesia in the Opole Voivodeship on t ...
) in
Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...
, then in the
Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...
. His father was a chaplain in the
Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
n army, and he was raised in the atmosphere of Protestant
Pietism Pietism (), also known as Pietistic Lutheranism, is a movement within Lutheranism that combines its emphasis on biblical doctrine with an emphasis on individual piety and living a holy Christianity, Christian life. Although the movement is ali ...
. He attended the gymnasium of his town. His university education was partly in Breslau (now
Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...
) and partly in
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
. In Berlin, he was spurred towards the study of
Greek literature Greek literature () dates back from the ancient Greek literature, beginning in 800 BC, to the modern Greek literature of today. Ancient Greek literature was written in an Ancient Greek dialect, literature ranges from the oldest surviving wri ...
, art and history by the influence of Philipp August Böckh. In 1817, after the publication of his first work, ''Aegineticorum liber'', on the Aeginetans, he received an appointment at the Magdaleneum in Breslau, and in 1819 he was made adjunct professor of ancient literature at the
University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...
, his subject being the
archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...
and history of ancient art. He deepened his understanding of Greek art by travelling in the summer of 1822 to the Netherlands, England and France. Turning away from the Enlightenment conception of Greek myth as a reflection of a universal religion in its infancy, Müller placed the study squarely as the outcome of an encounter between the particular character of a people and a specific historical setting, where, in the broadest sense it has remained, though his convictions that the core of each culture is uniquely its own led him to deny the influence of Egyptian art on Greek art, already being recognised at the time. Müller's position at Göttingen was made difficult by the political troubles which followed the accession of Ernest Augustus, King of Hanover, in 1837, and he applied for permission to travel, leaving Germany in 1839. In April of the following year he reached
Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
, having spent the winter in Italy. He investigated the remains of ancient
Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
, visited numerous places in
Peloponnesus The Peloponnese ( ), Peloponnesus ( ; , ) or Morea (; ) is a peninsula and geographic regions of Greece, geographic region in Southern Greece, and the southernmost region of the Balkans. It is connected to the central part of the country by the ...
, and finally went to
Delphi Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), was an ancient sacred precinct and the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient Classical antiquity, classical world. The A ...
, where he began excavations. He was attacked by intermittent fever, of which he died at Athens. His grave is on the Colonus hilltop in Athens next to that of Charles Lenormant. In 1841 a medal was struck in his honor.


Works

His aim was to form a vivid conception of Greek life as a whole. Undoubtedly he wished to concentrate the results of his whole life of scholarly activity in his ''
magnum opus A masterpiece, , or ; ; ) is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, skill, profundity, or workmanship. Historically, ...
'', ''Geschichten hellenischen Stämme und Städte''. However, he only managed to complete two volumes: ''Orchomenos und die Minyer'' (1820) and ''Die Dorier'' (1824). The latter includes the essay ''Über die Makedonier'', on the settlements, origin and early history of the
Macedon Macedonia ( ; , ), also called Macedon ( ), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, which later became the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled by the royal ...
ians. He introduced a new standard of accuracy in the
cartography Cartography (; from , 'papyrus, sheet of paper, map'; and , 'write') is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an imagined reality) can ...
of ancient Greece. In 1828 he published ''Die Etrusker'', a treatise on Etruscan antiquities. His ''Prolegomena zu einer wissenschaftlichen Mythologie'' (1825), in which he avoided the views of G. F. Creuzer and Christian August Lobeck, prepared the way for the scientific investigation of
myth Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...
s. Working without the benefit of modern understanding of
psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...
, he offered steps towards the "internal idea" of myth and presented techniques for determining the age of a ''mythus'' from the mentions of it in literary sources and a notable chapter on how to separate the ''mythus'' from the modifications of poets and prose writers, and examined the relations that
Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...
and
Hesiod Hesiod ( or ; ''Hēsíodos''; ) was an ancient Greece, Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer.M. L. West, ''Hesiod: Theogony'', Oxford University Press (1966), p. 40.Jasper Gr ...
bore to their traditions, all of this before the supportive contributions of modern archaeology, philological analysis, or the understanding of oral transmission of myth, a remarkable achievement. The study of ancient art was promoted by his ''Handbuch der Archäologie der Kunst'' (1830; 3d ed. by Welcker, 1848; English translation by J. Leitch, London, 1847) and ''Denkmäler der alten Kunst'' (1832), which he wrote in association with Carl Oesterley. In the former work, he coined the term "''pornographie''" (pornography) in German, which helped to popularize the term internationally. The latter work was continued and completed by Friedrich Wieseler (1846–56). In the last years of his life, he undertook to prepare for the English Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, a history of Greek literature, which in 1841 appeared posthumously as ''Geschichte der griechischen Litteratur bis auf das Zeitalter Alexanders'' (4th edition, revised and continued by Heitz, 1882–84). It was translated into English from the author's manuscript as ''History of the Literature of Ancient Greece'' and published the previous year in London. Chapters i.-xxii. were translated by Sir George Cornewall Lewis; chapters xxiii.-xxxvi. by J. W. Donaldson, who carried the work down to the taking of
Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
by the Turks. It remained one of the best books on the subject for many years. Müller also published an admirable translation of the ''Eumenides'' of
Aeschylus Aeschylus (, ; ; /524 – /455 BC) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek Greek tragedy, tragedian often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek tragedy is large ...
with introductory essays (1833). This was the object of a profound controversy in which Gottfried Hermann and his followers attacked him with great bitterness. Müller published new editions of
Varro Marcus Terentius Varro (116–27 BCE) was a Roman polymath and a prolific author. He is regarded as ancient Rome's greatest scholar, and was described by Petrarch as "the third great light of Rome" (after Virgil and Cicero). He is sometimes call ...
, ''De Lingua Latina'' (Leipzig, 1833) and Festus, ''De Significatione Verborum'' (Leipzig, 1839).


Quotes

*"A
democracy Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...
likes a large mass and hates all divisions."''The History and Antiquities of the Doric Race'', Volume II, 1830, p. 396


Family

His brothers were Julius Müller (1801–1878), a theologian, and Eduard Müller (1804–1875), a philologist.


Notes


References

* *Calder, W.M., H. Flashar and R. Schlesirt, eds. ''K.O. Müller Reconsidered'', (Urbana) 1995. * This work in turn cites: **Memoir of his life by his brother Eduard, prefixed to the posthumous edition of Müller's ''Kleine deutsche Schriften'' (1847), the starting-point of all biographical essays ** Gottfried Christian Friedrich Lücke, ''Erinnerungen an Karl Otfried Müller'' (Göttingen, 1841) ** Karl Ferdinand Ranke, ''Karl Otfried Müller, ein Lebensbild'' (Berlin, 1870) ** Conrad Bursian, ''Geschichte der klassischen Philologie in Deutschland'' (1883), ii. 1007-1028 ** Karl Dilthey, ''Otfried Müller'' (Göttingen, 1898) ** E. Curtius, ''Altertum und Gegenwart'' ** J. W. Donaldson, "On the Life and Writings of Karl Otfried Müller" in ''History of the Literature of Ancient Greece'', volume i. ** Otto and Else Kern, ''K. O. Müller, Lebensbild in Briefen an seine Eltern'' (1908), a biography composed from his letters to his parents ** J. E. Sandys, ''History of Classical Scholarship,'' iii. (1908), 213–216. * Attribution: *


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mueller, Karl Otfried 1797 births 1840 deaths People from Brzeg People from Prussian Silesia 19th-century German archaeologists German classical scholars Ancient Aegina Mythographers Academic staff of the University of Göttingen Scholars from the Kingdom of Prussia