Adolf Rapp (philologist)

Adolf Rapp (born October 30, 1841 in Enslingen ; died January 15, 1905 in Stuttgart ) was a German educator, philologist and director of the ministerial department for secondary schools.

Adolf Rapp was the son of Ernst Friedrich Rapp (1806–1879), who had been friends with David Friedrich Strauss and Friedrich Theodor Vischer since his time as a Tübingen donor , was also known to Eduard Friedrich Mörike and in later years Strauss's most important and closest pen friend has been. From 1835 he was pastor in Enslingen, was transferred to Untermünkheim in 1853 , and finally to Schömberg in the Oberamt Freudenstadt in 1860 . Adolf Rapp grew up in Enslingen and Untermünkheim, instructed by his father, before he began studying theology , but then switched to classical philology . On August 12, 1863, he received his doctorate with the award-winning work The Religion and Customs of the Persians and Other Iranians according to the Greek and Roman sources .

At the Realgymnasium Stuttgart Adolf Rapp was appointed grammar school professor in 1872 , and in 1881 he was transferred to the Karls-Gymnasium Stuttgart . In 1898 he was appointed director of the “Royal Ministerial Department for Higher Schools” in Stuttgart - a position he held until his death.

After his dissertation published in the journal of the Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft from 1865–1866 , Adolf Rapp emerged scientifically primarily with an essay on the maenadism of ancient Greece. The work was published in 1872 - the same year that Friedrich Nietzsche's first work The Birth of Tragedy from the Spirit of Music was published. For Albert Henrichs, the story of the modern Dionysus myth begins with both works . While Nietzsche no longer attached any importance to maenadism in the cult of “his” Dionysus, Rapp was the first to scientifically reduce maenadism to a cultic institution: “Is it conceivable that an Athenian citizen would one day have surprised his half of the marriage with the decision that To make a train to Delphi ...? ”Rapp believed that taking part in such trains was only possible within the framework of selected embassies, spontaneous Manadian moves with their erotic components were unthinkable for him.

Based on his expertise, Adolf Rapp also wrote the article Maenads for Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher Detailed Lexicon of Greek and Roman Mythology , for which he contributed numerous other fundamental articles, for example on Eos , Erinys , Graiai , Helios , Hephaistos , Horen , Cybele and Rhea .

Publications (selection)

The religion and custom of the Persians and other Iranians according to the Greek and Roman sources. In: Journal of the German Oriental Society . Volume 19, 1865, pp. 1-89; Volume 20, 1866, pp. 49-140 ( part 1 , part 2 ).
The maenad in the Greek cult, in art and poetry. In: Rheinisches Museum für Philologie . Volume 27, 1872, pp. 1-22 and 562-611 ( Google Books ).
The relations of the cult of Dionysus to Thrace and Asia Minor. High school program. Stuttgart 1882.
Mainaden. In: Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (Hrsg.): Detailed lexicon of Greek and Roman mythology . Volume 2.2, Leipzig 1897, Col. 2243-2283 ( digitized version ).

literature

L. Ernst in: Württemberg year books for statistics and regional studies. Issue 2. 1905 p. II.
S. Herzog in: Südwestdeutsche Schulblätter. 1905, p. 95.
Biographical yearbook and German necrology. Volume 10, 1905 (1907), p. 231.
Chronicle of the royal. Capital and residence city of Berlin for 1905. p. 13.

Remarks

↑ A short family portrait is offered by David Friedrich Strauss: Selected Letters. Edited and explained by Eduard Zeller . Strauss, Bonn 1895, pp. 345–347 (letter to Ernst Rapp of January 10, 1856; digitized version ).
^ Albert Henrichs: Loss of Self, Suffering, Violence: The Modern View of Dionysos from Nietzsche to Girard. In: Harvard Studies in Classical Philology. Volume 88, 1984, pp. 205-240, here: p. 206.
^ Adolf Rapp: The maenad in the Greek cult, in art and poetry. In: Rheinisches Museum für Philologie. Volume 27, 1872, pp. 1-22 and 562-611, here: p. 6; compare Christian Benne: “God of Liberty?” The modern Dionysus myth in Germany and England. In: Rüdiger Görner, Angus Nicholls (Ed.): Anglo-German Mythologies in Literature, the Visual Arts and Cultural Theory (= Spectrum Literaturwissenschaft. Volume 18). De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2007, pp. 87–110, here: pp. 95–97 with. Note 33.

personal data
SURNAME	Rapp, Adolf
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German pedagogue, philologist and director of the ministerial department for secondary schools
DATE OF BIRTH	October 30, 1841
PLACE OF BIRTH	Enslingen
DATE OF DEATH	January 15, 1905
Place of death	Stuttgart

[1] A short family portrait is offered by David Friedrich Strauss: Selected Letters. Edited and explained by Eduard Zeller . Strauss, Bonn 1895, pp. 345–347 (letter to Ernst Rapp of January 10, 1856; digitized version ).

[2] Albert Henrichs: Loss of Self, Suffering, Violence: The Modern View of Dionysos from Nietzsche to Girard. In: Harvard Studies in Classical Philology. Volume 88, 1984, pp. 205-240, here: p. 206.

[3] Adolf Rapp: The maenad in the Greek cult, in art and poetry. In: Rheinisches Museum für Philologie. Volume 27, 1872, pp. 1-22 and 562-611, here: p. 6; compare Christian Benne: “God of Liberty?” The modern Dionysus myth in Germany and England. In: Rüdiger Görner, Angus Nicholls (Ed.): Anglo-German Mythologies in Literature, the Visual Arts and Cultural Theory (= Spectrum Literaturwissenschaft. Volume 18). De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2007, pp. 87–110, here: pp. 95–97 with. Note 33.