Otto Keller (philologist)

Otto Keller (born May 28, 1838 in Tübingen , † February 16, 1927 in Ludwigsburg ) was a German classical philologist .

Otto Keller as a student in Tübingen, 1858

Otto Keller in Prague, 1897

Otto Keller 1918

life and work

Otto Keller came from a Swabian family of scholars and was the son of the philologist Adelbert von Keller , who had been ennobled for his outstanding achievements.

He attended the universities in Tübingen and Bonn from 1856 to 1861, at the latter university as a student of the philologist Friedrich Ritschl . During his studies in 1860 he became a member of the Marchia Bonn fraternity . After his studies he worked in higher education, from 1866 as rector of the Württemberg high school in Oehringen until he became professor at the University of Freiburg i. Br. , From where he was called to Graz in 1875 . Six years later - in 1881 - he accepted an appointment at the German university in Prague, to which he was a member for 28 years until 1909, when he was 71.

Keller was primarily concerned with Horace , so that he was also called "Horace-Keller" to distinguish it from his father. Another focus of his activity was the animal world in antiquity, which he dealt with in several monographs ( the ancient animal world , animals of classical antiquity in a cultural-historical relationship , animal and plant images on coins and gems of classical antiquity ). His first major work, investigating the history of Greek fable, was long considered fundamental. Keller also became known because he corresponded extensively with Heinrich Schliemann on the question of whether the archaeological sites he had excavated were Troy or not. Finally he presented the work The Discovery of Ilion zu Hissarlik 1871 as an inaugural lecture at the University of Freiburg, in which he defended Schliemann against contemporary critics.

Due to his scientific merits, Keller became an honorary member of numerous scientific societies. In 1889 the King of Württemberg awarded him the great gold medal for art and science on the ribbon of the Commander's Cross of the Order of the Württemberg Crown. He was also KK Austrian Councilor.

On May 24, 1869, Keller married Eugenie Leube, daughter of the Medical Council Wilhelm Leube in Ulm, a sister of Wilhelm von Leube . The couple's sons were Sigmund Keller (1870–1943) and Wolfgang Keller (1873–1943), philologist and professor in Münster; their daughter Clothilde Schaar (1874–1958) was a sculptor.

Fonts

• Sheep farming in Asia Minor in ancient times. In: abroad. 1858 N. 45.
• Carthaginian-Roman trade. In: abroad. 1860 N. 15.
• Volcanic phenomena in antiquity. In: abroad. 1862, 1-4, 12.
• Investigations into the history of the Greek fable. In: Jahrbuch f. Class. Phil. Leipzig. Dissertation .
• Vicus Aurelii or Oehringen in Roman times. Winckelmann program, Bonn 1871.
• The discovery of Ilion at Hissarlik. Freiburg i. Br. 1871/1875.
• About the course of development of ancient symbolism. Graz 1876.
• Rerum naturalium scriptores graeci minores. 1877.
• On the meaning of some animal names in Greek and Latin. Graz 1878.
• Critical contributions to the 4th book of the Horazischen Odes. In: Meeting reports of the Akad. D. Knowledge Vienna. 1878
• Epilegomena to Horace. T. 1-3. Leipzig 1879–1880.
• The Saturnian verse proved rhythmic. 1. Leipzig / Prague 1883. 2. Prague 1886.
• Animals of classical antiquity in relation to cultural history. Innsbruck 1887.
• Animals of classical antiquity in relation to cultural history. Georg Olms Verlag, 2001, ISBN 3-487-09424-X .
• Prague Philological Studies. H. 1 1887. H. 2 1890.
• with Imhoof-Blumer: animal and plant images on coins and gems of classical antiquity. 1889.
• as editor: Xenophon Atheniensis: Historia graeca. 1890 u. ö.
• Latin folk ethymology and related. Leipzig 1891.
• On the history of the Latin language. Part 1: Latin Etymologies. Leipzig; Part 2: Grammatical Essays. 1895.
• with Alfred Holder: Scholia antiqua in Horatium Flaccum. Recens. 1894.
• with I. Häußner (Ed.): Q. Horatius Flaccus. For school use. 6th edition. Leipzig 1924.
• Dog breeds in ancient times. Annual d. Austria. Arch. Inst. 1905, B. 8.
• The bat in classical antiquity. 1905.
• Frog and Toad in Classical Antiquity. Both in: Cultural history from the animal world. Prague 1905.
• On the history of the cat in antiquity. In: Mitt. D. German. Arch. Inst. Rom 1908, 23, 40–70
• The ancient fauna. 2 volumes Leipzig 1903–1913.
• Total delay v. Eugen Staiger. 1920.
• Essays on natural history in Bursian Müller's annual reports on the progress of classical antiquity. Volumes 2, 3, 19, 28, 40

literature

• Keller Otto von. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 3, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1965, p. 289.
• Georg Keller: History of the Keller family . Stuttgart 1922.
• Oscar Paret : Otto Keller - Classical philologist and archaeologist 1838–1927. In: Württembergisch Franken. Volume 48 (1964)
• Alois Kernbauer: Otto Keller (1876–1881). In: Classical Philology at the University of Graz from the beginning of the 19th century to the present. With contributions by Herbert H. Egglmaier, Walter Höflechner, Alois Kernbauer, Walter Primig, Peter G. Tropper, Franz-Anton Wallisch. In: Contributions and materials on the history of science in Austria. Ed. Walter Höflechner (= publications from the archives of the University of Graz 11), Graz 1981, pp. 120–132.
• Wilfried Bölke: The correspondence between Heinrich Schliemann and the philologist Otto Keller . Pp. 35-56. In: Lectures on the occasion of the international colloquium "Heinrich Schliemann on the 175th birthday. Research problems and new information about his life and work" from July 4 to 6, 1997 in Waren (Müritz) at the European Academy Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Messages from the Heinrich Schliemann Museum Ankershagen issue 5/1997.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Hugo Böttger (ed.): Directory of the old fraternity members according to the status of the winter semester 1911/12. Berlin 1912, p. 100.

Web links

Wikisource: Otto Keller (Philologist)  - Sources and full texts

• Literature by and about Otto Keller in the catalog of the German National Library
• Works by and about Otto Keller  in the German Digital Library