Hermann Usener
Encyclopedia
Hermann Karl Usener was a German scholar in the fields of philology
and comparative religion
.
. The Bonn School of classical philology was led by Usener with Franz Buecheler.
He was born at Weilburg
and educated at its Gymnasium. From 1853 he studied at Heidelberg
, Munich
, Göttingen
and Bonn
. In 1858 he had a teaching position at the Joachimsthalschen Gymnasium in Berlin.
: after initial support, Usener wrote him off as a scholar after The Birth of Tragedy
was published. In the work Götternamen in 1896, he introduced the concept of a momentary god. This phrase entered the English language and popular culture, as the name for deities who seem to exist only for a specific purpose, time and place.
His students included Hermann Diels, Paul Natorp
, Hans Lietzmann
, Albrecht Dieterich
, Richard Reitzenstein, and Aby Warburg
. Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff
, the leading German classical scholar of the following generation, studied at Bonn 1867-9; but tended to disagree with Usener. Their correspondence has been published.
Philology
Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...
and comparative religion
Comparative religion
Comparative religion is a field of religious studies that analyzes the similarities and differences of themes, myths, rituals and concepts among the world's religions...
.
Life
He became professor at the University of BonnUniversity of Bonn
The University of Bonn is a public research university located in Bonn, Germany. Founded in its present form in 1818, as the linear successor of earlier academic institutions, the University of Bonn is today one of the leading universities in Germany. The University of Bonn offers a large number...
. The Bonn School of classical philology was led by Usener with Franz Buecheler.
He was born at Weilburg
Weilburg
Weilburg is, with just under 14,000 inhabitants, the third biggest town in Limburg-Weilburg district in Hesse, Germany, after Limburg an der Lahn and Bad Camberg.- Location :...
and educated at its Gymnasium. From 1853 he studied at Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
, Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, Göttingen
Göttingen
Göttingen is a university town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Göttingen. The Leine river runs through the town. In 2006 the population was 129,686.-General information:...
and Bonn
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
. In 1858 he had a teaching position at the Joachimsthalschen Gymnasium in Berlin.
Works
His works include:- Analecta Theophrastea (1858 dissertation at Bonn)
- Alexandri Aphrodisiensis problematorum lib. III. et IV. (1859)
- Scholia in Lucani bellum civile (1869)
- Anecdoton Holderi (1877)
- Legenden der heiligen Pelagia (1879)
- De Stephano Alexandrino (1880)
- Philologie und Geschichtswissenschaft (1882)
- Jacob Bernays, Gesammelte Abhandlungen (1885) editor
- Acta S. Marinae et S. Christophori (1886)
- EpicureaEpicureaEpicurea is a collection of texts, fragments and testimonies by Epicurus composed by Hermann Usener in 1887.- External links :* at Internet Archive* at...
(1887) - Altgriechischer Versbau (1887)
- Götternamen: Versuch einer Lehre von der Religiösen Begriffsbildung (1896)
- Religionsgeschichtliche Untersuchungen (1889)
- Die Sintfluthsagen untersucht (1899)
- Dionysius of HalicarnassusDionysius of HalicarnassusDionysius of Halicarnassus was a Greek historian and teacher of rhetoric, who flourished during the reign of Caesar Augustus. His literary style was Attistic — imitating Classical Attic Greek in its prime.-Life:...
edition, begun 1904, with Ludwig RadermacherLudwig RadermacherLudwig Radermacher was a German-Austrian classical philologist who was a native of Siegburg.In 1891 he earned his doctorate at the University of Bonn, where he was a student of Hermann Usener . Following graduation he remained in Bonn, where he assisted Usener with the works of Dionysius of... - Vorträge und Aufsätze, 1907.
Influence
A large-scale thinker, he was influential in areas such as concept formation in religion, as well as in scholarship and through his students. One such was Friedrich NietzscheFriedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a 19th-century German philosopher, poet, composer and classical philologist...
: after initial support, Usener wrote him off as a scholar after The Birth of Tragedy
The Birth of Tragedy
The Birth of Tragedy from the Spirit of Music is a 19th-century work of dramatic theory by the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. It was reissued in 1886 as The Birth of Tragedy, Or: Hellenism and Pessimism ...
was published. In the work Götternamen in 1896, he introduced the concept of a momentary god. This phrase entered the English language and popular culture, as the name for deities who seem to exist only for a specific purpose, time and place.
His students included Hermann Diels, Paul Natorp
Paul Natorp
Paul Gerhard Natorp was a German philosopher and educationalist, considered one of the co-founders of the Marburg school of neo-Kantianism. He was known as an authority on Plato....
, Hans Lietzmann
Hans Lietzmann
Hans Lietzmann was a German theologian and church historian who was a native of Düsseldorf.He initially studied in Jena, and continued his education in Bonn, where he was a student of Hermann Usener...
, Albrecht Dieterich
Albrecht Dieterich
Albrecht Dieterich was a German classical philologist and religious scholar who was a native of Hersfeld.He studied at the Universities of Leipzig and Bonn, where at the latter he was a student of Hermann Usener , who in 1899 became Dieterich's father-in-law...
, Richard Reitzenstein, and Aby Warburg
Aby Warburg
Abraham Moritz Warburg, known as Aby Warburg, was a German art historian and cultural theorist who founded a private Library for Cultural Studies, the Kulturwissenschaftliche Bibliothek Warburg, later Warburg Institute...
. Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff
Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff
Enno Friedrich Wichard Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff was a German Classical Philologist. Wilamowitz, as he is known in scholarly circles, was a renowned authority on Ancient Greece and its literature.- Youth :...
, the leading German classical scholar of the following generation, studied at Bonn 1867-9; but tended to disagree with Usener. Their correspondence has been published.