View source for Karl Otfried Müller

{{Short description|German scholar of classical Greek studies (1797–1840)}}
{{For|other people with Karl and Müller|Karl Müller (disambiguation){{!}}Karl Müller}}
{{Infobox academic
| name = Karl Otfried Müller
| image = Otfried Müller Ternite.jpg
| caption = Portrait of Karl Otfried Müller<br /> by [[Wilhelm Ternite]] (1838)
| birth_date = {{birth date|1797|08|28|df=y}}
| birth_place = Brieg, [[Silesia]], [[Kingdom of Prussia]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1840|08|01|1797|08|28|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Athens]], [[Greece]]
| relatives = {{plainlist|
* [[Julius Müller (theologian)|Julius Müller]] (brother, 1801–1878)
* [[Eduard Müller (philologist)|Eduard Müller]] (brother,1804–1875)
}}
| influences = [[Philipp August Böckh]]
| influenced = {{hlist|[[G. F. Creuzer]]|[[Christian August Lobeck]]|[[Carl Oesterley]]|[[Friedrich Wieseler]]|[[George Cornewall Lewis]]|[[J. W. Donaldson]]|[[Gottfried Hermann]]}}
| alma_mater = [[University of Göttingen]]
}}

'''Karl Otfried Müller''' ({{langx|la|Carolus Mullerus}}; 28 August 1797 – 1 August 1840) was a German professor, scholar of [[Classical Greece|classical Greek]] studies and [[philodorian]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Karl Otfried Müller |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Karl-Otfried-Muller |access-date=2023-01-15 |website=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]] |language=en}}</ref>

==Biography==

He was born at Brieg (modern [[Brzeg]]) in [[Prussian Silesia|Silesia]], then in the [[Kingdom of Prussia]]. His father was a chaplain in the [[Prussia]]n army,<ref name=eb9>{{Cite EB9|wstitle=Müller, Karl Otfried|volume=17}}</ref> and he was raised in the atmosphere of Protestant [[Pietism]]. He attended the [[Gymnasium (school)|gymnasium]] of his town.  His university education was partly in Breslau (now [[Wrocław]]) and partly in [[Berlin]]. In Berlin, he was spurred towards the study of [[Ancient Greek literature|Greek literature]], art and history  by the influence of [[Philipp August Böckh]]. In 1817, after the publication of his first work, ''Aegineticorum liber'', on the [[Aegina|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]], his subject being the [[archaeology]] and history of ancient art.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} He deepened his understanding of Greek art by travelling in the summer of 1822 to the Netherlands, England and France.

Turning away from the [[Age of Enlightenment|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 [[Essentialism|particular character of a people]] and a specific historical setting,<ref>[[Josine Blok|Josine H. Blok]], "Quests for a Scientific Mythology: F. Creuzer and K. O. Muller on History and Myth," ''History and Theory'' '''33'''.4, "Proof and Persuasion in History" (December 1994:26-52)</ref> 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,<ref>In his article  "On the alleged Egyptian origin of Greek art" ("Ueber<!--Ueber in original--> den angeblich ägyptischen Ursprung der griechischen Kunst,") ''Kunstblatt: Beiblatt der [[Morgenblatt für gebildete Stände|Morgenblatt]]'' '''79''' (1820), reprinted in ''Kleine deutsche Schriften''.</ref> already being recognised at the time.

[[File:Medaille Karl Otfried Müller 1841.png|thumb|Medal Karl Otfried Müller 1841]]

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]], having spent the winter in Italy. He investigated the remains of ancient [[Athens]], visited numerous places in [[Peloponnesus]], and finally went to [[Delphi]], where he began excavations. He was attacked by intermittent fever, of which he died at Athens.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} His grave is on the [[Hippeios Colonus|Colonus]] hilltop in Athens next to that of [[Charles Lenormant]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WXETAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA74 |title=Athens |last=Baedeker |first=Karl |author-link=Karl Baedeker |work=Athens and Its Immediate Environs |publisher=[[Baedeker]] |page=74 |year=1896 |access-date=14 January 2016}}</ref> In 1841 a medal was struck in his honor.<ref>http://hdl.handle.net/10900/100742 S. Krmnicek und M. Gaidys, Gelehrtenbilder. Altertumswissenschaftler auf Medaillen des 19. Jahrhunderts. Begleitband zur [http://online-Ausstellung%20im%20Digitalen%20Münzkabinett%20des%20Instituts%20für%20Klassische%20Archäologie%20der%20Universität%20Tübingen online-Ausstellung im Digitalen Münzkabinett des Instituts für Klassische Archäologie der Universität Tübingen], in: S. Krmnicek (Hrsg.), Von Krösus bis zu König Wilhelm. Neue Serie Bd. 3 (Tübingen 2020), 66-69.</ref>

==Works==
[[File:Karl Otfried Müller Büste.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Bust of Müller at the [[University of Göttingen]].]]
His aim was to form a vivid conception of Greek life as a whole.<ref name=eb9/> Undoubtedly he wished to concentrate the results of his whole life of scholarly activity in his ''[[Masterpiece|magnum opus]]'', ''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]]ians. He introduced a new standard of accuracy in the [[cartography]] of ancient Greece. In 1828 he published ''Die Etrusker'', a treatise on [[Etruscan civilization|Etruscan]] antiquities.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

His ''Prolegomena zu einer wissenschaftlichen Mythologie'' (1825), in which he avoided the  views of [[Georg Friedrich Creuzer|G. F. Creuzer]] and [[Christian August Lobeck]], prepared the way for the scientific investigation of [[mythology|myth]]s.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} Working without the benefit of modern understanding of [[psychology]], 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]] and [[Hesiod]] 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 language|German]], which helped to popularize the term internationally.<ref name="maes">{{Citation|last = Clarke | first = John R. | last2 = Maes | first2 = Hans | title = Pornographic Art and the Aesthetics of Pornography | place = London | publisher = Springer | year = 2013 | chapter = Before Pornography: Sexual Representation in Ancient Roman Visual Culture | chapter-url = https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9781137367938_8 | page = 141 | language = en | doi = 10.1057/9781137367938_8 | isbn = 9781137367938}}</ref> 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 [[John William Donaldson|J. W. Donaldson]], who carried the work down to the taking of [[Constantinople]] by the [[Ottoman Empire|Turks]]. It remained one of the best books on the subject for many years.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

Müller also published an admirable translation of the ''Eumenides'' of [[Aeschylus]] 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 [[Marcus Terentius Varro|Varro]], ''De Lingua Latina'' (Leipzig, 1833) and [[Sextus Pompeius Festus|Festus]], ''De Significatione Verborum'' (Leipzig, 1839).

== Quotes ==
*"A [[democracy]] likes a large mass and hates all divisions."<ref>''The History and Antiquities of the Doric Race'', Volume II, 1830, p. 396</ref>

== Family ==
His brothers were [[Julius Müller (theologian)|Julius Müller]] (1801–1878), a theologian, and [[Eduard Müller (philologist)|Eduard Müller]] (1804–1875), a philologist.

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References ==
* {{de-ADB|22|656|667|Müller, Karl Otfried|[[August Baumeister]]|ADB:Müller, Otfried}}
*Calder, W.M., H. Flashar and R. Schlesirt, eds. ''K.O. Müller Reconsidered'', (Urbana) 1995.
*{{EB1911|wstitle=Müller, Karl Otfried|volume=18|page=963}} This work in turn cites:
**Memoir of his life by his brother [[Eduard Müller (philologist)|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''
**[[John William Donaldson|J. W. Donaldson]], "On the Life and Writings of Karl Otfried Müller" in ''History of the Literature of Ancient Greece'', volume i.
**[[Otto Kern|Otto]] and Else Kern, ''K. O. Müller, Lebensbild in Briefen an seine Eltern'' (1908), a biography composed from his letters to his parents
**[[John Edwin Sandys|J. E. Sandys]], ''History of Classical Scholarship,'' iii. (1908), 213–216.
* {{Cite NIE|wstitle=Müller, Karl Otfried|year=1905}}
'''Attribution:'''
*{{Americana|wstitle=Müller, Karl Otfried|year=1920}}

==External links==
* {{Gutenberg author | id=36581| name=Karl Otfried Müller}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Karl Otfried Müller}}
* {{Cite Nuttall|title=Müller, Karl Otfried |short=x}}
* {{Cite AmCyc|wstitle=Müller, Karl Otfried |short=x}}

{{Authority control}}

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