Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (12 February 1845, in

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, the population was 118,911. General information The ori ...

– 9 March 1923, in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

) was a German classical

scholar A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researche ...

. He specialized in studies of Greek and

Roman mythology Roman mythology is the body of myths of ancient Rome as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans. One of a wide variety of genres of Roman folklore, ''Roman mythology'' may also refer to the modern study of these representa ...

. He received his education at the Universities of

and

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

, obtaining his PhD in 1868. While at Leipzig, from encouragement by

Friedrich Ritschl Friedrich Wilhelm Ritschl (6 April 1806 – 9 November 1876) was a German scholar best known for his studies of Plautus. Biography Ritschl was born in Großvargula, in present-day Thuringia. His family, in which culture and poverty were heredit ...

, he along with fellow students Wilhelm Wisser, Richard Arnold and

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...

, formed a student philological association in December 1865. Since 1871 he taught classes at the ''Fürstenschule'' in

Meissen Meissen (in German orthography: ''Meißen'', ) is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, the Albre ...

, and from 1882, served as vice-principal at the gymnasium in Wurzen. In 1894 he was appointed school rector. After his retirement in 1905 he lived and worked in

. During his career, he travelled extensively in Europe, his research trips taking him to Italy, France,

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see names in other languages) is one of the four historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of the Adriatic Sea, str ...

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = ...

, Greece and

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

. The

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

Wilhelm Georg Friedrich Roscher (1817–1894) was his father.

Written works

He is best known for his

lexicon A lexicon is the vocabulary of a language or branch of knowledge (such as nautical or medical). In linguistics, a lexicon is a language's inventory of lexemes. The word ''lexicon'' derives from Greek word (), neuter of () meaning 'of or fo ...

, the ''Ausführliches Lexikon der griechischen und römischen Mythologie'' ("Detailed dictionary of Greek and Roman mythology", 1884–1937; 6 volumes with 4 supplementary volumes, the dictionary being completed by Konrat Ziegler). He also published ''Neue Omphalosstudien: Ein archäologischer Beitrag zur vergleichenden Religionswissenschaft'' (1915), an

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

study of the

Omphalos An omphalos is a religious stone artifact, or baetylus. In Ancient Greek, the word () means "navel". Among the Ancient Greeks, it was a widespread belief that Delphi was the center of the world. According to the myths regarding the founding of ...

myth. Other significant works by Roscher are: * ''Studien Zur Vergleichenden Mythologie Der Griechen und Römer'', 1873 – Studies in

comparative mythology Comparative mythology is the comparison of myths from different cultures in an attempt to identify shared themes and characteristics.Littleton, p. 32 Comparative mythology has served a variety of academic purposes. For example, scholars have used ...

of the Greeks and Romans. * ''Das tiefe Naturgefühl der Griechen und Römer in seiner historischen Entwickelung'', 1875 – The deep ''Naturgefühl'' of the Greeks and Romans in their historical development. * ''Die Gorgonen und Verwandtes: Eine Vorarbeit zu einem Handbuch der griechischen Mythologie vom vergleichenden Standpunkt'', 1879 – The

Gorgons A Gorgon ( /ˈɡɔːrɡən/; plural: Gorgons, Ancient Greek: Γοργών/Γοργώ ''Gorgṓn/Gorgṓ'') is a creature in Greek mythology. Gorgons occur in the earliest examples of Greek literature. While descriptions of Gorgons vary, the ...

and related issues: a preliminary work for a handbook of Greek mythology from a comparative point of view. * ''Nektar und Ambrosia: Mit einem Anhang über die Grundbedeutung der Aphrodite und Athene'', 1883 – Nectar and

ambrosia In the ancient Greek myths, ''ambrosia'' (, grc, ἀμβροσία 'immortality'), the food or drink of the Greek gods, is often depicted as conferring longevity or immortality upon whoever consumed it. It was brought to the gods in Olympus ...

: With an appendix on the basic meanings of

Aphrodite Aphrodite ( ; grc-gre, Ἀφροδίτη, Aphrodítē; , , ) is an ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, and procreation. She was syncretized with the Roman goddess . Aphrodite's major symbols incl ...

and

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of v ...

. * ''Über Selene und Verwandtes'', 1890 – On

Selene In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Selene (; grc-gre, Σελήνη , meaning "Moon"''A Greek–English Lexicon's.v. σελήνη) is the goddess and the personification of the Moon. Also known as Mene, she is traditionally the daughter of ...

and related issues. * ''Ephialtes: Eine pathologisch-mythologische Abhandlung über die Alptraume und Alpdämonen des Klassischen Altertums'', 1900 – Ephialtes: A pathological-mythological treatise on nightmares and the ''Alpdämonen'' of classical antiquity. * ''Die Hebdomadenlehren der griechischen Philosophen und Aerzte'', 1906 – The ''Hebdomadenlehren'' of Greek philosophers and physicians.Deutsche Wikisource
Bibliography of Roscher

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Roscher, Wilhelm Heinrich 1845 births 1923 deaths German classical scholars University of Göttingen alumni Leipzig University alumni Writers from Göttingen People from the Kingdom of Hanover