Erich Julius Adolf Bethe (2 May 1863 – 19 October 1940) was a German classical philologist who was a native of

Stettin Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major seaport, the largest city of northwestern Poland, and se ...

. In 1887, he earned his doctorate from the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

, later receiving his

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

in 1891. From 1893 to 1897, he was an associate professor at the University of Rostock, afterwards serving as a professor of classical

philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

at the Universities of

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

(1897-1903),

Giessen Giessen, spelled in German (), is a town in the Germany, German States of Germany, state () of Hesse, capital of both the Giessen (district), district of Giessen and the Giessen (region), administrative region of Giessen. The population is appro ...

(1903–06) and

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

(1906-1931). In 1927–28, he was rector at the University of Leipzig. Bethe was married to the German painter Margarethe Loewe-Bethe. In 1933, Bethe signed the '' Vow of allegiance of the Professors of the German Universities and High-Schools to Adolf Hitler and the National Socialistic State''. His better known publications are as follows: * ''Thebanische Heldenlieder'' ( Theban heroic songs), 1891. * ''Prolegomena zur Geschichte des Theaters im Alterthum'' (Prolegomena on the history of theaters in antiquity), 1896. * ''Homer, Dichtung und Sage'' (

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

, poetry and legend), 1914. * ''Der troische Epenkreis'' (The troische epic spheres), 1919 * ''Griechische Lyrik'' ( Greek lyric poetry), 1920. * ''Marchen, sage, mythus'' (Fable, legend, myth), 1922. * ''Die griechische Dichtung'' (Greek poetry), 1924. * ''Tausend jahre altgriechischen lebens'' (Millennium of ancient Greek life), 1933. * ''Ahnenbild und familiengeschichte bei Römern und Griechen'' (Ancestral imagery and family history among the Romans and

Greeks Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...

), 1935.

Literature

* ''Erich Burck'': Leipzig 1921–1925: Richard Heinze (1867–1929), Alfred Körte (1866–1946), Erich Bethe (1863–1940). In: Eikasmós. Band 4, 1993, S. 61–70. * ''Otto Kern'': Erich Bethe †. In: Gnomon. Band 17 (1941), S. 142–144 * ''Herbert Helbig'': Bethe, Erich Julius Adolf. In: Neue Deutsche Biographie (NDB). Band 2, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1955, , S. 185

References

Open Library
(published works)

(biography) German philologists 1863 births 1940 deaths Writers from Szczecin Academic staff of Leipzig University Rectors of Leipzig University University of Göttingen alumni Academic staff of the University of Basel Academic staff of the University of Giessen Academic staff of the University of Rostock University of Bonn alumni People from the Province of Pomerania {{Germany-academic-bio-stub