Walter Friedrich Otto

Walter Friedrich Gustav Hermann Otto (usually shortened to Walter F. Otto; 22 June 1874 in Hechingen – 23 September 1958 in Tübingen) was a German classical philologist particularly known for his work on the meaning and legacy of Greek religion and mythology, especially as represented in his seminal 1929 work The Homeric Gods.

Walter F. Otto was born to pharmacist Hermann Ernst Otto in Hechingen (Baden-Württemberg), Germany in 1874. In 1882, after his family moved to Stuttgart, Otto began attending the Eberhard-Ludwigs-Gymnasium. Instead of completing the Abitur, he took the so-called Konkurs exam, the successful completion of which secured him admission to the Tübinger Stift.

As was expected of him by the Stift, Otto began studying Protestant theology, but switched to classical philology after two semesters, and continued his studies under professors Otto Crusius, Ludwig Schwabe and Wilhelm Schmid. Schmid convinced Otto to transfer from Tübingen to Bonn, where he completed his studies under Hermann Usener and Franz Bücheler. Bücheler, renowned for his work as a Latinist, influenced the young Otto to such a degree that the latter dedicated the bulk of the following 20 years to topics centred on Roman culture and literature - this, despite the fact that he is principally remembered as a Hellenist.

Otto graduated in 1897 with the thesis Nomina propria latina oriunda a participiis perfecti ("Latin Personal Names derived from the Perfect Participle"). Shortly thereafter, he acquired the license to teach in secondary schools. The following year, he became an assistant to the preparations of the Thesaurus Linguae Latinae and moved to Munich to carry out his new duties. He served in the positions of editor and author of the Onomasticum Latinum until 1911, by which time he had completed his doctoral work under Crusius. In the Fall of that year, Otto was offered and accepted a professorship at Vienna, where he met fellow philologist Hans von Arnim, and the two became close friends.

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