When was Walter Burkert born and where?
Walter Burkert was born in Neuendettelsau on the 2nd of February 1931. He began his studies at the Universities of Erlangen and Munich between 1950 and 1954.
Walter Burkert was born in Neuendettelsau on the 2nd of February 1931. He began his studies at the Universities of Erlangen and Munich between 1950 and 1954.
The original German text Homo Necans appeared in 1972 to German readers who found its approach revolutionary. The book argued that solidarity among ancient Greeks was achieved through a sacred crime involving animal slaughter.
Burkert used literary and visual sources in 1985 to reconstruct how ancient Greek sacrificial rituals actually proceeded. Participants dipped hands into consecrated water, sprinkled it on the altar and victim, and threw salted barley corns onto the animal's head before the sacrifice.
His work Die orientalisierende Epoche appeared in 1984 to discuss this eastern connection. Later publications included Babylon, Memphis, Persepolis published by Harvard University Press in 2004.
Walter Burkert received his appointment as professor of classical philology at Technische Universität Berlin in 1966. This role followed his time as a junior fellow at the Center for Hellenic Studies in Washington D.C. starting in early 1965.