physiological facts:

consistent with the normal functioning of an organism.

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Aeschylus’s choruses:

ancient Greek theatre always included a chorus that offered a variety of background & summary information to help the audience follow the performance. They commented on themes & demonstrated how the audience might react.  It was the ideal spectator, and conveyed a lyrical and musical expression of its own emotions, and elevated the audience to contemplation.  In many plays, the chorus expressed what the main characters could not say, such as their hidden fears or secrets and often provided other characters with the insight they needed.

 

Apollo cult:

cult dedicated to the Olympian god of music, prophecy, oracles, healing and aversion of harm; also the protector of youths and patron god of poets; one of the most popular gods in ancient Greece with innumerable shrines and sanctuaries. The most important of these was the great oracle at Delphi-- which not only prophesied the future but also made rulings on matters of religion.

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Emperor worship:

even before the rise of the Caesars, there are traces of a "regal spirituality" in Roman society. In early Rome the king was a spiritual & patrician figure. As the Roman Empire developed the Imperial cult gradually developed more formally and constituted the worship of the Roman emperor as a god. This practice began at the start of the Empire under Augustus, and became a prominent element of Roman religion.

 

romanticists:

artistic, literary, musical & intellectual movement originating in Europe late 18th century, at its peak first half of 19th century; characterized by emphasis on emotion & individualism, glorification of the past & nature, preferring Medieval to Classical.  Accentuated intense emotion as an authentic source of aesthetic experience, placing emphasis on apprehension, horror, terror & awe.

 

Basel professors:

all 3 academics (Bachofen, Burckhardt, Nietzsche) were at one point employed by Basle university, 19th century and are identified as belonging to the Romantic school.

 

Bachofen:

Swiss antiquarian, jurist, philologist, and anthropologist, professor for Roman law at the University of Basel from 1841 to 1845; most often connected with theories surrounding prehistoric matriarchy; Das Mutterrecht (Mother Right) is the title of his seminal 1861 book, an investigation of the religious and juridical character of matriarchy in the Ancient World.

 

philological:

the study of literary texts and of written records, the establishment of their authenticity and their original form, and the determination of their meaning.

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normative:

of or relating to a norm, (a standard, model, or pattern) especially an assumed norm regarded as the standard of correctness in behaviour, speech, writing, etc.

 

matter of fact school:

Spengler’s somewhat clumsy definition of the Classical school which he identifies with Ranke, characterized with a scientific (cause- effect) approach.  These historians reject intuition and feelings. They work to dissect & take apart sources.  Spengler juxtaposes this group against the Romantics (see above), but sees both as being flawed methodologies.