Who is The Sheep Professor from A Wild Sheep Chase and what is their importance?

The Sheep Professor is the father of the owner of the Dolphin Hotel. He was born into a poor farming family, but was scholastically skilled. He graduated at the top of his class and went into the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry as an elite. In July of 1935, he left on horseback for a study of the land and did not return for a week. He claimed he had been lost, and in reality had gotten lost, fallen asleep in a cave, and been inhabited by the sheep. He acts only as a transport for the sheep, and a year later, the sheep leaves him. He then spends forty years looking for the sheep, only to lose himself, his children, and his life in the process. In the end, when the sheep is killed, the man loses his obsession, and is left depressed and suicidal.