How Philosophers Saved Myths
Allegorical Interpretation and Classical Mythology
Translated by Catherine Tihanyi
224 pages
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6 x 9
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© 2004
This study explains how the myths of Greece and Rome were transmitted from antiquity to the Renaissance. Luc Brisson argues that philosophy was ironically responsible for saving myth from historical annihilation. Although philosophy was initially critical of myth because it could not be declared true or false and because it was inferior to argumentation, mythology was progressively reincorporated into philosophy through allegorical exegesis. Brisson shows to what degree allegory was employed among philosophers and how it enabled myth to take on a number of different interpretive systems throughout the centuries: moral, physical, psychological, political, and even metaphysical.
How Philosophers Saved Myths also describes how, during the first years of the modern era, allegory followed a more religious path, which was to assume a larger role in Neoplatonism. Ultimately, Brisson explains how this embrace of myth was carried forward by Byzantine thinkers and artists throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance; after the triumph of Chistianity, Brisson argues, myths no longer had to agree with just history and philosophy but the dogmas of the Church as well.
How Philosophers Saved Myths also describes how, during the first years of the modern era, allegory followed a more religious path, which was to assume a larger role in Neoplatonism. Ultimately, Brisson explains how this embrace of myth was carried forward by Byzantine thinkers and artists throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance; after the triumph of Chistianity, Brisson argues, myths no longer had to agree with just history and philosophy but the dogmas of the Church as well.
Choice Magazine: CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title Awards
Won
"Here is a lucid analysis of how the richly imaginative, but manifestly irrational, stories of the ancient Greek gods were not merely interpreted but integrated by philosophers. It is a fascinating narrative; and written by one of the most distinguished and arresting scholars of ancient thought. It is both an invaluable resource and an intellectual delight."--Douglas Hedley, Clare College, Cambridge
"This highly readable translation makes available for the first time in English a fascinating book by one of the world's foremost authorities on Classical antiquity and the Platonic tradition. Luc Brisson provides an original interpretation of the whole history of the relation between myth and philosophy from the dawn of Western Civilization through Platonic, Aristotelian, Hellenistic, Neoplatonic, and Byzantine thought all the way to the Renaissance, modernity, and our own times. This work will be of immediate and invaluable help to all readers, beginners and advanced scholars alike."
"The theme of the book--the interweaving of philosophy with what might to the untutored eye look like its deadly, irrational enemy: myth--is original, and the range of its scholarship breathtaking. Written with verve, this is a treatment that not only will delight and educate in itself but will serve as the starting point for any number of individual journeys along the byways of three millennia of human thinking and dreaming."
"This is a most learned and lucidly presented account of a major feature of Greek philosophy, particularly the later period, by one of the major authorities in the field--the appropriation of Greek myths by intellectuals of the classical and post-classical periods as the repositories of higher truth, if looked at through the lens of allegory. Luc Brisson artfully brings the whole story into the compass of this book, to the enlightenment of all those interested in later Greek philosophy."
2006 Outstanding Academic Title, Choice magazine
"In his brilliant and lively book, Brisson follows the history of the link between myth and philosophy all the way up to the Renaissance. This wonderful book confirms Brisson's status as one of the major authorities in the field of classical antiquity. Overall, and with this excellent translation, the book is invaluable."
"Few scholars are in a position to write a book of this scope: it is essentially a history of religion, philosophy, theology, and hermeneutics from archaic Greece to the discovery of America. . . . It accomplishes all of these things in one hundred sixty-five lucidly written pages."—G. McGonagill, Bryn Mawr Classical Review
Contents
Translator's Note
Preface to the French Edition
Introduction
1. Muthos And Philosophia
2. Plato's Attitude toward Myth
3. Aristotle and the Beginnings Of Allegorical Exegesis
4. Stoics, Epicureans, and the New Academy
5. Pythagoreanism and Platonism
6. The Neoplatonic School of Athens
7. Byzantium and the Pagan Myths
8. The Western Middle Ages
9. The Renaissance
Conclusion
Index of Greek Terms
General Index
Preface to the French Edition
Introduction
1. Muthos And Philosophia
2. Plato's Attitude toward Myth
3. Aristotle and the Beginnings Of Allegorical Exegesis
4. Stoics, Epicureans, and the New Academy
5. Pythagoreanism and Platonism
6. The Neoplatonic School of Athens
7. Byzantium and the Pagan Myths
8. The Western Middle Ages
9. The Renaissance
Conclusion
Index of Greek Terms
General Index
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History: Ancient and Classical History
Philosophy: General Philosophy | History and Classic Works
Religion: Religion and Literature
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