How Philosophers Saved Myths: Allegorical Interpretation and Classical Mythology

221 Pages·2008·8.13 MB·English

by  Luc Brisson

How Philosophers Saved Myths

_Luc Brisson Translated by Catherine Tihanyi
   
Allegorical Interpretation and Classical Mythology
     ⁄   
Luc Brissonis director ofresearch at the Centre national de la recherche scientifique,
France.Among his previous works published in English are Inventing the Universe: Plato’s
Timaeus, the Big Bang, and the Problem ofScientific Knowledge,with F. Walter Meyerstein
(); Plato the Myth Maker(); and Sexual Ambivalence: Androgyny and Hermaphro-
ditism in Graeco-Roman Antiquity(). Catherine Tihanyi,a research associate in the De-
partment ofAnthropology at Western Washington University, has translated a number of
books, including Claude Lévi-Strauss’s The Story ofLynx() and Adam Biro’s Two Jews on
aTrain().
The University ofChicago Press, Chicago 
The University ofChicago Press, Ltd., London
© by The University ofChicago
All rights reserved. Published 
Printed in the United States ofAmerica
English language only
              
: ---(cloth)
Originally published in German as Einführung in die Philosophie des Mythos,vol. : Antike,
Mittelalter und Renaissance,© by Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt. The
present translation is based on the French edition, Introduction à la philosophie du mythe,vol.
: Sauver les mythes,© Librairie Philosophique J. Vrin, .
Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Brisson, Luc.
[Sauver les mythes. English]
How philosophers saved myths : allegorical interpretation and classical mythology / Luc
Brisson ; translated by Catherine Tihanyi.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
: ---(alk. paper)
1. Mythology, Classical. 2. Allegory. 3. Philosophy—History. I. Title.
. 
′.′—dc

oThe paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements ofthe American
National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence ofPaper for Printed Library
Materials, .-.
To Jean Pépin
whose works on myth have been a constant source of inspiration


Translator’s Note / ix
Preface to the French Edition / xi
List ofAbbreviations / xiii
Introduction / 
 Muthosand Philosophia/ 
 Plato’s Attitude toward Myth / 
 Aristotle and the Beginnings ofAllegorical Exegesis / 
 Stoics, Epicureans, and the New Academy / 
 Pythagoreanism and Platonism / 
 The Neoplatonic School ofAthens / 
 Byzantium and the Pagan Myths / 
 The Western Middle Ages / 
 The Renaissance / 
Conclusion / 
Notes / 
Index / 

’ 
T
his translation has undergone a number ofchanges from the French
original. The author has modified some sentences, made use ofa re-
cently published translation of the Derveni papyrus, and also cor-
rected some typos and biographical errors in the original French.
I have, whenever possible, used published English-language translations
to render Brisson’s quotations. Occasionally I made some slight modifica-
tions, all noted in the endnotes, in order to harmonize these English-
language extracts with Brisson’s meaning.
I would like to express my gratitude to Luc Brisson for reading the first
draft ofthe translation and the final proofs and for his patience in answer-
ing questions; and to Michael Chase for his thorough reading of the draft
and his invaluable corrections ofsome errors that had crept in it. My thanks
also to Gérard Naddaffor his helpful suggestions. In Chicago, I would like
to thank T. David Brent for entrusting me with this project and for his kind
encouragements, and Leslie Keros for very ably bringing this project to its
published completion. Last but not least, my thanks to Margaret Mahan for
her outstanding copyediting and her deft and sensitive solutions to a num-
ber oftranslation problems.
ix