How Philosophers Saved Myths

In this concise but wide-ranging study, Luc Brisson describes how the myths of Greece and Rome were transmitted from antiquity to the Renaissance. He argues that philosophy was responsible for saving myth from historical annihilation. Although philosophy was initially critical of myth, mythology was progressively reincorporated into philosophy through allegory. Brisson reveals how philosophers employed allegory and how it enabled myth to take on a number of different interpretive systems throughout the centuries: moral, physical, psychological, political, and even metaphysical.

ISBN	0226075354	DEWEY edition	DC22
ISBN13	9780226075358 (What's this?)	Pages	224
Publisher	The University of Chicago Press	Volumes	1
Imprint	University of Chicago Press	Weight (grammes)	452
Format	Hardback	Published in	Chicago, IL
Publication date	07 Dec 2004	Height (mm)	238
Translator	Tihanyi, Catherine	Width (mm)	165
Library of Congress	BL727.B751	Spine width (mm)	19
DEWEY	201.301	Academic level	Professional / Scholarly

1	Muthos and Philosophia	5
2	Plato's attitude toward myth	15
3	Aristotle and the beginnings of allegorical exegesis	29
4	Stoics, Epicureans, and the new academy	41
5	Pythagoreanism and Platonism	56
6	The Neoplatonic school of Athens	87
7	Byzantium and pagan myths	107
8	The Western Middle Ages	126
9	The Renaissance	137

"A compressed overview with moments of great insight.... Its strengths lie in the details Brisson is able to work into this brief treatment." - Peter Struck, Journal of Religion "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." - Choice"

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Allegorical Interpretation and Classical Mythology

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