Plato the Myth MakerUniversity of Chicago Press, 1998 - 188 pages The word myth is commonly thought to mean a fictional story, but few know that Plato was the first to use the term muthos in that sense. He also used muthos to describe the practice of making and telling stories, the oral transmission of all that a community keeps in its collective memory. In the first part of Plato the Myth Maker, Luc Brisson reconstructs Plato's multifaceted description of muthos in light of the latter's Atlantis story. The second part of the book contrasts this sense of myth with another form of speech that Plato believed was far superior: the logos of philosophy. Gerard Naddaf's substantial introduction shows the originality and importance both of Brisson's method and of Plato's analysis and places it in the context of contemporary debates over the origin and evolution of the oral tradition. "[Brisson] contrasts muthos with the logos found at the heart of the philosophical reading. [He] does an excellent job of analyzing Plato's use of the two speech forms, and the translator's introduction does considerable service in setting the tone."—Library Journal |
Contents
TRANSLATORS INTRODUCTION | vii |
A NOTE ON THE TRANSLATION | liv |
PART I | 13 |
The Discourse of and for the Other | 87 |
CONCLUSION | 135 |
| 159 | |
| 183 | |
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Common terms and phrases
according ADEIMANTUS allegory analysis Anaximander ancient Greece appears argumentative discourse Athenian Stranger Athens Athens and Atlantis Atlantis Atlantis story behavior Charmides constitutes context Crit Critias dance derivative described designates dialogue divine Egyptian priest employed epics Études explains fabrication fact false festival Gerard Naddaf gods Greek Havelock Hecataeus Hephaestus Hermocrates heroes Hesiod Homer imitation important intelligible forms interpretation Jack Goody Laws VII likens Literacy logos Luc Brisson Marcel Detienne meaning memory muthologeō muthologia muthologos muthos myth myth-telling mythology narration occurrences of muthos oral tradition oral transmission Panathenaia Paris passage performance Phaedo Phaedrus Phdo Phdr philosopher Plato poems poet poetry poiētēs political primeval Athens Protagoras reality refers relation Republic Saïs sense Socrates Solon Soph Sophist speech tell term muthos Theaetetus Theogony Theuth Timaeus tion tōn transmitted true truth type of discourse University Press verb VIII word muthos writing written Zeus