Plato the Myth Maker
Plato the Myth Maker (French: Platon, les mots et les mythes, lit. 'Plato, the words and the myths') is a book by the Canadian historian and anthropologist Luc Brisson, published in 1982. It was published in English translation in 1998.
| Author | Luc Brisson |
|---|---|
| Original title | Platon, les mots et les mythes |
| Translator | Gerard Naddaf |
| Country | France |
| Language | French |
| Publisher | Éditions Maspero |
Publication date | 1982 |
Published in English | 1 May 1998 |
| Pages | 238 |
| ISBN | 9782707113269 |
Background
What would become Plato the Myth Maker began as a collaboration between Luc Brisson and Marcel Detienne. Eventually it became clear that their respective views of what a myth is differed too much, so they parted ways and wrote their own books separately.[1]
Summary
The story of Atlantis is the starting point for a lexicographical study of Plato's conception of muthos, or myth. Plato was the first to use this word to refer to a fictional story. The second half of the book concerns logos, which Plato used in contrast with muthos and regarded as the superior of the two.[2]
Reception
Pierre Ellinger wrote in L'Homme that Plato the Myth Maker benefits greatly from its methodology which draws from communication theory. Ellinger wrote that the book is valuable both because it traces the history of the concept of myth, and because it manages to outline the role of the myth in ancient Greece.[3] In The Review of Politics, Edward Andrew called it "a remarkably fine book, always thought-provoking even when it remains captive to the mythology of scientific scholarship".[4]
References
Notes
- Hitchcock 1985, p. 414.
- University of Chicago Press.
- Ellinger 1983, pp. 78–79.
- Andrew 2000, p. 608.
Sources
- Andrew, Edward (2000). "Myths of the Scientific Historian". The Review of Politics. 62 (3). doi:10.1017/S0034670500041796.
- Ellinger, Pierre (1983). "Luc Brisson, Platon, les mots et les mythes". L'Homme (in French). 23 (4). ISSN 1953-8103.
- Hitchcock, David (1985). "Platon, les mots et les mythes. Luc Brisson". Phoenix. 39 (4). doi:10.2307/1088413.
- University of Chicago Press. "Plato the Myth Maker". Retrieved 8 April 2020.
Further reading
- Detienne, Marcel (1986) [1981]. The Creation of Mythology. Translated by Cook, Margaret. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0226143484.
- Partenie, Catalin (10 July 2018). "Plato's Myths". Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved 8 April 2020.