Allegory in Early Greek Philosophy

Allegory in Early Greek Philosophy Synopsis

Allegory in Early Greek Philosophyexamines the role that allegory plays in Greek thought, particularly in the transition from the mythic tradition of the archaic poets to the philosophical traditions of the Presocratics and Plato. It explores how a mode of speech that "says one thing, but means another" is integral to philosophy, which otherwise seeks to achieveclarity and precision in its discourse. By providing the early Greek thinkers with a way of defending and appropriating the poetic wisdom of their predecessors, allegory enables philosophy to locate and recover its own origins in the mythic tradition. Allegory allows philosophy simultaneouslyto move beyondmythosand express the whole in terms oflogos, a rational account in which reality is represented in a more abstract and universal way than myth allows.

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