The Invention of Mythic Truth in Antiquity
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20072969 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Peter T Struck (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2009 |
| Pages | 25-37 |
| Publication date | 2009-08-18 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | CHAPTER |
| Venue | Antike Mythen (SOURCE_BOOK) |
| Publisher | Walter de Gruyter (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.1515/9783110217247.1.25 |
| OpenAlex | W2503300198 |
| ISBN | 9783110217247 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
It is commonly understood that the Greek term mythos means something entirely different from the modern definitions of 'myth'. Liddell and Scott tells the most authoritative version of the story: in Homer the term is a rather generic word for speech, and by the classical period it comes to mean something like a tall tale, usually a false and absurd one. Plato in the Gorgias opposes a mythos to a logos (a rational account) and to speaking truthfully: "Listen, then, as they say, to a beautiful story, which you will consider a myth, I think, but which I consider an actual accont (logon); for the things which I am about to tell, I will tell as the truth" (Plat. Gorg. 523a). Aristotle later coins it to mean the plot of a tragedy, and there the story seems to end. Though I have of course streamlined a bit, there are no other major developments. The ancient traditions of mythography do very little to challenge this narrative, since they display mostly antiquarian interest, where the concern for any truth-value is bracketed
Art · Art history · Literature · Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History · Classical Antiquity Studies · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies
| Citations per year | 0.22 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2017 - 2021 (5) |
| Highly cited | No |