Plato and Myth

Pierre Destrée, Ph.D. (1994) in Philosophy, University of Louvain, is Research Associate at the Fonds Belge de la Recherche Scientifique, and Associate Professor at the University of Louvain. His publications include numerous articles in ancient Greek ethics, and aesthetics. With Brill, he has co-edited (with Ch. Bobonich) Akrasia in Greek Philosophy (2007), and (with F.-G. Herrmann) Plato and the Poets (2011).Catherine Collobert, Ph.D. (1992) in Philosophy, University of Paris I-Panthéon-Sorbonne is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Ottawa. She has published numerous articles and books in Ancient Philosophy including Parier sur le temps: la quête héroïque d'immortalité dans l'épopée homérique (Les Belles Lettres, 2011). Francisco J. Gonzalez, Ph.D. (1991) in Philosophy, University of Toronto, is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Ottawa. He has published widely in the areas of Ancient Philosophy and Contemporary Continental Philosophy, including: (ed.) The Third Way: New Directions in Platonic Studies (Rowman and Littlefield, 2005), Dialectic and Dialogue: Plato's Practice of Philosophical Inquiry (Northwestern, 1998), and Plato and Heidegger: A Question of Dialogue (Penn State, 2009).Contributors: Luc Brisson, Claude Calame, Catherine Collobert, Pierre Destrée, Monique Dixsaut, Louis-André Dorion, Radcliffe G. Edmonds III, G. R. F. Ferrari, Francisco J. Gonzalez, Elsa Grasso, Christoph Horn, Annie Larivée, Christopher Moore, Kathryn Morgan, Glenn Most, Elizabeth Pender, Christopher Rowe, Harold Tarrant, Franco Trabattoni, Gerd van Riel

• List of ContributorsAcknowledgmentsNoteIntroduction, Catherine Collobert, Pierre Destrée and Francisco J. GonzalezPart I. Reflections on the Nature of Platonic MythsChapter One. Plato’s Exoteric Myths, Glenn W. MostChapter Two. Myth and Interpretation, Monique DixsautChapter Three. Literal and Deeper Meanings in Platonic Myth, Harold TarrantChapter Four. The Freedom of Platonic Myth, G. R. F. FerrariChapter Five. The Platonic Art of Myth Making: Myths as informative Phantasmata, Catherine CollobertChapter Six. Spectacles from Hades. On Plato’s Myths and Allegories in the Republic, Pierre DestréePart II. Approaches to Platonic MythsChapter Seven. The Pragmatics of ‘Myth’ in Plato’s Dialogues: The Story of Prometheus in the Protagoras, Claude CalameChapter Eight. Religion and Morality. Elements of Plato’s Anthropology in the Myth of Prometheus, Gerd Van RielChapter Nine. Whip Scars on the Naked Soul: Myth and Elenchos in Plato's Gorgias, Radcliffe G. Edmonds IIIChapter Ten. The Status of the Myth of the Gorgias, or: Taking Plato Seriously, Christopher RoweChapter Eleven. The Rivers of the Underworld: Plato’s Geography of Dying and Coming-back-to-Life, Elizabeth PenderChapter Twelve. Choice of Life and Self-Transformation in the Myth of Er, Annie LarivéeChapter Thirteen. Combating Oblivion: The Myth of Er as both Philosophy’s Challenge and Inspiration, Francisco J. GonzalezChapter Fourteen. The Myth of Theuth in the Phaedrus, Christopher MooreChapter Fifteen. Myth and Truth in Plato's Phaedrus, Franco TrabattoniChapter Sixteen. Theriomorphism and the composite Soul in Plato, Kathryn MorganChapter Seventeen. Myth, Image and Likeness in Plato’s Timaeus, Elsa GrassoChapter Eighteen. Why is the Timaeus called an eikôs muthos and an eikôs logos?, Luc BrissonChapter Nineteen. Why two Epochs of Human History ? On the Myth of the Stateman, Christoph HornChapter Twenty. The Delphic Oracle on Socrates’ Wisdom: A Myth?, Louis-André DorionReferencesIndex locorum

"Angesichts des steinigen Diskussionsgeländes und der Qualität der Beiträge muss das Fazit zu Plato and Myth lauten: Für jeden, der sich mit Platons Mythen befasst, ist dies ein empfehlenswertes Buch." Christian Schäfer in BMCR 02.11.2012