Plato the Myth Maker

Brisson, Luc

ISBN 10: 0226075184 / ISBN 13: 9780226075181

Published by University of Chicago Press, 1999

About this Item

Fine copy. Fine complete dustwrapper. Owner signature to front endpaper.

Seller Inventory # 045789

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Plato the Myth Maker
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Publication Date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0226075184
• ISBN 13: 9780226075181
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Fine

About this title

Synopsis

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

About the Author

Luc Brisson is director of research at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in France. He is the author of several books including Plato the Mythmaker, published in English by the University of Chicago Press. Catherine Tihanyi, a research associate at Western Washington University, has translated a number of books for the University of Chicago Press, including Adam Biro’s Two Jews on a Train.