MYTH AND PHILOSOPHY FROM THE PRESOCRATICS TO PLATO This book explores the dynamic interpenetration of myth and philosophy in the Presocratics, the sophists, and in Plato – an interpenetration which is found to be more extensive and programmatic than has previously been recognised The story of philosophy’s relationship with myth is that of its relationship with literary and social convention The intellectuals studied here wanted to reformulate popular ideas about cultural authority, and they achieve this goal by manipulating myth Their self-conscious use of myth creates a self-reflective philosophical sensibility and draws attention to problems inherent in different modes of linguistic representation Much of the reception of Greek philosophy stigmatises myth as ‘irrational’ Such an approach ignores the important role played by myth in Greek philosophy, not just as a foil but as a mode of philosophical thought The case studies in this book reveal myth deployed as result of methodological reflection, and as a manifestation of philosophical concerns          is an Associate Professor of Classics in the University of California at Los Angeles XXXXXX MYTH AND PHILO SOPHY F R O M TH E PRESOCRATICS TO PLATO K AT H RY N A M OR G AN University of California at Los Angeles           The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom    The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU, UK 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211, USA 477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, VIC 3207, Australia Ruiz de Alarcón 13, 28014 Madrid, Spain Dock House, The Waterfront, Cape Town 8001, South Africa http://www.cambridge.org © Kathryn A Morgan 2004 First published in printed format 2000 ISBN 0-511-01767-7 eBook (netLibrary) ISBN 0-521-62180-1 hardback Contents Acknowledgements page vii  Introduction   Theoretical issues  Textualisation and the rise of philosophy From mythos to logos? Some theoretical implications  Some Presocratics     Introduction The exclusionary gesture: Xenophanes, Herakleitos, and Empedokles Allegory and rationalisation Parmenides Conclusion  The sophists and their contemporaries Introduction Philology and exegesis Mythological displays Conclusion  The Protagoras: Platonic myth in the making Introduction Protagoras’ ‘Great Speech’ Why mythos? Structure and assumptions Sokrates and Prometheus Conclusion: Sophistic versus Platonic myth v                 Contents vi  The range of Platonic myth Problems of vocabulary, problems of selection Categories of Platonic myth Exhortation, play, and childishness Myth and the limits of language  Plato: myth and the soul The Gorgias The Phaedo The Republic The Phaedrus  Plato: myth and theory The philosophical life and its mythological battles Mythos and theory Construction and reception in the Timaeus and Critias Conclusion: was the myth saved?  Conclusion Bibliography Index of passages cited General index                    Acknowledgements This book has been a long time in the making, and it is a great pleasure to acknowledge the help and support of many teachers, friends, and colleagues At the University of California at Berkeley, Tony Long and Mark Griffith taught me how to read Greek literature and supervised the awkward infancy of the manuscript as a doctoral dissertation Without their patience and rigour this project could never have left the ground Also at Berkeley, John Ferrari provided valuable help in the dissertation’s late stages I have been the fortunate recipient of several fellowships that have enabled me to pursue my research Two years as a Fellow at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens helped to remind me that texts not exist in a vacuum A Seed Grant from the Ohio State University provided valuable time free from teaching Most crucially, a large portion of manuscript revision was completed during an idyllic year as a Fellow at the Center for Hellenic Studies in Washington D.C It was immensely rewarding to be the recipient of readings from historians, philosophers, philologists, literary critics, and archaeologists, all under the benevolent aegis of Directors Kurt Raaflaub and Deborah Boedeker I am grateful to all the Fellows that year, but particularly to those who gave extended readings and comments: Stephen Lambert, Stephen Todd and Christian Wildberg I am also indebted to UCLA for allowing me to spend that year at the Center before I took up my current position My colleagues at Ohio State University and then at UCLA have consistently created an atmosphere of encouragement and support Several scholars and friends there and elsewhere have read and commented on the manuscript, in whole or in part, during its various stages of completion: David Blank, Diskin Clay, Christopher Gill, Sarah Iles Johnston, Tony Long, Richard Martin, Christopher Rowe, Allan Silverman, Ronald Stroud, Stephen Tracy, and William Wyatt They vii viii Acknowledgements have been extraordinarily generous with their time and their criticisms I only hope they will forgive me for not following all of their excellent advice Andrea Nightingale deserves separate mention and especial thanks An accurate account of her contributions to this book would sound like hyperbole I trust she will take praeteritio as the best compliment At Cambridge University Press, my editor Pauline Hire has kept this project moving with typical energy and care I am happy to acknowledge the contribution to the manuscript made by an anonymous reader for the Press Finally, at UCLA, my research assistant Lowry Sweney was indefatigable in his pursuit of citational excellence This book is dedicated, with love and thanks, to my parents Jean and David Morgan, who always encouraged me to believe and to dream I grieve that my father has not lived to see this book to press, but rejoice that my mother will read these thanks Los Angeles March    Introduction This is not a book about ‘mythical thinking’, although it is about both myth and thought Treatments of mythical thinking try to specify some system of thought as ‘other’, as primitive, mystical, childish, or irrational The difficulties of identifying and explaining purported different mentalities are by now well known, and the explanatory utility of such a procedure is limited. Nor I wish to attempt a rehabilitation of ‘myth’ in the face of ‘philosophy’ It has been suggested, for instance, that myth is a ‘pre-philosophical ‘‘mirror’’ of existential thought’, a liberation from excessive abstraction and objectivism, a primal, original, and essential form of truth. The validity of these assertions I am unable to gauge, for the myth with which this book is concerned is post-philosophical It is myth seen through a philosophical lens and incorporated into philosophical discourse As a form of truth it is neither primal nor original From the standpoint of the philosophers we shall meet in the following pages, non-philosophical myth is a story about truth that is often pernicious and misleading The myth they incorporate serves their own ends These ends are: the reformulation of people’s ideas about literary and cultural authority, the problematisation of the different modes of linguistic representation, and the creation of a self-reflective philosophical sensibility The story of philosophy’s relationship with and transformation of myth is the story of its relationship with convention, both literary and societal The intellectuals studied in this book wanted to change the way people conceived the world about them This project involved reconfiguring the authority of a poetic and mythological tradition that had long served as the inescapable framework for thought At the same time, however, these thinkers had to work with existing linguistic and literary resources There was no option to make a fresh start, free from the  Lloyd    Hatab :  Bibliography  Nussbaum, M () ‘WTVG in Heraclitus, I’, Phronesis : – () ‘Saving Aristotle’s appearances’, in M Schofield and M C Nussbaum (eds.) 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Athenian Identity and Civic Ideology, – Baltimore Wardy, R () The Birth of Rhetoric: Gorgias, Plato, and their Successors London West, M L () ed and comm., Hesiod: Theogony Oxford Whitaker, M () Tatian Oratio ad Graecos and Fragments Oxford ă berlegungen zu Parmenides B , , in Aubenque (): Wiesner, J () ‘U – Winiarczyk, M () ‘Nochmals das Satyrspiel Sisyphus’, WS : – Wipprecht, F () Zur Entwicklung der rationalistischen Mythendeutung bei den Griechen  Tuăbingen Woodbury, L () Parmenides on names, HSPh : () ‘Equinox at Acragas: Pindar, Ol .–’, TAPhA : – () ‘Parmenides on naming by mortal men: Fr B.–’, AncPhil : – Worthington, I (ed.) () Voice into Text Orality and Literacy in Ancient Greece Mnemosyne Suppl  Leiden Wright, M R () Empedocles: The Extant Fragments New Haven Zaslavsky, R () Platonic Myth and Platonic Writing Washington Index of passages cited       Prometheus Bound –    Vita G, Vita W –     DK       FGrH FGrH      DK.      .        Ajax On Kirke Odysseus fr  (Decleva Caizzi) fr  (Decleva Caizzi) fr  (Decleva Caizzi) fr  (Decleva Caizzi) fr  (Decleva Caizzi) fr  (Decleva Caizzi) fr  (Decleva Caizzi) frs b, c (Decleva Caizzi)         Birds , – Clouds – Wasps , –, –       A n Post a– Ath Pol . De Caelo a ff De Ge n et Corr a ff Met a  b a b Topics b        .– Contest of Hesiod and Homer  n.  n.  n.      –  –        n.   n.  n. n n.,   n.     n.   n.  n.  n.  n.        DK                            .– . ff .    n.        DK       –                    –     ,              n.     n.  n. –    n.   Index of passages cited    Bacchae – Orestes  ff     Defence of Palamedes (DK a) Encomium of Helen (DK ) DK       FGrH          DK                     .– . . . . . . . . . .   Theogony – –    –  –  n.  – – –   , , n. – –  ,      n.,      –  , ,            n.  n.  n.  n.  n. , , , ,      n.   n.  Works and Days  –  – –  –  ff     DK .        Iliad . .– . .  – . . Odyssey .– . .– . . .    n.   n.  n.  n.   n.,    n.  n.  n.  n. – ,         n.  n.        Panathenaicus Panegyricus ,  –    Or .c; d–a      DK  –,  n.      . . .  n.  n.  n.                DK   n.,   –     n.       DK  , ,  n., –      (cont.)               ..     On Providence .,      Ol . . .– . Pyth . . Nem    . .– .    Apology d– b–c e– Cratylus b–c c– b–d c–d a–b c Critias a–d e a Crito c c– d– a–b Euthydemus d d–d b–c e–d b–d a– b– Index of passages cited , ,    –,  –, , , –, , ,   n. ,    n.  n.  n.    n.   n.   n.     n.  n.  n.  n.  n.      ,  n.       ,  n.  n.  n.  n. ,  n.  n.  n. b–c e– Euthyphro c–e b Gorgias d– c–  b–c a– b–c e a– b c–e c b–a b– e–a b–c  c–d e–a c– e– e e–b c–d a– b–e Hippias Major a–b b– a Hippias Minor c– b Ion c–d Laches d a– c– c–e a–e Laws b–d d– b– d–e e e d a–  n.  n.  n.   n.   n. ,     n.  n.  ,     –   n. ,  n.    n.  , , , ,    n., ,  – ,    n.   n. ,     ,  n.     n.   n.  n.  n.  Index of passages cited bc b e–c d–e a e a– b–b a–d a d Menexenus c c– Meno a a–c c b–c d–e a– Parmenides b Phaedo c–b d–e b– d–e d d–d c– d–e b–b d d–b c– b–c c–d d–e de a–d c– d–e c a–d c–e Phaedrus a b b– b–a d– c–d   n.   n.  n.  n.  n. –   n.  n.  n.  n.  – ,  n.   n.   ,  n. –  n. ,  n.  n. –,  n.  –     –  n.  n.  n. –  n.,  –   n., –, –,  n.,  n.,     n.  , , , , , n. – , ,  n. d–b c e c–d d– d–e b–c c a–a c–d a– d– e–a a c–d d–c a b–d d–e a–b c d–e e– a– a–b c–c c–d a–d c d–a d a–b b–e d–d e–d a–b b–c d– d–e e–b d d– b d– c– b–d d– e–b b  ,      , , ,  n.   , ,  n.,  n.   n., , , , , ,       , ,  n. –, , , , – , ,  , , , ,   ,  ,  –,  ,  , , ,   ,     ,   –  n.,  n., ,   ,  n.      – –,  ,  n. , –, , , ,  n. ,  ,  , , ,   Phaedrus (cont.) a– d– e–e b–c d–e d– d– a–b b–c c– a b d–e a– b Philebus d–b a– (scholion) – d–e b– c– d–a d– b– Protagoras d b–b d b c–d b c–d d–e a– a a–c c– d b–c d a– b c–d d– a a–d d– d–b c–c e–a Index of passages cited   –  ,    , –,  ,  ,    , , ,    ,   – ,   n.  n.   n.    n.,  n.,  n.   n. , ,  ,    ,   n. ,  ,   ,   n.  n.,      n., ,  –,  , –, ,  n. –,  n.,  n. ,  n. ,  n. a–d d– e c c b a b c–d c–d b e e–a –a a–d d c e c– b e b a e a e a–d Republic d–e e–c c–b – b–e d– a–b d– a  c d– b–c d e c b b–d e–a b–c c–d  a b–c e– – b– –     n.   n.  n.    n.   ,  n.    n.  n.  n.,   n.  n. n n.,   n.    n. , ,  n.  n., ,   n.    n. ,  , ,  n.,  n.   n. , , –  ,  n.     n.  ,     n.  n. –  n.  n.    Index of passages cited a–e c–d b–c – e d– e– b– e– c–c d–a d–e c b– c–d d– c e–a c–d e c b b b–d a a–b c–e c–d b a– b b–d a–d Seventh Letter c–e Sophist a a– b–c c d a c–b a–c d– Statesmen a b b– d–c c–d e– e–e a–c    n.     ,  n. , , , ,  ,  –    –  n.    n.   –  n.    n.,  –     – ,  –     n.  n.  n.   ,    n.  n. –,  n.,  n. –,  n. – ,  –,  d–e d–e d–b b–a c–d c Symposium d – e– Theaetetus b–d – b c c e e–a c– d a– d–d d– (scholion) c e a–b c–d d e–c d–e c c–b d–c b Timaeus b–a e–c d–e a– c–d b–b c– d–d e– b–c c–e c–d a– b–c c–d e– b c– e– d– , –,  – – ,  ,  n.   n.  n. –     n.   n.  n.    , –     –,  n.  n.  ,  n.   n.,   n.      –  n.,   ,  –,  n.  n.  ,  n.   –, ,  n.,   ,  n.,    n.,  n.  n.,  n.  Timaeus (cont.) a b–a b– c–a b d– d– e a–b d d– c–d d a d– b–d a b– d– c– e e c      Life of Solon .     In R , .–.      DK  (=Xenophon, Memorabilia ..–  PHerc , frag  PHerc , frag       DK  Index of passages cited  n.  n., –,  n.  n.,  n.   n.  n.,  n.,   n.,  n.  n. –,  n.  n.  n.,  ,  n., ,    n.  n., ,   n., , ,  n.    n.,  n., n.  n.,  n.  n.  n.,   n.  n. –  –   n.   n., ,  n.    ,     b     Poem  frags c, ,         Philoctetes –         PMG  (=Palinode)               FGrH    FGrH   –     DK               DK .        . .        DK    –  –  –    n.  n.  n.  n.     n.  n.  n.  n. ,   –       n. ,     ,  n.  –,  n.,  – General index abstraction –, , , , , – advice (to young men) , –, – afterlife , –,  in Plato’s Gorgias –, ,  in Plato’s Phaedo , , –,  in Plato’s Republic ,  Akousilaos  allegory , , –, –,  n., –,  in Plato , –, , – Antisthenes , , , –, – Aristotle , , – arts of speech –, –,  atheism , – Athens/Athenians , , , – and Atlantis – attitude to Sokrates  childhood , –, , –,  childishness of myth , , , –, –,  of philosophy , , –, –, ,  collection and division –, , – in Plato’s Phaedrus , –, , , –, –,  competition –, , , , ,  context , –, , , ,  dialectical , , , , –,  difficulties imposed by –, , –, , –,  disregard of ,  in the late dialogues  mythological (in sophistic epideixis) –, , –,  and paramythia  of philosophical myth ,  of Platonic myths –, –, , , , , –,  contradiction in deconstructionist analysis –,  impossibility of ,  law of non-contradiction  convention –, – and language , , –, , –, –,  myth as –, –, –,  physis versus nomos , –, , – rhetorical  social –, , –, , , , ,  Daimonion (of Socrates) , , ,  deception , , , , –, , – deconstruction , –, –, –, – democracy (Athenian) , , –, –, –, , – in Plato’s Protagoras –, –, –, – Demokritos , –, – dialectic versus eristic in Plato – and myth in Plato –, , , –, ,  and paramythia in Plato – in Parmenides , , –,  in Plato (various dialogues) –, , –, –, ,  in Plato’s Phaedrus –, , , –, , –, , – dike in Herakleitos  in Parmenides , –, , –, , – in Plato’s Protagoras , –, –, – in Plato’s Republic –, – in the sophists , , ,  display orations see Epideixis doxa in Parmenides –, , , –, , , –, –   General index doxa (cont.) in Plato  in the sophists , , , –,  education and paramythia – and Platonic myth –, , , ,  in Plato’s Phaedrus , , –,  in Plato’s Republic , , , ,  and the Presocratics ,  in Protagoras’ ‘Great Speech’ , –, , – Socratic – and the sophists , , –, –, , , –, , – eikos ,  in Plato’s Phaedrus , – in Plato’s Timaeus –, – Eleatic philosophy (see also Parmenides) , , –, – Empedokles , , , –, , , –,  epideixis Gorgianic , – in Plato’s Timaeus and Critias , – Prodikos’ Choice of Herakles – Protagoras’ ‘Great Speech’  philosophical  sophistic , –, , –, , – , , , , – ethics Antisthenean , –,  Empedoklean – in Plato , , –, –, , , , , ,  sophistic , , , ,  Xenophanean –, – Forms (Platonic) , , ,  in Plato’s Republic – in Plato’s Phaedrus , –, –, –, , – framing –, – in Parmenides , –, – in the sophists , –, , , , –,  in Plato –, , , , – Gorgias , , , , , , – Defence of Palamedes , , – Encomium of Helen , – Hekataios , , – Herakleitos , –, , , , –, –,  Herakles –, –, –, , ,  n. Herodotos – Hesiod , –, , – criticism of (see also ‘poetry, criticism of ’) , , ,  the Muses and truth in , –, , –,  mythos in  Hippias –, –,  history , –, , ,  and Plato’s Atlantis , , –, – Homer , , –, , – criticism of (see also ‘poetry, criticism of ’) , –,  exegesis of , –, , –, – mythos in – images in Demokritos  in Gorgias – myth as , –, – in Parmenides , –, –,  in Plato , , , –, –,  in Plato’s Phaedrus , –, –, –, –, –,  in Plato’s Republic –, ,  in Xenophanes  imitation in Gorgias  and language  in Plato , , –, ,  immortality , , , –, , , , , – proofs of , –, –, , , ,  incongruity –, –,  in the sophists –, –, , , , – inspiration , , – in Parmenides , –, – in Plato –, , , , , – rejected by Xenophanes and Herakleitos –,  and the sophists , ,  intuition and recollection , , , – Socratic –, , –, , , ,  irony in Parmenides  Platonic –,  n., , –,  Socratic , , , –,  sophistic –, –,  General index irrationality myth and , , , , –, –,  in the sophists , –,  Isokrates –,  justice see dike knowledge –, , ,  ascent to, in Plato , , ,  difficulty of acquiring, in Plato , , , , , –, , ,  grounds of, in Plato –,  limitations of, in Plato –, , , , – poetic lack of, in Plato –,  in the Presocratics –, , , , –,  rhetoric and, in Plato , –, ,  versus Socratic intuition –, –, ,  in the sophists , –, , , – theories of, in Plato , , , – and virtue ,  Kritias , –, –, – language , – conventionality of , , –, , , –, –,  fallibility of –, –, –, , –, –, , , , –, , , –, – gap between reality and , , –, –, –, –, , –, –, –, –, , – mediation by ,  misuse of –, , –, –, – of myth –, , , object language versus metalanguage –, – power of –, , , – second-order investigation of , , , –, , ,  leisure , , , ,  literacy –, , –, – logos (see also ‘mythos versus logos’) in Herakleitos –,  logos versus ergon – as lexical item – in Plato , – in the sophists , –,  man–measure doctrine , , ,  memory –, – in Plato’s Phaedrus , –, , , , –  in Plato’s Republic  metaphor –, –,  in Parmenides , , –,  in Plato –, –, , , ,  method , , , – focus on, in Plato’s late dialogues –, , –, , , –, –, , – in Plato , –, –, , , , –,  in Plato’s Phaedrus , , –, , –, , , , – in the sophists , – Socratic –,  Metrodoros of Lampsakos , , – multiplicity , , – of myth , , , ,  Muses in Hesiod , , , ,  inspiration and , –, , , –,  invocation of – in Plato , , , ,  poetic authority and , ,  myth (definition of ) –, –, , – myth (subordination to philosophy) , –, , –, , ,  mythos versus logos eikos mythos versus eikos logos – implying ‘irrational’ versus ‘rational’ , –, , –, – as a philosophical construction , –, – in Plato , , –, – in Plato’s Gorgias –, –,  in Plato’s Phaedo –, –, – in Protagoras’ ‘Great Speech’ –, –, –, , –,  in the Presocratics , –, , ,  mythos (lexical item) –, –, – in Plato –, –, –, –, , – narrative –, , , , – and myth in Plato –, –, –, , , , , , , – philosophical theory as , , , , –, –, , – in Plato’s Gorgias – in Plato’s Phaedo , – in Plato’s Phaedrus ,  in Plato’s Protagoras ,  in Plato’s Statesman – nesting see framing Noble Lie , , –, –,  nomos see convention  General index Odysseus , , –, –, – paradigms , , –, ,  in Plato , , , , , ,  in Plato’s Protagoras –, , ,  in Plato’s Statesman , , – in the sophists , –, ,  paramythia –,  Parmenides , , , , , , – and Gorgias – and Plato ,  persuasion and law – in Parmenides –, ,  philosophical , ,  in Plato’s Gorgias – in Plato’s Phaedrus –, , –,  in the sophists , , –,  perspective (philosophical)  in Plato , , –, –, –, , ,  philosophy, representation of , , , , –,  philosophy, rise of , –, –, –, ,  Pindar –, , ,  play associated with mythos in Plato , –, – and education in Plato  in Gorgias –, – life as – philosophy as –, , , –, , –, , – Socratic – poetry, critique of , , , , , , – Platonic , , –, –, – Presocratic –, , , – polemic , , –, –, –,  politics  in Plato’s Protagoras –, , –, –,  in Plato’s Timaeus and Critias –, – Prodikos , , –,  praise , , –,  of Athens – of logos  of Helen – Prometheus –, –, –, – Protagoras  in Plato’s Protagoras , , –, , – in Plato’s Theaetetus , – rationalisation –, , –, –, –, ,  rationality , –, –,  in Gorgias , , – in Plato –, , ,  in Protagoras’ ‘Great Speech’ – recollection –, –, , –, – reference and deconstruction  and the Presocratics , , , – in the sophists –, ,  in Plato , –,  religion , ,  and the Presocratics –, , –,  and the sophists , – rhetoric –, –,  in Antisthenes , – in Gorgias , –, –, – in Parmenides – in Plato –, , ,  and Plato’s Atlantis –, – in Plato’s Phaedrus –, , , –, –, –,  in Plato’s Protagoras –, –,  sophistic –, , – role playing , –, –, –, , , – Scepticism , , , ,  in Gorgias ,  in Xenophanes , – self-consciousness, philosophical –, , –, , –, ,  and myth in Plato , , –, , , , –,  in Plato , , , , –, , –,  self-qualification (of Platonic myth) , , , , , , , –, ,  self-reference , , ,  social contract theory , –,  sophists, in Plato –, , –, ,  Stesikhoros , , , – Stesimbrotos of Thasos , – subjectivity , , –, , – symbolism , –,  in Parmenides , , ,  in Platonic myth ,  and allegory , – Textualisation of philosophy  of poetry , , –, –, , , , – General index myth as text , –, –, –, –,  world as text – Theagenes of Rhegion – Thucydides , – truth accessibility of , –, , , , , ,  criteria , , , , ,  and deconstruction –, , – ethical , ,  expressibility of , , , , –,  levels of –, –, –, , – myth as , –, , , , , – in Parmenides –, –, –, –, – of philosophical analysis ,   philosophical notions of , –,  of Platonic myth –, –, , –, , , , –, – pre-philosophical notions of , , , –, ,  and rhetoric –, –, –, , ,  sophistic notions of –, , , –, ,  writing –,  in Plato’s Phaedrus , , , , , –, , ,  Xenophanes , –, –, , , –, , 