Palaephatus, Unbelievable Tales

Oxford University Press eBooks, pp. 274–281

Abstract

Abstract The ancient mythographer Palaephatus’s Unbelievable Tales is a collection of well-known myths and rationalizing explanations of them. The chapter offers an analysis of a) the philosophical notions underlying Palaephatus’s project, mostly articulated in his proem, b) the rigid structure of his entries, and c) the methods he employs to reconstruct the historical truth behind the myths under investigation, all hinging on plausibility and narrative logic—it is human misunderstanding that is at the core of all mythopoesis. Although Palaephatus’s historicizing approach perhaps seems simplistic and arbitrary, it is at the same time also systematic, coherent, and consistent. Palaephatus thus occupies a unique place in the history of mythography and the exegesis of myth. References to modern scholarship provide the status quaestionis; some long-held notions are, however, significantly qualified.

Authors 1

1. Hugo H. Koning corresponding Aachen Classical Studies

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Classical Studies, Leiden University