Panel Title
The serpent within: the afterlife of a Platonic image
Location
Thomas 224
Start Date
10-12-2013 4:45 PM
End Date
10-12-2013 5:30 PM
Abstract
This paper explores both the context and some of the rich afterlife of Socrates' famous observation in the Phaedrus that he investigates whether he is a Typhon or a rather gentler and simpler creature. This passage suggests opposing ways of approaching mythical narrative (rationalisation, allegorisation, or simple acceptance as true) and gave rise to, or contributed to the shaping of, elaborate comparisons of the passions to snakes or snake-like monsters. A particular group of texts focused around the venomous creatures which filled the Libyan desert, and the principal post-Platonic text to be discussed will be Dio Chrysostom 5, the 'Libyan Myth', which goes beyond Plato in asking about the conditions under which such images and myths arise.
The serpent within: the afterlife of a Platonic image
Thomas 224
This paper explores both the context and some of the rich afterlife of Socrates' famous observation in the Phaedrus that he investigates whether he is a Typhon or a rather gentler and simpler creature. This passage suggests opposing ways of approaching mythical narrative (rationalisation, allegorisation, or simple acceptance as true) and gave rise to, or contributed to the shaping of, elaborate comparisons of the passions to snakes or snake-like monsters. A particular group of texts focused around the venomous creatures which filled the Libyan desert, and the principal post-Platonic text to be discussed will be Dio Chrysostom 5, the 'Libyan Myth', which goes beyond Plato in asking about the conditions under which such images and myths arise.