Palaephatus

Palaiphatos ( Παλαίφατος, latin Palaephatus ) was probably the pseudonym of a Greek writer who lived in the time of Aristotle with great probability (4th century BC) and is known to us only through a single work: "Amazing Stories" ( Περὶ ἀπίστων ἰστορίων Peri apíston istoríon ).

His " Incredible Tales" are an early attempt to find rational explanations for the old stories about gods, heroes and monstrous creatures in Greek mythology. Many historians are of the opinion that the work was originally created as Greek gods story in five volumes in the second half of the 4th century BC. Others believe that these statements had arisen for Greek legends as a miniature version of a larger issue in the Byzantine period. Until the 19th century it was a widely used textbook for students who learned Greek.

Suidas mentions the work as a work of a writer from Egypt or Athens. After Suida himself the author of Paros or Priene could come. The author could have been a contemporary of Euhemerus (3rd century BC). Sudias mentioned two other writers of that name. An epic poet of Athens, who lived before the time of Homer and a historian of Abydos, who was a close friend or a student of Aristotle.

Palaiphatos explains that the traditional stories of Greek mythology based on misleading traditions. For him, they are a collection of actual historical events. For example, he claims that there has never been female soldiers. The Amazons were actually male barbarian soldiers who were with her hair ribbons and smooth-shaven cheeks, in their old-fashioned skirts regarded as women.

Interpretations of Greek mythology

The mythology was an important and central area in ancient Greek society, since they reflected various rituals and important aspects of social existence.

Nor is the question of how far people believed in these myths, very difficult or impossible to answer. It is certain that transformation myths were under house in need of explanation in ancient times. In the Hellenistic period they were not only a favorite subject of poets. Some intellectuals, such as just the writer Palaiphatos tried for the myths that have appeared to them ( incredibly Greek: ) as ápista to find figurative, non-literary descriptions.

Other thinkers such as the philosopher Plato understood the myths as a moral teachings, especially those parts in which crimes were punished by the gods.

In the second century AD, the Greek traveler Pausanias described the myth and the cult of the places he visited, as still living religious basis for discussions and practices of the local population.