Related Info Links
More by Authors Links
News and Announcements
RESEARCH ARTICLE
The Role of Myth and Religion in Plato's Philosophy in the Context of Intellectual Projections of Greek Culture
Show Less
1 Iğdır Üniversitesi, İlahiyat Fakültesi, Felsefe ve Din Bilimleri Bölümü 76000, Iğdır,
Türkiye
Received: 15 November 2024 | Published online: 29 December 2024
© 2024 by the Authors. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution -Noncommercial 4.0 International License (CC-by the license) ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ )
Abstract
This article examines how Plato uses myths in his philosophical system and the cultural, philosophical and epistemological meanings of these myths. Plato deepened the relationship between mythos and logos by functionalizing myths, which had a deep-rooted place in the Greek culture of his time, in his philosophical discussions. In this context, it is examined how the understanding of god and nature inherited from Homer and Hesiodos is reinterpreted in Plato's world of thought and how it is functionalized in philosophical discourse. The article focuses on the use of myths in Plato's important dialogues such as Timaeus, Phaidon, Phaidros, and The Republic. In the Timaeus dialogue, Plato explains the creation of the universe through the figure of the demiurge, revealing how order emerges from chaos and the cosmic purpose of the universe. Similarly, in the Phaidros, the immortality and nature of the soul is conveyed through a mythical story, thus making complex metaphysical ideas more understandable. It is emphasized that myths function in Plato's world of thought not only as a symbolic expression but also as a guide to moral development and understanding the cosmic order. Furthermore, it is discussed how Plato establishes the dialectical relationship between mythos and logos and places these two elements at the center of his philosophical thought.
Keywords
Plato
Ancient Greek religion/myths
mythos
logos
thegonia
cosmogonia.
References
- Altuner, İ. (2023). Mitostan Logosa: İlerleme mi Yoksa Gerileme mi? Hece Mitoloji Özel Sayısı, 318-319-320, 664-670.
- Annas, J. (1981). An Introduction to Plato’s Republic. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Benardete, S. (2000). Plato’s “Laws”: The Discovery of Being. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
- Brennan, J. G. (1978). Alfred North Whitehead: Plato’s Lost Dialogue. The American Scholar, 47(4), 515-524.
- Brisson, L. (1998). Plato the Myth Maker. (G. Naddaf, Ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
- Burkert, W. (1979). Structure and History in Greek Mythology and Ritual. Berkeley: University of California Press.
- Burkert, W. (1985). Greek Religion. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
- Burnet, J. (1914). Greek Philosophy: Thales to Plato. London: Macmillan.
- Clarke, M. (1999). Flesh and Spirit in the Songs of Homer: A Study of Words and Myths. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
- Cojocaru, M. (2024). The Will to Being: Plato, Cronus, and the Cult of Sisyphus. Tübingen: Springer.
- Cornford, F. M. (1957). Plato’s Cosmology: The Timaeus of Plato. London and New York: Routledge.
- Couturat, L. (1902). Logique, Mathématiques, Langue Universelle: Anthologie, 1893-1917. (M. Fichant, Ed.). Paris: ENS Éditions.
- Çakmak, C. (2015). Mitostan Logosa Geçişin Arka Planı ve Doğa Filozofları. B. A. Çetinkaya (Ed.), Doğudan Batıya Düşüncenin Serüveni 2: Antikçağ Yunan Düşüncesi & Ortaçağ Düşüncesi içinde (ss. 51-95). İstanbul: İnsan Yayınları.
- Detienne, M. (1986). The Creation of Mythology. (M. Cook, Çev.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
- Dodds, E. R. (2023). The Greeks and the Irrational. London: University of California Press.
- Eliade, M. (1963). Mythologies of Memory and Forgetting. History of Religions, 2(2), 329-344.
- Elmalı, O. (2005). Platon ve Russell’a Göre Devletin Baba Yerine Geçmesi Problemi. Atatürk Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi, 5(1), 419-428.
- Gill, C. (1979). Plato’s Atlantis Story and the Birth of Fiction. Philosophy and Literature, 3(1), 64-78.
- Grondin, J. (2012). Introduction to Metaphysics: From Parmenides to Levinas. (L. Soderstrom, Çev.). New York: Columbia University Press.
- Guthrie, W. K. C. (1975). A History of Greek Philosophy IV: Plato: The Man and His Dialogues: Earlier Period. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Hesiodos. (2008). İşler ve Günler & Tanrıların Doğuşu. (F. Akderin, Çev.). İstanbul: Say Yayınları.
- Homeros. (1981). İlyada. (A. Erhat ve A. Kadir, Çev.). Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları.
- John, A. (2023). The Transition of Ancient Greek Spirit from Mythos to Logos. Theophany Journal, 5, 26-36.
- Klosko, G. (2007). The Development of Plato’s Political Theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Mattei, J.-F. (2008). Platon. (İ. Yerguz, Çev.). Ankara: Dost Kitabevi.
- Mohr, R. D. (1985). The Platonic Cosmology. Leiden: E.J. Brill.
- Morgan, K. A. (2000). Myth and Philosophy from the Presocratics to Plato. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Morrow, G. R. (2000). Plato’s Cretan City: A Historical Interpretation of the Laws. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
- Mueller, I. (2005). Mathematics and the Divine in Plato. T. Koetsier ve L. Bergmans (Ed.), Mathematics and the Divine: A Historical Study içinde (ss. 99-121). Amsterdam: Elsevier.
- Nightingale, A. W. (1995). Genres in Dialogue: Plato and the Construct of Philosophy. New York: Cambridge University Press.
- Nussbaum, M. C. (2001). The Fragility of Goodness: Luck and Ethics in Greek Tragedy and Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Öçal, Ş. (2017). Platon’un Timaios Diyalogunda Tanrı ve Evrenin Oluşumu. Beytulhikme An International Journal of Philosophy, 7(1), 65-83.
- Özden, H. Ö. (2002). Hellenizm Öncesi Yunan Felsefesinde Güzellik Anlayışları. Atatürk Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, 17, 61-92.
- Özkan, F. ve Altuner, İ. (2022). Platon ve Aristoteles’te İnsan Doğası ve Erdemlilik. M. Çakmak ve H. Algur (Ed.), İnsan, Din ve Erdemlilik içinde (ss. 215-232). İstanbul: Dem Yayınları.
- Pattison, G. (2005). The Philosophy of Kierkegaard. Chesham: Acumen.
- Plato. (1966). Republic: Books 1–5. (C. Emlyn-Jones ve W. Preddy, Çev.). Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
- Plato. (1972). Plato’s Phaedo. (R. Hackforth, Çev.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Plato. (1979). Gorgias. (T. Irwin, Çev.). Oxford: Clarendon Press.
- Platon. (1997). Phaidros. (H. Akverdi, Çev.). İstanbul: Milli Eğitim Bakanlığı Yayınları.
- Platon. (2001). Kritias. (L. Ay ve E. Güney, Çev.). Sosyal Yayınlar.
- Platon. (2007). Yasalar. (C. Şentuna ve S. Babür, Çev.). İstanbul: Kabalcı Yayınevi.
- Platon. (2011). Diyaloglar. (M. Bayka, Çev.). İstanbul: Remzi Kitabevi.
- Platon. (2015). Timaios. (F. Akderin, Çev.). İstanbul: Say Yayınları.
- Rowe, C. J. (1986). The Argument and Structure of Plato’s Phaedrus. The Cambridge Classical Journal, 32, 106-125.
- Schofield, M. (2006). Plato: Political Philosophy. New York: Oxford University Press.
- Schuhl, P.-M. (1949). Essai sur la Formation de la Pensée Grecque. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.
- Tofighian, O. (2016). Myth and Philosophy in Platonic Dialogues. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
- Vernant, J.-P. (2006). Myth and Thought among the Greeks. (J. LLoyd ve J. Fort, Çev.). Brooklyn, NY: Zone Books.
- Versnel, H. S. (2014). Greek Myth and Ritual: The Case of Kronos. J. N. Bremmer (Ed.), Interpretations of Greek Mythology içinde (ss. 121-152). London and New York: Routledge.
- White, L. M. (2007). Moral Pathology: Passions, Progress, and Protreptic in Clement of Alexandria. J. T. Fitzgerald (Ed.), Passions and Moral Progress in Greco-Roman Thought içinde (ss. 284-321). Routledge.