Synopses & Reviews
foreword by Pierre Vidal-Naquet The acclaimed French classicist Marcel Detienne's first book traces the odyssey of "truth," aletheia, from mytho-religious concept to philosophical thought in archaic Greece. Detienne begins by examining how truth in Greek literature first emerges as an enigma. He then looks at the movement from a religious to a secular thinking about truth in the speech of the sophists and orators. His study culminates with an original interpretation of Parmenides' poem on Being.
Review
"A penetrating study of the meaning of 'truth' in archaic Greece." Parabola"Richly suggestive and written with verve and wit... " Choice Zone Books
Review
"Marcel Detienne undertakes a new and daring intellectual project with both rigor and erudition.... A fascinating study which is essential reading for sociologists of religion and historians of philosophy alike." Jean-Pierre Vernant Zone Books
Synopsis
The Masters of Truth in Archaic Greece traces the odyssey of "truth," Aletheia, from mythoreligious to philosophical thought in archaic Greece. Marcel Detienne's starting point is a simple observation: In archaic Greece, three figures -- the diviner, the bard, and the king -- all share the privilege of dispensing truth by virtue of the religious power of divine memory, which provides them with knowledge, both oracular and inspired, of the present, past, and future. Beginning with this definition of the prerational meaning of truth, Detienne proceeds to elaborate the complex conceptual and historical contexts from which emerges the philosophical notion of truth still influencing Western philosophy today.
Synopsis
The acclaimed French classicist Marcel Detienne's first book traces the odyssey of truth,
About the Author
Janet Lloyd is a translator and writer living in England.