Mysteriously meant: The rediscovery of pagan symbolism and allegorical interpretation in the Renaissance

Description

This book by a learned contemporary scholar is about the work of learned Renaissance scholars who left us a legacy of writings about the imaginative work of a still more remote group of authors— those of classical antiquity. For centuries, “myth crouched at the gates of Paradise without hope of admittance," says Professor Allen. Biblical exegesis was the only avenue open to a Christian scholar interested in Greek and Latin antiquity. Through the Middle Ages the Bible was the sacred word, and 1 pagan myth was to be read and studied at all, it had to be read from the point of view of the Old and New Testaments. Early Christian apologists began by interpreting their classical sources either as imperfect copies or as Satanic perversions of Christian history, and thus took the initial step in developing an interpretative tradition of myth that came to blossom fully in the Renaissance. By the middle of the sixteenth century, Christian scholars were probing deeply into Homer, Virgil, and Ovid, looking for symbolic and allegorical readings hid den there. The then newly discovered Egyptian material held a fascination for these Renaissance mythographers, for they were convinced that something essentially mysterious and symbolic lay just beneath the surface of these remnants of the past. Α similar passion for deciphering mystery led Renaissance antiquarians to study ancient coins, works of art, and other relics, and ultimately gave impetus to development of a host of modern systematic historical disciplines. Professor Allen moves from one author to another, mapping the intellectual landscape of the Renaissance as he ex plains how the discovery of allegorical interpretation of Greek, Latin, and finally Egyptian myths came into existence and the effect this had on developing more modern attitudes toward myth. He believes that to understand Renaissance literature one must understand the interpretations of classical myth known to the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In helping us unravel those elusive strands of myth, allegory, and symbol that came to form the fabric of Renaissance literature such as Milton’s Paradise Lost, Professor Allen is a helpful guide. His discussion of Renaissance authors is as authoritative as it is inclusive. The sheer volume of material he has examined and correlated is awesome, and his empathy with the scholars of the Renaissance keeps his discussion lively—a witty interpretation of mythographic interpreters of the past. DON CAMERON ALLEN is Sir William Osler Professor of English at The Johns Hopkins University. He is the author of The Harmonious Vision, Image and Meaning, and Doubt’s Boundless Sea; the editor of A Celebration of Poets; and co-editor of The Poetic Tradition: Essays on Greek, Latin, and English Poetry.