Metrodorus of Lampsacus (the elder)
Metrodorus of Lampsacus | |
|---|---|
| Μητρόδωρος Λαμψακηνός | |
| Born | fl. 5th century BC |
| Died | 464 BC |
| Era | Allegorical interpretation |
Notable ideas | Interpretation of gods as allegorical depictions of forces of nature. |
Metrodorus of Lampsacus (
Hellespont. According to Diogenes Laertius, he was a contemporary and friend of Anaxagoras.[1] He died in 464 BC.[2]
The earliest surviving mention of Metrodorus is in
allegorical interpretation.[5] The leading feature of Metrodorus' system of interpretation being that the deities and stories in Homer were to be understood as modes of representing physical powers and phenomena.[6][7]
Similarities have also been drawn between Metrodorus' doctrines and the allegorical interpretations of an Orphic poem found in the Derveni papyrus since its discovery in 1962. Although Metrodorus' authorship of that particular work has been rejected by modern scholarship, his derivation of physical doctrines via allegorical interpretation may have influenced it.[8]
Notes
- ^ Diogenes Laertius, ii. 11
- ^ Smith 1870.
- ^ Plato, Ion, 530c
- ^ Fuentes González 2005, p. 508.
- ^ Diogenes Laertius, ii. 11
- ^ Tatian, Exhortation to the Greeks 21.3
- ^ Fuentes González 2005, p. 509-512.
- ^ Fuentes González 2005, p. 513-514.
References
- Der Kleine Pauly. vol. 3, col. 1280.
- Fuentes González, Pedro Pablo (2005). "Métrodore de Lampsaque". In Goulet, Richard (ed.). Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques (in French). Vol. 4. Paris: Editions du Centre national de la recherche scientifique. pp. 508–514. ISBN 978-2-271-06386-1. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870). "Metrodorus of Lampascus". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.
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