Birth of the Symbol : Ancient Readers at the Limits of Their Texts

Nearly all of us have studied poetry and been taught to look for the symbolic as well as literal meaning of the text. Is this the way the ancients saw poetry? In __Birth of the Symbol__, Peter Struck explores the ancient Greek literary critics and theorists who invented the idea of the poetic "symbol." The book notes that Aristotle and his followers did not discuss the use of poetic symbolism. Rather, a different group of Greek thinkers--the allegorists--were the first to develop the notion. Struck extensively revisits the work of the great allegorists, which has been underappreciated. He links their interest in symbolism to the importance of divination and magic in ancient times, and he demonstrates how important symbolism became when they thought about religion and philosophy. "They see the whole of great poetic language as deeply figurative," he writes, "with the potential always, even in the most mundane details, to be freighted with hidden messages." __Birth of the Symbol__ offers a new understanding of the role of poetry in the life of ideas in ancient Greece. Moreover, it demonstrates a connection between the way we understand poetry and the way it was understood by important thinkers in ancient times.

this Is A Challenging Yet Rewarding Journey Through A Millenium Of Texts, Thoughts, And Interpretations. As Against The Defensive Stance Taken By Most Studies Of Ancient 'allegory,' Peter Struck Gives A Resolute Appraisal Of A Persistent And Accepted Way Of Understanding Literature, A Method Of Interpretation Which, In Opposition To Aristotelian Rhetoric, Tries To Get Beyond The Limits Of The Text In Order To Find A Surplus Of Meaning, To Achieve 'more' Or 'deeper' Insights. This Takes Him From The Beginnings Of Greek Literature Down To The Neoplatonists Of Late Antiquity. For The First Time, A Non-mimetic Approach To Literary Theory Becomes Possible: 'divine' Poetry Is Not Secondary Reproduction Of Material Realities But Is To Disclose Higher Forms Of Being. Struck Keeps Close To The Texts, Presented In Translation And Often In The Original Language, Too, While Maintaining A High Theoretical Level As To Language And Interpretation In General. His Book Makes Always Clear And Not Seldom Exciting Reading.--walter Burkert, Author Of creation Of The Sacred And Greek Religion

derek Collins - Classical World

this Book Offers A Remarkably Comprehensive Study Of Ancient Symbolic Interpretation From The Pre-socratics To The Later Neoplatonists And Beyond.

Contents......Page 10 Acknowledgments......Page 12 INTRODUCTION: The Genealogy of the Symbolic......Page 16 1 Symbols and Riddles: Allegorical Reading and the Boundaries of the Text......Page 36 2 Beginnings to 300 B.C.E.: Meaning from the Void of Chance and the Silence of the Secret......Page 92 3 From the Head of Zeus: The Birth of the Literary Symbol......Page 126 4 Swallowed Children and Bound Gods: The Diffusion of the Literary Symbol......Page 157 5 300 B.C.E.–200 C.E.: The Symbol as Ontological Signifier......Page 177 6 Iamblichus and the Defense of Ritual: Talismanic Symbols......Page 219 7 Moonstones and Men That Glow: Proclus and the Talismanic Signifier......Page 242 EPILOGUE: Symbol Traces: Post-Proclean Theories......Page 269 APPENDIX: Chrysippus’s Reading and Authorial Intention: The Case of the Mural at Samos......Page 294 Bibliography of Ancient Authors......Page 298 Bibliography of Modern Authors......Page 300 A......Page 312 C......Page 314 D......Page 316 H......Page 317 J......Page 319 P......Page 320 S......Page 324 X......Page 325 A......Page 326 E......Page 327 L......Page 328 P......Page 329 S......Page 330 Z......Page 331 Contents 10 Acknowledgments 12 INTRODUCTION: The Genealogy of the Symbolic 16 1 Symbols and Riddles: Allegorical Reading and the Boundaries of the Text 36 2 Beginnings to 300 B.C.E.: Meaning from the Void of Chance and the Silence of the Secret 92 3 From the Head of Zeus: The Birth of the Literary Symbol 126 4 Swallowed Children and Bound Gods: The Diffusion of the Literary Symbol 157 5 300 B.C.E.–200 C.E.: The Symbol as Ontological Signifier 177 6 Iamblichus and the Defense of Ritual: Talismanic Symbols 219 7 Moonstones and Men That Glow: Proclus and the Talismanic Signifier 242 EPILOGUE: Symbol Traces: Post-Proclean Theories 269 APPENDIX: Chrysippus’s Reading and Authorial Intention: The Case of the Mural at Samos 294 Bibliography of Ancient Authors 298 Bibliography of Modern Authors 300 Index Locorum 312 A 312 B 314 C 314 D 316 E 317 G 317 H 317 I 319 J 319 L 320 M 320 O 320 P 320 Q 324 S 324 T 325 V 325 X 325 General Index 326 A 326 B 327 C 327 D 327 E 327 F 328 G 328 H 328 I 328 J 328 L 328 M 329 N 329 O 329 P 329 Q 330 R 330 S 330 T 331 W 331 X 331 Z 331 Nearly all of us have studied poetry and been taught to look for the symbolic as well as literal meaning of the text. Is this the way the ancients saw poetry? In Birth of the Symbol, Peter Struck explores the ancient Greek literary critics and theorists who invented the idea of the poetic "symbol." The book notes that Aristotle and his followers did not discuss the use of poetic symbolism. Rather, a different group of Greek thinkers--the allegorists--were the first to develop the notion. Struck extensively revisits the work of the great allegorists, which has been underappreciated. He links their interest in symbolism to the importance of divination and magic in ancient times, and he demonstrates how important symbolism became when they thought about religion and philosophy. "They see the whole of great poetic language as deeply figurative," he writes, "with the potential always, even in the most mundane details, to be freighted with hidden messages."--Publisher's description "In Birth of the Symbol, Peter Struck explores the ancient Greek literary critics and theorists who invented the idea of the poetic "symbol."" "A different group of Greek thinkers - the allegorists - were the first to develop the notion. Struck extensively revisits the work of the great allegorists, which has been underappreciated. He links their interest to symbolism to the importance of divination and magic in ancient times and he demonstrates how imporant symbolism became when they thought about religion and philosophy."--Jacket