Platon und Apollon

Présentation

The Significance of the Greek god Apollo in Platonic philosophy has hitherto gone largely unnoticed. Christina Schefer’s study of the relationship of Plato and Apollo will therefore be especially welcome. The core of her book is made up of a careful analysis of all the passages in Plato’s work that mention Apollo either directly or indirectly. This analysis leads to the preliminary conclusion that Plato interpreted Apollo as « mask of the Form of the Good ». Closer examination discloses that the form of the Good is « Apollo’s mask », and not vice versa. This « religious » interpretation runs counter to the current understanding of the Plato and will cast new light not only on the theological intentions of Platonism, but also on the so-called « theology » of Plato and the problem of his unwritten doctrines. Christina Schefer’s book shows that Plato’s philosophiy is based on a genuine experinece of Apollo, and provides us with a surprising solution to the problem of the relation between religion and philosophy, and between mythos and logos. Logos has to be understood from the point of view of mythos.