Euhemerus and Euhemerism in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries

Area of Science:

• Historical Studies
• Classical Mythology
• Intellectual History

Background:

• Scholars historically linked sacred history and pagan mythology.
• The ancient Greek writer Euhemerus offered a framework for interpreting myths.
• Seventeenth and eighteenth-century scholarship saw evolving approaches to classical texts.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze how 17th and 18th-century scholars conceptualized the relationship between sacred history and pagan mythology.
• To examine the role of Euhemerus in shaping these interpretations.
• To trace the origins of equating Euhemerism with historical pagan mythology interpretation.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of scholarly texts from the 17th and 18th centuries.
• Focus on the reception and application of Euhemerus's theories.
• Examination of French mythography's influence on classical studies.

Main Results:

• The popular equation of Euhemerism with historical pagan mythology interpretation emerged in early 18th-century French mythography.
• This period saw a deliberate separation of pagan myth studies from biblical history.
• Scholars actively sought non-Christian hermeneutical traditions for analyzing myth origins.

Conclusions:

• Early 18th-century French mythography fundamentally altered the study of pagan mythology.
• This shift created a distinct field for analyzing myth origins, independent of biblical narratives.
• The legacy of Euhemerus was redefined within this new intellectual landscape.