Myth and instruction

Meno

pp. 55-81

in: Omid Tofighian, Myth and philosophy in Platonic dialogues, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2016

Abstract

Tofighian explores Socrates's references to myth and religious tradition in the Meno and the way myth impacts the dialectical exchange with Meno. By introducing mythic themes, Socrates demonstrates how subsequent arguments draw their validity from the views presented by a sacred narrative. Tofighian analyzes two major issues: (a) how the myth intertwines with the dialogue's story line or plot and (b) how the myth influences the most important literary and philosophical aspects of the dialogue. He explains how myth provides the reader with a horizon for understanding the dialogue's structure, the place of the characters in the narrative, and the significance of particular themes and motifs in Plato's literary construction. Tofighian's reading of the Meno incorporates theories of myth that acknowledge the significance of the trickster character and presents an original interpretation of Socrates's slave experiment by using the concept of liminality.