vided a codification, with emblematic illustrations, of con-
temporary knowledge of classical mythology.
Mythology not only provided the raw material for
decoration; it was also a way of conveying the truths of
Neoplatonic philosophy. Plato himself had used myth as
an integral part of his dialectic method. The first Neopla-
tonists, particularly PLOTINUSand Porphyry (232–305 CE),
developed this aspect of their master’s work to an extrav-
agant degree and the theologian Origen (c. 185–c. 254 AD)
made the technique respectable from the Christian point
of view. The Florentine Platonists found this approach es-
pecially congenial. The choice of HERCULES, the judgment
of the arms of Achilles, and the cave of the nymphs are
typical of the classical myths which received allegorical or
mystical interpretations. In the visual arts BOTTICELLIled
the way for this kind of treatment in his introduction of
pagan subject matter in major paintings.
Renaissance scholars frequently misunderstood their
authorities and these misunderstandings were sometimes
more fruitful than a more pedantic accuracy would have
been. Boccaccio for example begins his genealogy of the
gods with Demogorgon, who went on to have a long his-
tory in the works of many European writers. The reference
comes from a misreading by a medieval scribe of a word in
Lactantius Placidus’s commentary on Statius.
See also: ICONOGRAPHY
Further reading: H. David Brumble, Classical Myths
and Legends in the Middle Ages and Renaissance (Westport,
Conn.: Greenwood, 1998); Joscelyn Godwin, The Pagan
Dream of the Renaissance (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Phanes,
2002).mmyytthhoollooggyy 3 33333