[Ads-l] Euhemerism, 1788 antedating

[Stephen Goranson]

Oxford English Dictionary includes:
... The method of mythological interpretation which regards myths as traditional accounts of real incidents in human history.
Euhemerus, a Sicilian (c316 b.c.) was the author of a book called Ἱερὰ Ἀναγραϕή, in which he maintained that the deities of Hellenic mythology were deified men and women, and pretended to cite authentic records of their lives.
1846 G. Grote Hist. Greece I. i. xvi. 596 In regard to the Thracian god Zalmosis, the Hellespontic Greeks interpreted his character and attributes according to the scheme of Euemerism.
1864 F. M. Müller Lect. Sci. Lang. (1868) 2nd Ser. ix. 397 Euhemerism has become the recognized title of that system of mythological interpretation which..reduces the gods of old to the level of men.


The religion of the ancient Greeks;
illustrated by an explanation of their mythology. Translated from the French of LeClerc de Septchenes.
London, Printed for C. Elliot and T. Kay, 1788. pages ix and 13.
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433068184575&view=1up&seq=39&skin=2021&q1=euhemerism

scg

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