Theagenes of Rhegium (, ''Theagenēs ho Rhēginos''; ''fl.'' 529–522 BC) was a Greek literary critic of the 6th century BC. Born in
Rhegium
Reggio di Calabria ( scn, label= Southern Calabrian, Riggiu; el, label=Calabrian Greek, Ρήγι, Rìji), usually referred to as Reggio Calabria, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, is the largest city in Calabria. It has an estimated popul ...
(modern
Reggio Calabria
Reggio di Calabria ( scn, label= Southern Calabrian, Riggiu; el, label=Calabrian Greek, Ρήγι, Rìji), usually referred to as Reggio Calabria, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, is the largest city in Calabria. It has an estimated popula ...
), he is noted for having defended the mythology of
Homer from more rationalist attacks. In so doing he became an early proponent of the
allegorical
As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory th ...
method of reading texts.
All that he wrote is lost to contemporary history. Information about his life has been available in the existing documents written by his contemporaries, and of those of future generations, these having felt his influence.
[Thomas Cole, ''The Origins of Rhetoric in Ancient Greece'' (1991), p.60: ''Nothing comparable survives from writers earlier than Protagoras and Parmenides. The earliest clear samples of allegorical narrative used rhetorically are thus later, by at least a generation, than allegorical interpretation itself (Theagenes) or rationalized and "corrected" mythological narrative ( Stesichorus)''.]
Notes
External links
Old dictionary entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Theagenes Of Rhegium
Ancient Greek grammarians
Ancient Rhegians
6th-century BC Greek people
Writers of Magna Graecia