MATEUSZ STRÓŻYŃSKI Instytut Filologii Klasycznej Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza Collegium Maius, ul. Fredry 10, 61-701 Poznań Polska – Poland A SYMBOLIC LANGUAGE OF SPACE IN THE MYTH OF ER ABSTRACT. Stróżyński Mateusz, A Symbolic Language of Space in the Myth of Er. The narrative of the myth of Er often seems diffcult to follow and understand, because the laws of spatial relations are being continuously bent or broken. The author claims that these inconsistencies have a symbolic meaning. Space is an image for the soul and spatial transformations refect the dy- namics of contemplation in which the inner and the outer are transcended. Key words: Plato, contemplation soul, space. In this paper I would like to present an interpretation of the Myth of Er which ends the Republic, an interpretation which may reconcile contradic- tions that we fnd in this narrative. I will try to show that a peculiar way of dealing with space in this myth can have a deeper meaning and that it refers to transformations of awareness in the context of Platonic contemplation. The main thesis of this paper is that what was expressed symbolically in the Myth of Er was the contemplative experience of the soul as a space. In regard to the role myth played in Greek philosophy and in Plato spe- cifcally, two important works should be mentioned. One is Marcel De- tienne’s book The Creation of Mythology in which the author presented a structuralist, Lévi-Straussian view on myth, claiming that myth is not “a story” nor does it have to be. 1 This opinion was discussed by Luc Brisson in his book Plato: The Myth Maker which defends a more traditional, classicist approach to myth as a sort of a story and a form of literary expression. 2 Bris- son points out that Plato, while writing about myth, always emphasised the fact that it is a story. 3 Brisson in his book gives also an answer to the ques- tion what is mythos for Plato and claims that it is a mode of discourse op- posed to logos. The latter is argumentative and falsifable, while myth is neither of these and serves a different purpose. Myth in Plato is to persuade 1 M. Detienne, The Creation of Mythology, transl. M. Cook, Chicago 1986. 2 L. Brisson, Plato: The Myth Maker, transl. G. Naddaf, Chicago 1998. 3 Ibidem, p. 136. SYMBOLAE PHILOLOGORUM POSNANIENSIUM GRAECAE ET LATINAE XVIII • 2008 pp. 129-146. ISBN 978-83-232-1957-6. ISSN 0302-7384 ADAM MICKIEWICZ UNIVERSITY PRESS, POZNAŃ