Mythical language and truth: The “affair” between Ares and Aphrodite in Aristotle

This paper tackles the problem of the relationship between traditional myths (specifically, the myth of Ares and Aphrodite being in love) and truth in Aristotle: are myths false, or do they convey truth in an allegorical language? and, in the latter case, does the lack of exactness of such language make the myth useless for the progress of philosophy, which proceeds by logical inference? In order to understand the relationship between myth and truth, the usage of the term mythologein (to tell mythic tales) by Aristotle is systematically analyzed, by checking, for each instance of this term: (1) who is the subject of the act of telling the myth? (2) is the tale true? (3) if it is not true, does it reflect some aspect of reality? (4) why does the myth teller relate the tale? (5) what is the role of the myth in Aristotle’s argument? Answering these questions will make it possible to exactly understand the meaning of Aristotle’s reference to the myth of Ares and Aphrodite.