The interface, and even symbiotic relationship of poetry, myth, religion is at the origin of Western culture. Orpheus is the deep voice, albeit not the only voice of Greece, from which, at least in part, all of these cultural practices derive. This is the main reason for their association in this volume, although the specificity of each discipline and their widely different historical significance are emphasized in the different chapters, through the specific takes of individual authors. Michel Foucault, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Gilles Deleuze, Alain Badiou, Giorgio Agamben are among the important reference points for intriguing developments into the study of epistemic differences and similarities between literature, myth, religion and history. Most contributions to this volume also demonstrate that questions of literary and cultural knowledge are inextricably bound to issues of authority and power.
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