Plato and the Mythic Tradition in Political ThoughtWinner of the Gustave O. Arlt Award in the Humanities Winner of the Istvan Hont Book Prize An ambitious reinterpretation and defense of Plato's basic enterprise and influence, arguing that the power of his myths was central to the founding of philosophical rationalism. Plato's use of myths the Myth of Metals, the Myth of Er sits uneasily with his canonical reputation as the inventor of rational philosophy. Since the Enlightenment, interpreters like