MYTHOLOGY VS. PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY

Abstract

The author thematizes the problem of the relation between mythological andphilosophical understanding of time and history through critical analyses of ethnological worksof Mircea Eliade, particularly his book The Myth of Eternal Return: Cosmos and History. Theleading Eliade’s question on the apories of modern historism, which emerged from philosophicaland existential confrontation of modern man with the „Terror of history“, the author analysesin its problematic core as a problem of mythological annihilation of the time and history andhistorical-temporal annihilation of the myth. The author’s critique is focused towards the Eliade’sinterpretation of ancient philosophical notions of time and history, and also those fromThe Old Testament.