Voltaire

between history and fable, the possibilities

Abstract

This article intends to discuss the different uses of the term “fable” in Voltaire’s work, specially in his historiographic works. We claim that, through the analysis of Voltaire’s speeches regarding episodes of Greco-Roman mythology, and also the very definitions of “fable” that the philosopher provides, we can see possibilities for the notion of fable other than exclusively the ones that associate it with the idea of a “false” account, or that relate it to the “ignorance” of ancient peoples, both ideas that are traditionally associated with how Voltaire elaborates his notion of “fable”. Therefore, we believe it’s possible – and necessary – to question the image of Voltaire as being averse to fables, especially when the diversity of his incursions into antiquity demonstrates an interest in looking beyond the horizon of the idea of “falseness” and seeing fables as instruments of investigation and knowledge.