Constituting the Political Age in Plato’s Statesman. New Categories for an Old Question

The myth of the age of Kronos and Zeus in Plato's Statesman is very ambiguous. In this article, I propose a new set of grounds for upholding the traditional interpretation of the myth against some recent interpretations -- by Luc Brisson, Gabriela Carone and Charles Kahn--that seek to view the age of Kronos as a positive condition. To do so I argue that this myth should be understood as a constitutive myth. To explain what a constitutive myth is I propose a set of five categories (genetic myth, constitutive myth, epistemic myth, eschatological myth, psychagogic myth). In particular, the myth of Kronos and Zeus in the Statesman is a constitutive myth because, by sharply distinguishing the two ages, it highlights the need for politics and techniques in the age of Zeus.