Pan, Proteus, and Saturn as Materia Providens in the Cosmological Interpretations of Renaissance Mythographers

Abstract

The paper examines the parallels and divergences in the ambivalent portrayal of three figures from Greco-Roman mythology – Pan, Proteus, and Saturn – whom Renaissance authors associated with the material principle in their cosmological interpretations of myth. At the same time, to these figures were ascribed qualities of divine providence and even creative power. The focus is on three writers: while Boccaccio’s compilation Genealogiae deorum gentilium remains representative of medieval mythography, his more scientific and critical approach makes him an important source for Renaissance mythographers, including Natale Conti. In turn, Conti's philosophical-moralist work Mythologiae left traces in some of Francis Bacon's writings, particularly in De sapientia veterum, where Bacon presents his scientific and philosophical views on ancient myths and their role in the development of human knowledge.