Conference paper at
XVI SeSaMO Conference
Crossings and contaminations.
Practices, languages and politics in transit in the Middle East and North Africa
Department of Political and Social Sciences, Department of Literature, Languages and Cultural Heritage
University of Cagliari, Cagliari, 3-5 October 2024
4 October 2024, ROOM CM6
Abstract
“The Dāʾirat al-Ma’ārif contains first the theological and philosophical sciences […]. Secondly, the civil and political sciences […]. Thirdly, the historical sciences such as […] Greek mythology and other ancient superstitions” (al-Bustānī 1876: 5). These words by Buṭrus al-Bustānī describe the main contents of his encyclopaedic project and surprisingly they mention explicitly Greek mythology among the topics. The eleven volumes published by al-Bustānī and his family members between 1876 and 1900 feature several entries about Greek myths, deities, and heroes. This contribution aims to analyse how these contents are presented to Arab readers in a period when Greek mythology was still a very new subject in Arabic literary and cultural production. Keeping an eye on the context of the Arabic reception of Greek classics and myths during the 19th century, this contribution will address the following questions: which myths are presented in the Dāʾirah, and why? How are they described? Which are the main sources used to write these entries? What was the significance of these entries in terms of circulation and reception?
