PREFACE.

(*) Mr. Fourmont the elder. Étienne Fourmont (1683–1745), a renowned French orientalist and scholar known for his work on Chinese and ancient languages.

I had already profited greatly in my Historical Explanation The author's previous work, Explication Historique des Fables, which laid the groundwork for this expanded study. from the discoveries of the Scholars of the last century, and it will be easy to see in this Mythology that I have read them again with new care; and that I have made the same use of several other Books related to my subject that have appeared since; especially the Critical Reflections on Ancient Peoples, a profound Work where the Author (*), for whom the learned Languages have nothing hidden, shows everywhere as much sagacity as knowledge. Indeed, whether he undertakes to prove the authenticity of a precious fragment in such a way that it can no longer be contested, or develops the origin of ancient Peoples, or finally brings most Fables back to their primary source, it is always with uncommon erudition, and often through discoveries that had escaped other Scholars.

Guided, moreover, in my research by the insights of a Society The author refers to the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, a French learned society of which he was a member. in which the most profound erudition is joined with the most judicious criticism, I have likewise profited from the precious Collection of its works and from the learned conversations that fill certain moments of its Meetings.

With these aids, and through a study continued for several years, I finally believed myself to be in a position to present this Mythology; and to bring it within everyone's reach, I have avoided, as much as I could, those thorny discussions which usually discourage the majority of Readers, in order to say on each subject only what there [is]...