PREFACE.

(*) Mr. Fourmont the elder Étienne Fourmont (1683–1745), a renowned French orientalist and member of the Academy of Inscriptions, known for his vast knowledge of ancient and Eastern languages..

I had already benefited greatly in my Historical Explanation original: "Explication Historique"; referring to his earlier work, The History of Fables Explained by History from the discoveries made by the scholars of the last century, and it will be easy to see in this Mythology that I have read them again with renewed care; I have also made the same use of several other books related to my subject that have appeared since. I have particularly consulted the Critical Reflections on Ancient Peoples original: "Réflexions critiques sur les anciens Peuples"; a work by Étienne Fourmont published in 1735, a profound work in which the Author (*), for whom the learned languages hold no secrets, demonstrates throughout as much sagacity as knowledge. Indeed, whether he undertakes to prove the authenticity of a precious fragment in a way that it can no longer be contested, or whether he develops the origin of ancient peoples, or finally, whether he traces most Fables back to their primary source, it is always with an uncommon level of erudition, and often through discoveries that had escaped other scholars.

Guided, moreover, in my research by the insights of a Company original: "Compagnie"; referring to the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, a French learned society devoted to the humanities in which the most profound erudition is combined with the most judicious criticism, I have equally benefited from the valuable 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 make it accessible to everyone, I have avoided, as much as I could, those thorny discussions which usually discourage the majority of readers, so as to say about each subject only what there is...