ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the approach to literary history by looking at Phlegyas. Notwithstanding the chiastic nature of David's name and his place in biblical history, since his exemplary nature as an allegorical figure in the Renaissance is more directly germane to the present discussion, It explores how he contributed to mythic consciousness in general and how, particularly, he found a mnemonic niche in seventeenth-century emblematic thought-especially where the twin themes of admonition and penance, loss and recovery, are concerned. From the Middle Ages on, David served as a many-faced exemplum, an historical figure worthy of emulation and imitation, if not in all things then, at least, as a cautionary figure. It is this that draws him closer to the figure of Phlegyas, for David is like a heading in a catalogue of rich inventions concerning commonplaces of vice and virtue especially where learning justice is concerned.
