Palaiphatos

Palaiphatos is the name attached to an ancient Greek work called "On Unbelievable Tales," which retells Greek myths and offers rational, down-to-earth explanations for their fantastical elements - suggesting, for example, that monsters or marvels arose from misunderstood ordinary events. The author's identity and date are uncertain; the work is usually placed in the fourth century BCE or later, and "Palaiphatos" (meaning roughly "ancient teller") may even be a pen name. It is an early and influential example of the attempt to explain mythology in naturalistic terms.