Metrodorus of Lampsacus

Metrodorus of Lampsacus was a Pre-Socratic Greek philosopher from the town of Lampsacus. He was a contemporary and friend of Anaxagoras and died in 464 BC. Metrodorus is mentioned in Plato's dialogue Ion as one of the interpreters of Homer. His system of interpretation focused on understanding the deities and stories in Homer as allegorical depictions of physical powers and phenomena. These ideas share similarities with the allegorical interpretations found in the Derveni papyrus, although Metrodorus' direct authorship of that work is rejected by modern scholarship. His approach to physical doctrines through allegorical interpretation may have influenced it.