Prometheus in the Hungarian National Bloodline. A Theory of the Origin of the Hungarians in Ferenc Otrokocsi Foris’s Origines Hungaricae…
Although the end of the seventeenth century is considered as the beginning of the Hungarian scientific historiography, it does not mean that the famous mediaeval origin theories of the Hungarian nation disappeared. On the contrary, they continued to influence the historical thinking for many centuries. The well-known legendary and biblical theories get a new possible interpretation. The Protestant priest converted to Catholicism Ferenc Otrokocsi Fóris (1648–1718), using his distinguished education (he had learned and researched in Utrecht, Franeker, Oxford, and Rome), attempted to extend the scope of these theories with a new character: the famous Prometheus from Greek mythology. The aim of our paper is to present a critical analysis of Otrokcsi’s theory and of the sources he used in his work entitled Origines Hungaricae… (1693).
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