This is an unparalleled investigation of the theory and practice of interpretation. Concentrating on interpretive allegory, the volume simultaneously opens and organizes new approaches to over two thousand years of critical change. Its diverse topics extend from pagan, Jewish, Christian, and Islamic perspectives to postmodern inquiries. Its intersecting lines of analysis are drawn by scholars whose specialities range from ancient and modern literature to art history, comparative religion, and the history of philosophy.
Framed by introductory essays assessing changes in scholarly research on allegory during the past century, the study has four principal parts: I) "Antique Interpretation of Formative Texts"; II) "Medieval Philosophic Designs"; III) "Late Medieval and Renaissance Sign Systems"; IV) "Eighteenth- to Twentieth-Century Theories of Allegory".
This provocative, unique revaluation provides an indispensable framework for future research.

Contributors include: Peter M. Daly, David Dawson, Charles Dempsey, Paula Fredriksen, Warren Zev Harvey, Marc Hirshman, Moshe Idel, Alfred L. Ivry, Robert Lamberton, Joseph Mali, Giuseppe F. Mazzotta, A.J. Minnis, Rainer Nägele, Azade Seyhan, Tobin Siebers, Gregg Stern, Winthrop Wetherbee, and Jon Whitman.

Interpretation and Allegory: Antiquity to the Modern Period is the recipient of The Polonsky Foundation 2001 Award for Contributions to Interdisciplinary Study in the Humanities, praising its unparalleled design and the far-reaching breadth of its research, and the unique framework it provides for future study.

This publication has also been published in paperback.