 For him, allegory assumes importance when literal interpretation encounters difficulty, for example, when it suggests conclusions in contradiction with God’s absolute perfection. In Leg. 2.19, he does not hesitate to say that the creation of Eve from one of Adam’s ribs was a most improbable myth, if taken literally. It becomes likely only if one understands that “ribs” are in fact the powers of Adam’s mind. It has been amply demonstrated that Philo’s use of allegory was not born ex nihilo. For example, an allegorical interpretation of the garment of the high priest (Mos. 2.117) as a microcosmic reproduction of the universe is found in Wisdom of Solomon 18:24, probably written at the end of the first century BCE. This suggests a Jewish source. On the other hand, many examples evince Philo’s perfect knowledge of Greek allegories in the interpretation of Homeric and Hesiodic myths. He does not hesitate to evoke some of these by name. For example, speaking about the earth in Aet. 63, he says that she was rightly called Pandora, since she gives to living things all that is useful. In Greek dôron means a present. The allegorical interpretation is here based on etymology, as are those of the greatest Stoic allegorist of the imperial period, Cornutus. Researchers have recently shown great interest in Philo’s linguistic remarks. Most of the time, however, he adapts classical allegorical interpretations to a Jewish context. For example, in Conf. 170 he quotes Homer, Iliad 2.204–205, two verses in which the poet praises the power of a single man. Philo denies that this should be interpreted as a general principle of politics; under his own interpretation, it is instead a poetic reference to almighty God. In one of his most famous passages, Philo interprets the tale of Mambre, in Genesis 18:1–15, where Abraham receives three men he initially believed to be foreigners. The author reminds his readers (QG 4.2) that Homer, who in recounting Odysseus’ homecoming, says that gods often disguise themselves in order not to be immediately recognized by humans (Odyssey 17.483–487).