The presentation or interpretation of graphic figures as symbols for something not found in the composition itself. The composition is treated as a fictional representation of another level of reality.
Allegories are distinguishable from parables in one key respect.
Sometimes clues to the interpretation of an allegory come from traditional connotations of images or the etymology of words. But often there is no obvious connection between the symbol and what it is said to symbolize. While someone may deliberately create an oral, literary or visual composition as an allegory, the method of allegorical interpretation is often applied to works that were not originally intended as such. Allegorization provides a way of preserving respect for a traditional text while avoiding difficulties at the literal level. Leading rabbis in Palestine, such as Aqiba ben Joseph, used allegorical methods to explain certain difficult biblical texts.