This dissertation aims to present Augustine s considerations on the distinction between the metaphorical and the literal. The analysis of passages concerning metaphor extracted from his texts showed that distinguishing the metaphorical from the literal, something that is very criticized by contemporary theoreticians, is indispensable in Augustine s method for the interpretation of the Holy Bible, where certain meanings and truths of human experience must be co-related to meanings and truths of a specific religious tradition. However, an interesting contrast was observed between traditional forms of distinguishing the metaphorical from the literal and the one proposed by Augustine: while the former are often associated to empirical facts, the latter belongs to an ethico-religious order. In addition, the analysis provided an understanding of the philosopher s stand with respect to the main theoretical split within the field of metaphorology: is metaphor a founded or founding phenomenon? It also helped clarify the Augustine s way out of the following predicament: how to remain an heir of Aristotle s view of the language - in which metaphors must belong exclusively to the fields of rhetorics and poetics - and at the same time deal with the fact that the Holy Bible, full of metaphors, cannot belong to the fictional or to the political.