Recognizing Miracles in ancient Greek Novels
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Donald Lateiner
Abstract
Ancient Greek novels deal in fantasies of horror and hope, mostly improbable possibilities such as survival of catastrophe and happy endings for the oft imperiled couple. Discussions of the nature of thaumata and the non-miracle miracle of “apparent death” (Scheintod) precede a survey of such happenings reported in the plasmata of Chariton, Xenophon of Ephesos, Achilles Tatios, Longos, and Heliodoros. Chariton’s “belief apparatus” allows Aphrodite’s interventions from afar, Xenophon reports several miracles baldly, Longos has many pastoral deities interfere in mundane matters, Tatios mocks miracles as he does so much else, and Heliodoros allows miracle-producing objects (a ring, an embroidered band), persons (thaumaturges), and nick-of-time divine redirections. At the same time this last author satirizes miracle-mongering charlatans (e. g., Kalasiris) and credulous audiences (Hellenic and barbarian). The historicizing novelist gives limited but real credence to oracles, dreams, and deus ex machina theophanies. The essay examines contemporary Imperial texts addressing miracles such as Philostratos’ Vita Apollonii, Lucian’s Alexander and Proteus, and Christian Gospels and early hagiography. One concludes that miracles in the novel texts are rarer than one might expect, but they occur at a time in which miracles were (paradoxically) conceived to be ordinary, when few escapes from disaster were possible.
Abstract
Ancient Greek novels deal in fantasies of horror and hope, mostly improbable possibilities such as survival of catastrophe and happy endings for the oft imperiled couple. Discussions of the nature of thaumata and the non-miracle miracle of “apparent death” (Scheintod) precede a survey of such happenings reported in the plasmata of Chariton, Xenophon of Ephesos, Achilles Tatios, Longos, and Heliodoros. Chariton’s “belief apparatus” allows Aphrodite’s interventions from afar, Xenophon reports several miracles baldly, Longos has many pastoral deities interfere in mundane matters, Tatios mocks miracles as he does so much else, and Heliodoros allows miracle-producing objects (a ring, an embroidered band), persons (thaumaturges), and nick-of-time divine redirections. At the same time this last author satirizes miracle-mongering charlatans (e. g., Kalasiris) and credulous audiences (Hellenic and barbarian). The historicizing novelist gives limited but real credence to oracles, dreams, and deus ex machina theophanies. The essay examines contemporary Imperial texts addressing miracles such as Philostratos’ Vita Apollonii, Lucian’s Alexander and Proteus, and Christian Gospels and early hagiography. One concludes that miracles in the novel texts are rarer than one might expect, but they occur at a time in which miracles were (paradoxically) conceived to be ordinary, when few escapes from disaster were possible.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Acknowledgments V
- Table of Contents VII
- Introduction: In search of the Miraculous IX
-
I. Miracles
- Ctesias’ Indica and the Origins of Paradoxography 3
- The Epidaurian Iamata: The first “Court of Miracles”? 17
- Medicine and the paradox in the Hippocratic Corpus and Beyond 31
- ‘One might rightly wonder’ – marvelling in Polybios Histories 63
- Omens and Miracles: Interpreting Miraculous Narratives in Roman Historiography 85
- Miracles and Pseudo-Miracles in Byzantine Apocalypses 111
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II. Workings of Miracles
- Wonder-ful Memories in Herodotus’ Histories 133
- Wonder(s) in Plautus 153
- Telling Tales of Wonder: Mirabilia in the Letters of Pliny the Younger 179
- Paradoxographic discourse on sources and fountains: deconstructing paradoxes 205
- Lucian’s Alexander: technoprophecy, thaumatology and the poetics of wonder 225
-
III. Believing in Miracles
- Perceiving Thauma in Archaic Greek Epic 259
- Turning Science into Miracle in the Voyage of Alexander the Great 275
- ‘Many are the wonders in Greece’: Pausanias the wandering philosopher 305
- Miracles in Greek Biography 327
- Apuleius on Raising the Dead Crossing the Boundaries of Life and Death while Convincing the Audience 353
- Recognizing Miracles in ancient Greek Novels 381
- List of Contributors 417
- Index Nominum et Rerum 423
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Acknowledgments V
- Table of Contents VII
- Introduction: In search of the Miraculous IX
-
I. Miracles
- Ctesias’ Indica and the Origins of Paradoxography 3
- The Epidaurian Iamata: The first “Court of Miracles”? 17
- Medicine and the paradox in the Hippocratic Corpus and Beyond 31
- ‘One might rightly wonder’ – marvelling in Polybios Histories 63
- Omens and Miracles: Interpreting Miraculous Narratives in Roman Historiography 85
- Miracles and Pseudo-Miracles in Byzantine Apocalypses 111
-
II. Workings of Miracles
- Wonder-ful Memories in Herodotus’ Histories 133
- Wonder(s) in Plautus 153
- Telling Tales of Wonder: Mirabilia in the Letters of Pliny the Younger 179
- Paradoxographic discourse on sources and fountains: deconstructing paradoxes 205
- Lucian’s Alexander: technoprophecy, thaumatology and the poetics of wonder 225
-
III. Believing in Miracles
- Perceiving Thauma in Archaic Greek Epic 259
- Turning Science into Miracle in the Voyage of Alexander the Great 275
- ‘Many are the wonders in Greece’: Pausanias the wandering philosopher 305
- Miracles in Greek Biography 327
- Apuleius on Raising the Dead Crossing the Boundaries of Life and Death while Convincing the Audience 353
- Recognizing Miracles in ancient Greek Novels 381
- List of Contributors 417
- Index Nominum et Rerum 423
