11 Was Philostratus the Elder an admirer of Ovidian enargeia?
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Évelyne Prioux
Abstract
This contribution examines the possible sources of Philostratus the Elder’s descriptions of two paintings depicting Narcissus and Phaethon (Im. 1.23 and 11). The analysis focuses on the complex interplay between visual sources and literary sources and examines the possible echoes of Ovid’s Metamorphoses in both ekphraseis. Although it is generally thought that Greek authors of the imperial period ignored (or at least pretended to ignore) Latin poetry, Philostratus the Elder was close to the imperial family and, as such, probably spent a significant amount of time in Rome. The case of Narcissus is revealing, since Ovid considerably modified the pre-existing Greek myth; similarities can be noticed in the phrasing of the Ovidian and Philostratean texts. In Phaethon’s case, it is difficult to assess whether the resemblances between Philostratus’ description and the Ovidian account are due to their sharing a common source, now lost (e.g. Euripides’ Phaethon). Both texts have many details in common and these cannot be explained only as references to a visual culture or visual koine shared by all authors and readers of the imperial period. The details that Philostratus seems to have borrowed from Ovid are especially those that enable him to put the scene before the reader’s eyes, through an enargeia effect.
Abstract
This contribution examines the possible sources of Philostratus the Elder’s descriptions of two paintings depicting Narcissus and Phaethon (Im. 1.23 and 11). The analysis focuses on the complex interplay between visual sources and literary sources and examines the possible echoes of Ovid’s Metamorphoses in both ekphraseis. Although it is generally thought that Greek authors of the imperial period ignored (or at least pretended to ignore) Latin poetry, Philostratus the Elder was close to the imperial family and, as such, probably spent a significant amount of time in Rome. The case of Narcissus is revealing, since Ovid considerably modified the pre-existing Greek myth; similarities can be noticed in the phrasing of the Ovidian and Philostratean texts. In Phaethon’s case, it is difficult to assess whether the resemblances between Philostratus’ description and the Ovidian account are due to their sharing a common source, now lost (e.g. Euripides’ Phaethon). Both texts have many details in common and these cannot be explained only as references to a visual culture or visual koine shared by all authors and readers of the imperial period. The details that Philostratus seems to have borrowed from Ovid are especially those that enable him to put the scene before the reader’s eyes, through an enargeia effect.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Introduction 1
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Part I: In limine
- 1 À rebours: intervisuality from the Middle Ages to classical antiquity 15
- 2 From image to theatrical play in Aeschylus’ Oresteia 33
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Part II: Archaic and classical age
- 3 Homer and the art of cinematic warfare 81
- 4 Intervisuality in the Greek symposium 103
- 5 The protohistory of portraits in words and images (sixth–fifth century BCE): tyrants, poets, and artists 121
- 6 Looking at Athens through the lyric lens 149
- 7 The politics of intervisuality 171
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Part III: Hellenistic and imperial age
- 8 The goddess playing with gold 197
- 9 Intervisuality in declamation and sung poetry in imperial Greek cities 213
- 10 Intervisual allusions in Lucian, Dialogues of the Sea Gods 15 235
- 11 Was Philostratus the Elder an admirer of Ovidian enargeia? 255
- 12 ἐκ τῶν πινάκων. Aristaenetus’ intervisual allusions to Philostratus’ art gallery 283
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Part IV: Pointing to Rome
- 13 Ordering the res gestae: observations on the relationship between texts and images in Roman ‘historical’ representations 305
-
Appendix
- List of contributors 335
- Index nominum et rerum notabilium 339
- Index locorum 345
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Introduction 1
-
Part I: In limine
- 1 À rebours: intervisuality from the Middle Ages to classical antiquity 15
- 2 From image to theatrical play in Aeschylus’ Oresteia 33
-
Part II: Archaic and classical age
- 3 Homer and the art of cinematic warfare 81
- 4 Intervisuality in the Greek symposium 103
- 5 The protohistory of portraits in words and images (sixth–fifth century BCE): tyrants, poets, and artists 121
- 6 Looking at Athens through the lyric lens 149
- 7 The politics of intervisuality 171
-
Part III: Hellenistic and imperial age
- 8 The goddess playing with gold 197
- 9 Intervisuality in declamation and sung poetry in imperial Greek cities 213
- 10 Intervisual allusions in Lucian, Dialogues of the Sea Gods 15 235
- 11 Was Philostratus the Elder an admirer of Ovidian enargeia? 255
- 12 ἐκ τῶν πινάκων. Aristaenetus’ intervisual allusions to Philostratus’ art gallery 283
-
Part IV: Pointing to Rome
- 13 Ordering the res gestae: observations on the relationship between texts and images in Roman ‘historical’ representations 305
-
Appendix
- List of contributors 335
- Index nominum et rerum notabilium 339
- Index locorum 345
