{"title":"Philostratus Visualises the Philosophical: Imagines 2.23, Hercules Furens and the Cataleptic Impression","authors":"Albert D. Bates","doi":"10.1353/AJP.2021.0004","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:This paper argues that Philostratus' ecphrasis of a painting of \"mad Hercules\" killing his children (Imagines 2.23)—a subject-matter almost unattested in archaeology—is best understood via the epistemological debates between the Stoics and the Academic sceptics. First, I suggest that the ecphrasis visualises Euripides' Hercules furens as a sceptic critique of the Stoics' \"cataleptic impression.\" Next, I suggest that this philosophical framing of the myth enables Philostratus to scrutinise the epistemological stakes of naturalistic painting and vivid description too. In doing so, Philostratus reconsiders naturalism and ecphrasis as manias ; the viewer and the reader as madmen.","PeriodicalId":46128,"journal":{"name":"AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHILOLOGY","volume":"142 1","pages":"137 - 175"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6000,"publicationDate":"2021-04-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1353/AJP.2021.0004","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHILOLOGY","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1353/AJP.2021.0004","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"CLASSICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1
Abstract
Abstract:This paper argues that Philostratus' ecphrasis of a painting of "mad Hercules" killing his children (Imagines 2.23)—a subject-matter almost unattested in archaeology—is best understood via the epistemological debates between the Stoics and the Academic sceptics. First, I suggest that the ecphrasis visualises Euripides' Hercules furens as a sceptic critique of the Stoics' "cataleptic impression." Next, I suggest that this philosophical framing of the myth enables Philostratus to scrutinise the epistemological stakes of naturalistic painting and vivid description too. In doing so, Philostratus reconsiders naturalism and ecphrasis as manias ; the viewer and the reader as madmen.
期刊介绍：
Founded in 1880, American Journal of Philology (AJP) has helped to shape American classical scholarship. Today, the Journal has achieved worldwide recognition as a forum for international exchange among classicists and philologists by publishing original research in classical literature, philology, linguistics, history, society, religion, philosophy, and cultural and material studies. Book review sections are featured in every issue. AJP is open to a wide variety of contemporary and interdisciplinary approaches, including literary interpretation and theory, historical investigation, and textual criticism.
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