{"title":"Nero the Viper: Zoological Lore and Political Critique in the Life of Apollonius of Tyana","authors":"Emilio Capettini","doi":"10.1353/ajp.2020.0032","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:This article examines the animalization of Nero in Book 4 of Philostratus' Life of Apollonius of Tyana and focuses, in particular, on Apollonius' surprising claim that Nero dared to do what no wild beast ever did, namely, devour his own mother (4.38.3–4). It argues that Apollonius' words evoke widespread beliefs about the reproduction of vipers, and that Philostratus took full advantage of connections that were active in the collective imaginaire —between young vipers, Orestes and Alcmaeon, and Nero—in order to present Agrippina's murder as an act of bestial cannibalism and, thus, Nero as a monstrous creature completely beyond redemption.","PeriodicalId":46128,"journal":{"name":"AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHILOLOGY","volume":"141 1","pages":"635 - 664"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6000,"publicationDate":"2020-12-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1353/ajp.2020.0032","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHILOLOGY","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1353/ajp.2020.0032","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: 0
Abstract
Abstract:This article examines the animalization of Nero in Book 4 of Philostratus' Life of Apollonius of Tyana and focuses, in particular, on Apollonius' surprising claim that Nero dared to do what no wild beast ever did, namely, devour his own mother (4.38.3–4). It argues that Apollonius' words evoke widespread beliefs about the reproduction of vipers, and that Philostratus took full advantage of connections that were active in the collective imaginaire —between young vipers, Orestes and Alcmaeon, and Nero—in order to present Agrippina's murder as an act of bestial cannibalism and, thus, Nero as a monstrous creature completely beyond redemption.
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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