Abstract
Abstract: This paper explores the cultural-ideological dimensions of Philostratus’s Imagines , a series of prose descriptions of paintings purportedly on display in a third-century CE Neapolitan villa. Taking a reader-response perspective, I argue that reminiscences of Ovid’s Metamorphoses complicate the avowed Hellenism of the text and its audience, transforming the Imagines into a series of reflecting pools that mirror back to readers their own images of Second Sophistic paideia . After analyzing the significance of the text’s setting in Roman Naples, I examine two types of Ovidian echoes in the Imagines : first, instances of physical metamorphosis in the fictive paintings described by the Philostratean ekphrast (Section 1); and second, constellations of ekphrases that evoke comparable thematic and narrative clusters in the Metamorphoses (Section 2). The paper concludes by reflecting on how Philostratus thematizes subjective projection as a key component of viewer-reader response (Section 3). This combines with the possible echoes of Ovid to entangle readers in the negotiation of Greek and Roman culture signaled by the text’s Neapolitan setting.
Published Version
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
