Paradoxically, at a time when trade between the Mediterranean and India was developing across the Indian Ocean, Greek fiction literature did not mirror it, with the exception of Xenophon of Ephesus, Lucian, and Philostratus, in the form, nevertheless, of very rare micro-narratives. It is therefore a question, in this article, of analyzing the reasons for the crossing to India and of hightlighting its stakes, in particular the representation that Greek-speaking writers give of the actors of these exchanges : Greeks, the so-called Egyptians, and Indians. It is also a question of understanding why these new routes to India did not create an imaginary that fiction could have exploited. Paradoxalement, à une époque où le commerce entre la Méditerranée et l’Inde se développait à travers l’océan Indien, la littérature grecque de fiction n’en rendait pas compte, à l’exception de Xénophon d’Éphèse, de Lucien et de Philostrate, sous la forme, néanmoins, de très rares micro-récits. Il s’agit donc, dans cet article, d’analyser les raisons de la traversée vers l’Inde et de mettre en valeur ses enjeux, en particulier la représentation que des écrivains de langue grecque donnent des acteurs de ces échanges : les Grecs, les prétendus Égyptiens et les Indiens. Il s’agit aussi de comprendre pourquoi ces nouvelles routes vers l’Inde n’ont pas créé un imaginaire que la fiction aurait pu exploiter.
The story of Cupid & Psyche in Apuleius’s Metamorphoses has long been valued for its literary qualities and philosophical implications. This study sets the story in the slave-owning culture to which it originally belonged. It pays special attention to the portrayal of Psyche as a runaway slave, and examines this construct through reference to the extensive body of Roman law that governed the treatment of fugitive slaves in real life. To support the story’s documentary potential, a comparison is drawn with a modern classic story of escape from servitude, Toni Morrison’s Beloved.
The aim of this paper is drawing attention to a passage of the Ethiopian Stories by Heliodorus of Emesa (9,9,3) on the divinization of the Nile borrowed from Life of Moses (2,195) by Philo of Alexandria. This textual relationship, well known to Philo’s scholars, has so far not been considered instead by most Heliodorus’ scholars. Other possible intertextual references (lexical parallels, stylisations and analogies), noticed in this paper, point to the work by Philon as deliberately exploited inspiration for some passages of Heliodorus’ novel. All this is of greater importance for the Ethiopian novel and his author.
he aim of this paper is to underline the influence of school rhetoric in two passages of Ninus and Parthenope. Ninus' speech in presence of his aunt Derkeia (frag. A of P.Berol. 6926) is analysed from the point of view of the stasis-theory and its most relevant formal features are commented. Metiochus’ refutation of the traditional mythical narrative on Eros (second column of P.Berol.7927) is dealt with the progymnasmatic theory. Moreover, the love-related motifs and the references to the previous literature are highlighted.
This paper discusses the episode of Thelyphron in the second book of Apuleius’ Metamorphoses and explores the significance of the recurring references to the bodily parts of the narrator/hero Thelyphron in the tale, pointing out their centrality, intertextual connections, and metaliterary function in the narrative. We argue that the processes of mutilation and prosthesis regarding the hero’s face correspond to the multifaceted literary character of the tale, and we discuss how the intertextual background of the above-mentioned physical change raises questions about literary composition and artistic creation.
