Philostratus’ Life of Apollonius of Tyana. A Commentary on Selected Passages

• Applicant: Dr. Antonio Tibiletti
• Subject Area: Greek and Latin Philology ; Ancient History ; Applied Linguistics, Computational Linguistics
• Term: since 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 522358560

The project situates itself in the context of the studies on the Second Sophistic and Atticism; it deals with the Athenian Philostratus, one of its main exponents, and in particular with his masterpiece, the Life of Apollonius of Tyana [VA]. Based on the recently-published critical edition of the text by Boter (2022), the project proposes the first commentary on VA: such a philological work has long been a desideratum and will fill a clear gap in classical scholarship. On a micro-level exegesis, the commentary will analyse language, style, rhetoric, narratology, and composition of VA, especially with respect to Atticism; interpret the author’s fondness for clusters of marked forms, the adoption of unusual constructions and striking lexical choices in order to allude to famous predecessors; draw attention to analogue and different use of formal elements and broader ideas on the Hellenic past in other Sophistic authors. From a macro-level perspective, the exegesis will try to answer overarching questions about VA, i.e. how the aforementioned elements bring to bear on the multi-faceted content of the work and, more broadly, on the Atticist programme of the author. The commentary will try to contextualise form in the light of the underlying logic of the work and to observe how form interacts with socio-cultural issues and engages in the cultural-linguistic discourse. Key-episodes will be analysed, critical for their content, rhetorical composition, and affinity with a given genre (e.g. apology) of the progymnasmata: (a) Apollonius’ philosophical conversations with the non-Greek Sages who inhabit the most remote regions of the world [Phraotes (2.31–32), Iarchas (3.16, 19–25, 28–32, 34, 42), and Thespesion(6.11, 21)]: these sections are chosen, since they show Apollonius’ contact with the ultimate source of his Pythagorean wisdom, the Indian Sages, whereby Iarchas’ speech clarifies the cornerstones of the doctrine (confirmed in the dialogue with Thespesion); (b) Apollonius’ political-philosophical conversations with the Roman emperors [Vespasian (5.35–36) and Domitian (7.32–34, 8.7)]: these two episodes are fundamental insofar as they represent the culmination of the sage’s belief system and philosophical wisdom, which allow him to mould the figure of the ideal emperor and to prevail over the despotic tyrant. All in all, the project will explore the ways VA enters and informs its epoch, of which it is one of the most original outcomes. As a consequence, interpretation involves not only a literary-philological, but also cultural understanding, which embraces the historical context of both Apollonius and Philostratus, their historical, political, and religious environment, the philosophical discourse, and the literary-linguistic landscape.

• DFG Programme: WBP Position