Philosophy and painting - two fields presented in opposition by Plato, yet brought together in discourse by Philostratus’ Imagines.
This dissertation examines the presentation of σοφοι (sophoi) within Philostratus' narrative, identifying that philosophers and painters share a passion for interpretation and mediation on the subject of reality. Analysing the figures of Aesop (“Fables” 1.3), Daedalus (“Pasiphaë” 1.16), Penelope (“Looms” 1.23) as masterful creator figures, my dissertation explores the narrator’s engagement with the visual frameworks provided by the paintings he sees. These figures are mises-en-abyme for the figure of philosopher, interpreter, and σοφός.
This dissertation also addresses the enargeia and debate on Philostratus’ “digressions” and narrative juxtaposed by static scenes, in particular with reference to the ekphrasis used in Hippolytus (2.4) and Cassandra (2.10 By understanding personal temporality and viewing painting as an interpretative process, this dissertation unravels some of the Philostratus web constructed by both writer and readers over the years.
By tracing the painterly process, Philostratus reveals to us the similarities of philosophical speaking, writing and line-making (γράφω - graphō), and presents his epistemological theory of philosophy; that any skilled and wise application of τέχνη (technē) will reveal individual philosophies ripe for engagement, and that by close examination, it becomes apparent that “whosoever scorns painting is unjust to truth”!
