Statue Fever in the Heroicus (original) (raw)

Philostratus' Heroicus betrays an obsession with statues that demands explanation. Just as cult statues of epic heroes litter the contemporary second-century CE landscape, so do they litter Philostratus' text. No story of a hero is distinct from an ecphrasis of that hero's statue, and in practice a request for the one is a request for the other. Lifeless heroes (Protesilaus first and foremost) become vividly 'alive' in the imagination of their devotees and, occasionally, their Zoilean adversaries. As the lines between reality and fantasy blur, Philostratus' critique of material cultural practices accompanies and fortifies his better known Homerkritik. καθαίρονται δ' ἀλλῶς.. .. καὶ τοῖς ἀγάλμασι δὲ τουτέοισιν εὔχονται, οἱκοῖον εἴ τις δόμοισι λεσχηνεύοιτο, οὔ τι γινώσκων θεοὺς οὐδ' ἥρωας οἵτινές εἰσι. They [sc. the Greeks] purify themselves in vain. .. They pray to these statues the way one might converse with houses: they have no clue what gods or even heroes are like. Heraclitus, B5 DK MOMUS: That is why you, Apollo, are no longer in favour; at present, oracles are delivered by every stone and every altar that is drenched with oil and has garlands and can provide itself with a charlatan (γόητος ἀνδρός)of whom there are plenty. Already the statue of Polydamas the athlete heals those who have fevers in Olympia, and the statue of Theagenes does likewise in Thasos; they sacrifice to Hector in Troy and to Protesilaus on the opposite shore, in the Chersonese. Lucian, The Parliament of the Gods 12 (tr. Harmon (1936)) † This essay was first presented at a conference on ecphrasis held at Cambridge University in September 2019, and then at the Langford Family Conference sponsored by the Florida State University in October 2021 and the UC Berkeley Ancient Greek and Roman Studies brown bag colloquium in February 2022. My thanks to the organisers and participants on each occasion, to two anonymous referees for comments that helped me sharpen my arguments, to Lucia Prauscello for her deft editorship, and to