Anacharsis in a Letter of Apollonius of Tyana
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9664376 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Robert J Penella (Fordham University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1988 |
| Volume | 38 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 570-572 |
| Publication date | 1988-12-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Classical Quarterly (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0009-8388 • E-ISSN: 1471-6844 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0009838800037289 |
| OpenAlex | W2166001331 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 1 |
Philostratus remarks on the terseness of the letters of Apollonius of Tyana ( Vita Apoll. 7.35, cf. 4.27), and letter 61 is a good example of that stylistic feature. Addressed to a Lesbonax, it says: ̓Agr;νἀχαπσις ó Σκὑθης ῆν σπφóς εí δὲ Σκὐθης, ὃτι καì ϳκὐθης (‘Anacharsis the Scythian was a sage.. And if he was a Scythian, then it was because he was a Scythian that he was a sage’). In my commentary to the letters, I observed that Apollonius is drawing here on the tradition of the Scythians as an idealized race, unspoiled by the cultivations of Greek city life, and is implicitly criticizing his contemporaries in the Greek world for not living up to the high ideals of Hellenism. I compared a critical remark in letter 34 that alludes to Euripides, Orestes 485: “ἐβαπβαπὡθ” οὐ “χπóνιος ὢν ἀφ’ ‘Ελλἁδι. More can now be said
Art · Literature · Byzantine Studies and History · Classical Antiquity Studies · Classics · History · Philosophy
| Citations per year | 0.1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2016 - 2016 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |