Philostratus
Philostratus, was the name of four Greek
sophists of the
Roman imperial period:
# (c. 150-200) "Philostratus I": Very minor author, known only for a dialogue
Nero, possibly written by Philostratus II.# (c. 170-247) "Philostratus II": son of Philostratus I. Also called "Philostratus the Athenian" or "Lucius Flavius Philostratus" # (born c. 190) "Philostratus III": the probable nephew of Philostratus II. Also called "Philostratus of
Lemnos" or "Philostratus the Elder" # (born c. 220) "Philostratus IV": the probable grandson of Philostratus III. Also called "Philostratus of Lemnos", or "Philostratus the Younger".
Of these the most famous is Philostratus "the Athenian". Very little is known of his career. Even his name is doubtful. The
Lives of the Sophists gives the praenomen
Flavius, which, however, is found elsewhere only in
Tzetzes.
Eunapius and
Synesius call him a Lemnian;
Photius a
Tyrian; his letters refer to him as an Athenian. It is probable that he was born in
Lemnos, studied and taught at
Athens, and then settled in Rome (where he would naturally be called atheniensis) as a member of the learned circle with which Julia Domna surrounded herself.
He was born probably in
172, and is said by the
Suda to have been living in the reign of
Philip (
244 -
249). The fact that the author of
Apollonius is also the author of the
Lives of the Sophists is confirmed by internal evidence.
There is a near consensus that Philostratus II was the author of the following four works:
* (c. 215)
Life of Apollonius Tyana, which he dedicated to
Julia Domna, wife of
Septimius Severus and mother of
Caracalla (see
Apollonius of Tyana).
* (231-237)
Lives of the Sophists. The Lives is dedicated to a consul Antonius Gordianus, perhaps one of the two
Gordians who were killed in
238. The work is divided into two parts: the first dealing with the ancient Sophists, e.g.
Gorgias, the second with the later school, e.g.
Herodes Atticus. The Lives are not in the true sense biographical, but rather picturesque impressions of leading representatives of an attitude of mind full of curiosity, alert and versatile, but lacking scientific method, preferring the external excellence of style and manner to the solid achievements of serious writing. The
philosopher, as he says, investigates truth; the sophist embellishes it, and takes it for granted.
* (after 220)
Gymnasticus. The
Gymnasticus contains interesting matter concerning the
Olympic games and athletic contests generally.
* (?)
Epistolae or
Love Letters. The Letters breathe the spirit of the New Comedy and the Alexandrine
poets; portions of Letter 33 are almost literally translated in
Ben Jonson's
Song to Celia, "Drink to me only with thine eyes." The letters are mainly of an erotic character.
The works
Heroicus and
Imagines were traditionally attributed to Philostratus II, but are now more commonly attributed to Philostratus III.
*
Heroicus, formerly attributed to
Philostratus the Athenian, is probably the work of
Philostratus the Lemnian. It is a popular disquisition on the heroes of the
Trojan War in the form of a conversation between a
Thracian vine-dresser on the shore of the
Hellespont and a
Phoenician merchant who derives his knowledge from the hero
Protesilaus,
Palamedes is exalted at the expense of
Odysseus, and
Homer's unfairness to him is attacked. It has been suggested that Philostratus is here describing a series of heroic paintings in the palace of
Julia Domna.
*
Imagines: Ostensibly a description of 64 pictures in a
Neapolitan gallery.
Goethe,
Welcker,
Brunn,
E. Bertrand and
Helbig, among others, have held that the descriptions are of actually existing works of art, while
Heyne and
Friederichs deny this. In any case they are interesting as showing the way in which ancient artists treated mythological and other subjects, and are written with artistic knowledge and in attractive language.
Another volume of
Imagines was composed by Philostratus IV (or by some later sophist). Of this work, the descriptions of pictures, 17 remain.
There is great difficulty, due to a confused statement of the
Suda in disentangling the works and even the personalities of these Philostrati. Reference is there made to Philostratus as the son of
Verus, a rhetorician in
Nero's time, who wrote tragedies, comedies and treatises. The
Suda thus appears to give to Philostratus the Athenian a life of 200 years! We must be content to assume two Lemnian Philostrati, both sophists, living in
Rome.
*
*
Livius,
Philostratus Updates the preceding article with some ninety years of more recent research.
*
Online Text: Philostratus, Life of Apollonius of Tyana translated by F. C. Conybeare see also wiki biography of
F. C. Conybeare*
Online Text: Philostratus IV, Imagines translated by Arthur Fairbanks
