The Ancient Novel and the Frontiers of Genre ANCIENT NARRATIVE Supplementum 18 Editorial Board Gareth Schmeling, University of Florida, Gainesville Stephen Harrison, Corpus Christi College, Oxford Heinz Hofmann, Universität Tübingen Massimo Fusillo, Università degli Studi dell’Aquila Ruurd Nauta, University of Groningen Stelios Panayotakis, University of Crete Costas Panayotakis (review editor), University of Glasgow Advisory Board Jean Alvares, Montclair State University Alain Billault, Université Paris Sorbonne – Paris IV Ewen Bowie, Corpus Christi College, Oxford Jan Bremmer, University of Groningen Stavros Frangoulidis, Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki Ronald Hock, University of Southern California, Los Angeles Irene de Jong, University of Amsterdam Bernhard Kytzler, University of Natal, Durban Silvia Montiglio, Johns Hopkins University John Morgan, University of Wales, Swansea Rudi van der Paardt, University of Leiden Michael Paschalis, University of Crete Judith Perkins, Saint Joseph College, West Hartford Tim Whitmarsh, Corpus Christi College, Oxford Alfons Wouters, University of Leuven Maaike Zimmerman, University of Groningen Subscriptions and ordering Barkhuis Zuurstukken 37 9761 KP Eelde the Netherlands Tel. +31 50 3080936 Fax +31 50 3080934 [email protected] www.ancientnarrative.com The Ancient Novel and the Frontiers of Genre edited by Marília P. Futre Pinheiro, Gareth Schmeling, Edmund P. Cueva Book design: Barkhuis Cover Design: Nynke Tiekstra, Noordwolde ISBN 9789491431661 Image on cover: Anonymous, Flemish. Satirical Diptych. Oil on panel, c. 1520. Université de Liège, Collections artistiques. © Collections artistiques de l'Université de Liège Copyright © 2014 the editor and authors All rights reserved. No part of this publication or the information contained herein may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronical, mechanical, by photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the authors. Although all care is taken to ensure the integrity and quality of this publication and the information herein, no responsibility is assumed by the publishers nor the authors for any damage to property or persons as a result of operation or use of this publication and/or the information contained herein. Contents Preface and Acknowledgments VII Introduction IX A UTOPIA AND PARADOXOGRAPHY 1 DISKIN CLAY† Lucian’s Philosophical Island 3 HEINRICH KUCH The Genre Understanding of the Utopian Novel 11 BENJAMIN HALLER Homeric parody, the isle of the blessed, and the nature of Paideia in Lucian’s Verae Historiae 23 VALENTINA POPESCU Lucian’s True Stories: Paradoxography and False Discourse 39 B FLUID TEXTS 59 ROGER BECK The Adventures of Six Men in a Boat: the Astral Determinants of a Maritime Narrative in the Anthologies of Vettius Valens 61 HENDRIK MÜLLER-REINEKE Facts or Fiction? The fruitful relationship between Ancient Novel and literary Miscellany 69 VI CONTENTS GRAMMATIKI A. KARLA Isis-Epiphany in the Life of Aesop: A structural analytic approach 83 C CROSSED GENRES 103 REGINE MAY Medicine and the Novel: Apuleius’ Bonding with the Educated Reader 105 NICOLAS BOULIC AND FRANÇOISE LÉTOUBLON Pirates in the Library 125 LORETO NÚÑEZ Liminal Games: Fluidity of the Sphragis of a Novelist 143 D HYBRID FORMS 169 ANGELO CASANOVA Tombs and Stables, Roofs and Brothels, Dens and Raids in Lollianos’ Fragments 171 FOTINI HADJITTOFI Erotic Fiction and Christian Sexual Ethics in Nonnus’ Episode of Morrheus and Chalcomede 187 JIRÍ ŠUBRT Hagiographic romance: novelistic narrative strategy in Jerome’s Lives of Hermits 205 Abstracts 215 Autobiographical Notes 221 Indexes 225 Index locoroum 225 General Index 227 Preface and Acknowledgements This volume presents a collection of thirteen papers from the Fourth Internation- al Conference on the Ancient Novel (ICAN 2008), which was held in Lisbon at the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian from July 21 to 26, 2008. The Ancient Novel and the Frontiers of Genre reflects entirely the spirit and the general theme of the Conference, and is intended to convey the idea that both the novel as a liter- ary form and scholarship on the ancient novel tend to mature and advance by crossing boundaries that older forms regarded as uncrossable. The papers assembled in this volume include extended prose narratives of all kinds and thereby widen and enrich the scope of the novel’s canon. The essays explore a wide variety of texts, crossed genres, and hybrid forms, which transgress the frontiers of the so-called ancient novel, providing an excellent insight into different kinds of narrative prose in antiquity. This volume, as the previous ones, is the product of devoted work over several years by many people. I would like to express my deep gratitude to those who have contributed to bring about this publication. My sincerest thanks go in first place to my fellow editors for their generous support and responsible con- tributions in producing and preparing this book as well as for their help in proof- reading. A special word of recognition is also due to the contributors for their patient collaboration and accurate reviewing of the papers. I extend my gratitude to my colleague from the University of Coimbra, Prof. Dr. José Oliveira Barata, for bringing to my attention the painting of the anonymous Flemish artist that pro- vides the front cover for this volume. I’m also indebted to Ms. Emmanuelle Grosjean for authorizing the reproduction of this image that forms part of the acquis of the Artistic Collections of the University of Liège. Maaike Zimmer- man deserves many thanks for preparing, with enduring sense of cooperation and proficiency, the index of this volume. I address to Roelf Barkhuis my sin- cere feelings of appreciation for his constant kindness and scrupulous work of preparing the volume for print and publishing it in due time. Ms. Nynke Tiekstra also deserves a special mention for her accurate and fine work in designing the book’s front cover. VIII PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Last but not least, at the basis of this overall project is Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian to which we express our heartfelt gratitude. Marília P. Futre Pinheiro June 2014 Introduction GARETH SCHMELING University of Florida, Gainesville In classical literature purists hold that there are eight canonical novels, five Greek and three Latin, more than twenty fragments of other novels, many so- called fringe-novels (whole or fragmentary), and finally scores of narratives beyond-the-fringe. Extended prose narratives of all kinds are the subject of this volume. Diskin Clay†, ‘Lucian’s Philosophical Island’, opens this volume with an analysis of Lucian VH 2.4-28, the first-person narrative of seven months of ad- ventures on the Island of the Blest (Elysian Fields). But his real interest lies in a discussion of the ancient philosophers – beings who do not always fare well at the hands of Lucian – , and the theme of the paper is Lucian’s fantastic voyage and search for island utopias. Clay establishes a long tradition for Lucian’s phil- osophic island with a reference to Voltaire’s 1765 dialogue among Lucian, Erasmus, and Rabelais, ‘great mockers of philosophers’. In ‘The Genre Understanding of the Utopian Novel’, Heinrich Kuch argues that utopian narratives can quite legitimately be termed novels – if Chariton can be said to represent the adventure and love romance and Petronius the realistic. Kuch looks carefully at the episodes/structure of what we have in Diodorus Siculus of Euhemerus’ Sacred Scriptures and of Iambulus. The novelistic narra- tives recount events taking place on islands, and while Lucian stays on his island utopia for seven months, Iambulus stays with his islanders for seven years. By comparing motifs, structures, and episodes Kuch concludes that ancient utopian narratives belong to the genre of the novel. Benjamin Haller, ‘Homeric Parody, the Isle of the Blessed, and the Nature of Paideia in Lucian’s Verae Historiae’, continues the work of the preceding two papers in the area of utopian novels, but is most interested in studying iden- tity and ethnicity among non-Greek Easterners. Lucian’s Syrian background is the starting point: how does Lucian the traveling rhetorician establish his place among Greeks in a Roman world? Hellenic paideia in the Second Sophistic The Ancient Novel and the Frontiers of Genre, IX–XII