Bust ofJulia Domna, Philostratus' patron in the early third century AD.
Some ambiguity surrounds his name. ThenomenFlavius is given inThe Lives of the Sophists andTzetzes.Eunapius andSynesius call him a Lemnian;Photius aTyrian; his letters refer to him as an Athenian. Hispraenomen was probablyLucius, although this is not entirely confirmed.[2]
It is probable that he was born inLemnos, studied and taught atAthens, and then settled in Rome (where he would naturally be calledAtheniensis) as a member of the learned circle with which empressJulia Domna surrounded herself.
Heroicus (On Heroes, 213–214 AD) is in the form of a dialogue between a Phoenician traveler and a vine-tender or groundskeeper (ἀμπελουργόςampelourgos), regardingProtesilaus (or "Protosilaos"), the firstAchaean warrior to be killed at the siege ofTroy, as described in theIliad. The dialogue extends into a discussion and critique ofHomer's presentation of heroes and gods, based on the greater authority of the dead Protosileus, who lives after death and communicates with theampelourgos. Heroicus includes Achilles' "Ode to Echo".[3]
Life of Apollonius of Tyana, written between 217 and 238 AD, tells the story ofApollonius of Tyana (c. 40 – c. 120 AD), aPythagorean philosopher and teacher. Philostratus wrote the book forJulia Domna, wife ofSeptimius Severus and mother ofCaracalla. The book was completed after her death.
Lives of the Sophists, written between 231 and 237 AD, is a semi-biographical history of the Greek sophists. The book is dedicated to a consul Antonius Gordianus, perhaps one of the twoGordians who were killed in 238. The work is divided into two parts: the first dealing with theancient Sophists, e.g.Gorgias, the second with thelater school, e.g.Herodes Atticus. TheLives 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. Thephilosopher, as he says, investigates truth; the sophist embellishes it, and takes it for granted.
Gymnasticus, written after 220 AD, contains accounts concerning theOlympic Games and athletic contests in general.
Epistolae, orLove Letters, breathe the spirit of the New Comedy and the Alexandrinepoets; portions of Letter 33 are almost literally translated inBen Jonson'sSong to Celia, "Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes." The letters are mainly of an erotic character. Their publication date is unknown.
Alciphron, Aelian, and Philostratus,The Letters. Translated by A. R. Benner, F. H. Fobes. 1949. Loeb Classical Library.ISBN978-0-674-99421-8
Philostratus,Lives of the Sophists. Eunapius,Lives of the Philosophers and Sophists. Translated by Wilmer C. Wright. 1921. Loeb Classical Library.ISBN978-0-674-99149-1
Philostratus,Heroicus; Gymnasticus; Discourses 1 and 2. Edited and translated by Jeffrey Rusten and Jason König. Loeb Classical Library. (Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, England, 2014).
^Sophia Papaioannou,Redesigning Achilles: 'Recycling' the Epic Cycle in the 'Little Iliad' (Ovid,Metamorphoses 12.1-13.622). Berlin/New York. Paul, George M. (1982) - 2007 Page 153 "Nagy's article comments on an interesting but little known literary reception of Achilles, namely his representation as a lyric poet and lyre-player, singing a song to Echo (a code name for the Muse) in the company of Helen of Troy. ... and the two heroes, now souls distanced from their epic lives/roles, have become bards who sing of their own deeds. Cf. Maclean and Aitken above for a translation of theHeroicus, including Achilles' 'Ode to Echo'."
Aitken, Ellen Bradshaw, and Jennifer Kay Berenson MacLean, eds. 2004.Philostratus’s “Heroikos”: Religion and Cultural Identity in the Third Century C.E. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature.
Bryson, Norman. 1994. "Philostratus and the Imaginary Museum." InArt and Text in Ancient Greek Culture. Edited by Simon Goldhill and Robin Osborne, 255–283. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.
Elsner, Jaś. 2009. "Beyond Compare: Pagan Saint and Christian God in Late Antiquity."Critical Inquiry 35:655–683.
Eshleman, Kendra Joy. 2008. "Defining the Circle of Sophists: Philostratus and the Construction of the Second Sophistic."Classical Philology 103:395–413.
Demoen, K., and Danny Praet, eds. 2009.Theios Sophistes: Essays on Flavius Philostratus’ “Vita Apollonii.” Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill.
Kemezis, Adam M. 2014.Greek Narratives of the Roman Empire under the Severans: Cassius Dio, Philostratus and Herodian. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.
König, Jason. 2014. "Images of Elite Communities in Philostratus: Re-Reading the Preface to the “Lives of the Sophists.”" InRoman Rule in Greek and Latin Writing: Double Vision. Edited by Jesper Majbom Madsen and Roger Rees, 246–270. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill.
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Philostratus".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 21 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 445.
