ピロストラトス『テュアナのアポッローニオス』と『イーリアス』

Abstract

This paper aims to show how Homer's Iliad is reused in the Apollonius of Tyana, an eight-book biography composed by the Greek prose author Philostratus (c. 170-245 CE). Scholars have recognised the significance of the creative use of canonical works by the celebrated sophist, but little attention has been paid to his adaptation of the Iliad in the biography, in contrast to the other Homeric epic, the Odyssey. Especially worth noting is Philostratus' recreation of the two Iliadic warriors, Euphorbus and Achilles, because both heroes are given completely different characteristics from those seen in the original: the two soldiers are effectively used to highlight the essential qualities of the protagonist, ‘reincarnation' (μεταβολή) in the case of the former, and ‘wisdom' (σοφία) in the case of the latter. Euphorbus is memorably mentioned, among others, in the very opening of the work as a former individual of Pythagoras, the philosopher whose ways of living Apollonius reveres, which suggests that the Trojan hero is a symbol of Apollonius' favourite idea of reincarnation, not a neglected soldier as depicted in the Iliad. Similarly, Achilles is never a furious misanthrope but is a gentle mediator who encourages Apollonius to visit the grave of Palamedes, a distinguished sharer of wisdom with the Tyanean sage.