Intervisuality: New Approaches to Greek Literature

354 Pages·2022·4.32 MB·English

by  Andrea Capra, Lucia Floridi

Intervisuality
MythosEikonPoiesis
Herausgegeben von
Anton Bierl
Wissenschaftlicher Beirat:
Gregory Nagy, Richard Martin
Band 16
Intervisuality
New Approaches to Greek Literature
Edited by
Andrea Capra and Lucia Floridi
ISBN978-3-11-079524-0
e-ISBN(PDF)978-3-11-079544-8
e-ISBN(EPUB)978-3-11-079552-3
ISSN1868-5080
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Contents
AndreaCapraandLuciaFloridi
Introduction 1
Part I:In limine
AglaePizzone
1 Àrebours:intervisualityfromtheMiddleAgestoclassical
antiquity 15
AntonBierl
2 FromimagetotheatricalplayinAeschylus’Oresteia
Iconicity,intervisuality,theimageact,andthedramatic
performanceact 33
Part II:Archaicandclassicalage
GeorgeAlexanderGazis
3 Homerandtheartofcinematicwarfare 81
RiccardoPalmisciano
4 IntervisualityintheGreeksymposium 103
CarmineCatenacci
5 Theprotohistoryofportraitsinwordsandimages
(sixth–fifthcenturyBCE):tyrants,poets,andartists 121
CeciliaNobili
6 LookingatAthensthroughthelyriclens 149
LuciaAthanassaki
7 Thepoliticsofintervisuality
Euripides’Erechtheus,theWestPedimentoftheParthenon,
theErechtheion,andthetempleofAthenaNike 171
VI Contents
Part III:Hellenisticandimperialage
BenjaminAcosta-Hughes
8 Thegoddessplayingwithgold
OnthecultofArsinoe-Aphroditeinimageandtext 197
EwenL.Bowie
9 IntervisualityindeclamationandsungpoetryinimperialGreek
cities 213
LuciaFloridi
10 IntervisualallusionsinLucian,DialoguesoftheSeaGods15 235
ÉvelynePrioux
11 WasPhilostratustheElderanadmirerofOvidianenargeia? 255
ReginaHöschele
12 ἐκτῶνπινάκων.Aristaenetus’intervisualallusionstoPhilostratus’
artgallery 283
Part IV:PointingtoRome
MatteoCadario
13 Orderingtheresgestae:observationsontherelationshipbetween
textsandimagesinRoman‘historical’representations 305
Appendix
Listofcontributors 335
Indexnominumetrerumnotabilium 339
Indexlocorum 345
AndreaCapra and LuciaFloridi
Introduction
Intertextualityisawell-knowntoolinliterarycriticismandhasbeenwidelyap-
pliedtoancientliterature,withclassicalscholarshipbeingunusuallyatthefront-
line in developing new theoretical approaches.1 By contrast, the twin notion of
intervisuality has only recently begun to appear in classical studies, and then
onlytodescribetheinteractionbetweenwordandimageingenres,suchascom-
edyandepigram,whicharemostobviouslyrelatedtothevisualarts.2Whilestill
lackingaconsistentdefinition,intervisualityhasprovedextremelyproductivein
fields such as visual culture studies, where it is used to describe ‘the simulta-
neousdisplayandinteractionofavarietyofmodesofvisuality’,3andarthistory,
whereitisadoptedasa‘visualcounterpart’tointertextuality,inordertodescribe
thewebofallusions,quotes,andreworkingsthatmightlinkoneartworktoan-
other,basedontheideathat‘allart[...]takespriorworkintoaccount’.4
Through contributions from a diverse team of scholars, this book aims to
bring intervisuality into sharper focus and show its potential as a tool to ex-
ploretheresearchfieldtraditionallyreferredtoas‘Greekliterature’.
 Thebibliographyonintertextualityislarge.Sufficeitheretomentionseminalworkssuch
asConte(1986)andHinds(1998).
 Foritsapplicationtocomedy,seePetrides(2014)–perhapsthefirstclassicalscholarto
haveseriouslyengagedwithintervisuality;forepigram,Floridi(2018)andNobili(2018).
 Mirzoeff(20022)3.ThewordfirstappearedinMirzoeff(1999)30.AccordingtoParks(20022)
285,intervisualityis‘thepracticeofthinkingandanalysingacrossandbetweenmediarather
thanfocusingupontheuniquepropertiesofeachmedium’.
 Nelson(1999)85.
Notes:Someoftheessaysincludedinthisvolumewereoriginallydeliveredaspapersatthe
conference‘IntervisualityandLiteratureinGreeceandRome’(MilanUniversity,February7–8,
2017).Manythankstothespeakersaswellastothosewhojoinedtheprojectatalaterstage.
ThanksarealsoduetotheUniversityofMilanforfundingtheconferencebackin2017andto
DurhamUniversityforcoveringtheadditionalexpensesassociatedwiththeeditorialprocess
(picturesandproofreading).Finally,ourwarmthanksgototheanonymousreadersfortheir
encouragementandusefulfeedback.
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110795448-001
2 AndreaCapraandLuciaFloridi
1 Why intervisuality is relevant to ‘Greek
literature’
IfoneweretomentiontwodistinctivephenomenathatdefineGreekcivilisation,
the choice would easily fall on the symposium and on theatre. Whileoriginally
importedfromthe east, inthe archaic age the symposium rapidly turnedintoa
hallmark of ‘Greekness’, perceived as such by contemporary civilisations. The
symposium isa quintessentially synaestheticphenomenon,involving all senses
andprovidinganaturalsettingformostarchaicpoetry.Asiswellknown,thein-
teractionbetweenpoetryandimages,especiallyasdepictedonpottery,isintegral
tothesymposiumandtomostofwhatwemodernsrefertoaslyricpoetry,deliv-
eredassongaccompaniedbymusic.Accordingly,suchpoetryisintrinsically‘in-
tervisual’ and connected with the specific occasions in which the songs were
performed. Archaic poetry could also be performed outdoors, in which case it
oftenreferredto–andwasinformedby–thetopographyoftherelevantsettings,
suchasmonumentsandperformancespaces,thusprovidingfurtheropportunity
for intervisual interplay. This book explores both strands, whichultimately rest
onwhat many scholars, in the wakeof BrunoGentili’sseminalwork, refer toas
the‘pragmatic’natureofarchaicGreekpoetry.5Bothstrandswereofcourseinflu-
encedbytheexceptionallyvividqualityofHomericpoetry,whichiswhyachap-
teronHomerprecedesourdiscussionoflyricpoetry.
A quintessential example of Homeric vividness, the heroic duels found in
theIliadintriguinglyresonatewithimagesknownfromBronzeAgesealswhile
atthe sametimeactivating anequallyvivid formof‘flashbulb’ memoryin the
minds of the audience, as argued in George Gazis’ chapter. Whereas the rela-
tionshipbetweentheimagespaintedonsympoticvasesandthepoetrysungat
symposiaisthespecificfocusofRiccardoPalmisciano’sessay,CeciliaNobiliin-
vestigates the intervisual allusions to Athenian public spaces in the works of
lyric poets. Carmine Catenacci instead examines how the visual experience of
thefirstindividualportraits,whichfilledpublicspacesintheIonianandAthe-
nianareabetweenthesixthandthefifthcenturyBCE,affectedthewordofthe
poets(andviceversa).
Asonewouldexpect,thisbookalsoincludesAttictheatreanditssubsequent
ramifications.Evenmorethanthesymposium,theatreimpliesa‘spectatorship’no
lessthananaudience;atthesametime,withthespreadofliteracy,bothsympotic
and theatrical poetry end up acquiring a readership and inform later forms of
 Seee.g.Gentili(1984).
Introduction 3
literature.6Oneofthemostinfluentiallegaciesof‘Greekliterature’,theatresome-
how superseded the symposium as it rapidly turned from a one-city institution
intoahallmark ofGraeco-Romancivilisation.Intheprocess,theatre, avisualno
lessthanaverbalartform,triggeredaseriesofrelatedimagesinallsortsofmedia
throughouttheancientworld,andthisextraordinarydisseminationhasbeengain-
ing traction in scholarship over the last few decades. Well beyond the narrow
boundariesoftext-focusedapproaches,newinterpretativeparadigmsaretryingto
pin down such complex and heterogeneous material. This shift, as well as the
pragmaticnatureofGreekpoetry,cannotbutaffectourunderstandingofintertex-
tuality,whichcanhardlybegraspedinfullwithoutits(inter)visualcounterpart.
As noted by Antonis Petrides, ancient theatre is ‘a form of performance in
whichallusionwasnotnecessarilyachievedbyvirtueofverbalmarkers,butalso
bythe ability of the visual element, too,to make referencestovarious semiotic
systemscollaboratinginthecreationoftheatricalmeaning.Intertextuality,inthe
case of Menander, encompassed intervisuality as well’.7 However, this volume
shows – we hope – that the relevance of intervisuality for Greek theatre is not
limitedtoMenander,norsolelytobeunderstoodintherelativelynarrowmean-
ingadoptedbyPetrides.Theintervisualentanglementsoftheatricalperformance
are at the core of both Anton Bierl’s and Lucia Athanassaki’s chapters: while
Bierl focuses on the complex and multifaceted visual aspects of the text of Ae-
schylus’Oresteiaandontheirdramaticapplication,Athanassakiexploresthepo-
litical significance of Euripides’ dialogue in Erechtheus with three important
Athenian temples – the West Pediment of the Parthenon,the temple of Athena
Nike,andtheErechtheion.
Intervisualityisrelevantto‘Greekliterature’bothbeforeandafterthegolden
ageof Attic theatre(fifth–fourth centuryBCE). Not only istheatrelessaninven-
tionexnihilothanthedevelopmentof(highlyspectacular)epicandlyricperform-
ancesaddressingbothlocalandpan-Hellenicaudiences;evenmoreimportantly,
whatwecallGreek‘literature’,awordthathasnoequivalentinclassicalGreek,is
byand large a formof verbalart inextricably linked with performative contexts,
whetherimaginaryorreal.Thesecontexts,inturn,workasarepositoryofmental
imagessharedbybothauthorsandaudiences.Asaconsequence,theimportance
ofvisualcomponentsisintegraltotheveryprocessofproducingandconsuming
‘Greekliterature’.8
 Onspectatorship,seePeponi(2016).
 Petrides(2014)90–91.
 Indeed,‘ancientGreekculture,whichhadbeendeeplyrootedinatraditionalsocietybased
onorality,wasmoredeeplygroundediniconicitythanmodernlanguagesandliteratures’
(Bierl,thisvolume,34).
4 AndreaCapraandLuciaFloridi
Whenitcomestotherelationshipbetween‘images’and‘texts’,archaeologists
rightlyemphasisethattheformershouldneverbeviewedasamereillustrationof
the latter. However, the very conventionality of classical iconography makes it
closertoverballanguageproper:muchcloser,say,thanmodernorcontemporary
visual arts, which are intrinsically polysemous. Ancient Greek iconography is
basedonmeaningfulpatterns(schemata)9surfacingintheatreproductions,statu-
ary, paintings, etc. These patterns form a visual code, whereby fairly stable
meanings are encoded into images: as an extreme and late example, it is
worth mentioning pantomimes, which were expected to ‘translate’ into im-
ages every single word of a given myth. Accordingly, intervisuality can help
us grasp the somewhat parallel codes of images and texts, because a highly
codified use of iconography means that the interchangeability of words and
imagesisespeciallystrong.10
This close and complex interaction between words and images persisted
evenwhenthe‘pragmatic’natureofGreekliteraturegraduallydeclinedandgave
way to a more bookish production. After the classical age, virtually all genres
continuedtorefertothequintessentiallyvisualpoetryofHomer–apointthatis
of course integral to George Gazis’ essay – as well as to the intervisual poems
andplaysconnectedwiththesymposiumandwiththeatre.Atthesametime,the
ubiquitousdisseminationofekphrasis meant thatsuch referencestothe (inter)-
visual past of Greek poetry were in constant dialogue with a vast repository of
contemporaryimages.Thisiswhyintervisualityremainsapowerfultooltomake
senseof sucha complex phenomenon well into the Hellenisticage. In thisvol-
ume,BenjaminAcosta-Hughesprovidesan‘intervisualreading’ofthesurviving
poeticpassagesonArsinoe-AphroditeinconjunctionwithimagesofArsinoe.
Ifanything,therelevanceofintervisualitybecomesevenstrongerintheim-
perialagewhen,asalreadymentioned,verbalandfigurativecodescometobe
conceived of as strictly parallel forms of expression. Such a pervasive comple-
mentarity takes different forms, which this book explores in depth, if selec-
tively. Ewen Bowie focuses on modes of intervisuality in display speeches, in
sungpoetryperformances,andinthesingingofceremonialhymnsinGreekcit-
iesofthesecondcenturyCE,suggestingthattheimpactofallsuchperforman-
ces on the audience was modulated by visual features of the performance
 Catoni(20082).
 Theideathattherearemanyinterconnectionsbetweenartandliterature,ortextsandim-
ages,inGraeco-Romanantiquity,whichtoasignificantextentshapethecharacterofGreek
andRomanculture,ishardlyarevolutionarythoughttoday:ithasservedasthebasisforsev-
eralseminaldiscussionsoverthelastfewdecades.Thebibliographyislarge.Sufficeithereto
mentionOnians(1979)andSquire(2009).