The Siege of Syene
Document type :
Partie d'ouvrage
Title :
The Siege of Syene
Author(s) :
Book title :
Reading Heliodorus' Aethiopica
Publisher :
Oxford University Press
Publication date :
2022-04-14
HAL domain(s) :
Sciences de l'Homme et Société/Etudes classiques
English abstract : [en]
This chapter analyses the account of the siege of Syene as an ekphrasis of the manner ( tropos ) in which something is made. It is a crucial passage in the novel, providing the context for Charicleia’s reunion with her ...
Show more >This chapter analyses the account of the siege of Syene as an ekphrasis of the manner ( tropos ) in which something is made. It is a crucial passage in the novel, providing the context for Charicleia’s reunion with her father and introducing Hydaspes to the reader who is well aware how much will depend on his character and choices. His actions at Syene can be read, as in panegyric, as signs of his inner qualities, but a more focused reading brings out the ambiguous nature of his portrayal here, creating fresh doubts for the reader. The account of the siege-works also lends itself to a different type of interpretation that takes into account both the form traced by Hydaspes’ works, with its combination of the circular and the straight, level and the matter used (earth and water) which lend themselves to metaliterary and metafictional readings.Show less >
Show more >This chapter analyses the account of the siege of Syene as an ekphrasis of the manner ( tropos ) in which something is made. It is a crucial passage in the novel, providing the context for Charicleia’s reunion with her father and introducing Hydaspes to the reader who is well aware how much will depend on his character and choices. His actions at Syene can be read, as in panegyric, as signs of his inner qualities, but a more focused reading brings out the ambiguous nature of his portrayal here, creating fresh doubts for the reader. The account of the siege-works also lends itself to a different type of interpretation that takes into account both the form traced by Hydaspes’ works, with its combination of the circular and the straight, level and the matter used (earth and water) which lend themselves to metaliterary and metafictional readings.Show less >
Language :
Anglais
Audience :
Internationale
Popular science :
Non
Collections :
Source :