the title of sophist, and one or two he doesn’t. Many of these entries
are very brief and are little more than markers of identification. Take
Carneades (1.4): ‘‘Carneades of Athens was also enrolled among the
sophists, for though his mind had been equipped for the pursuit of
philosophy, yet in virtue of the force and vigour of his orations he attained
an extraordinarily high level of eloquence.’’ A single sentence allows
the reader to give Carneades a place on his or her mental map of the
classical city’s intellectual world, and to find a way of relating him to
the book’s introduction, which has outlined the difference between phil-
osophy, rhetoric, and sophistry. It gives Carneades a characterization, to
be recognized and used in conversation by the readers of Philostratus.
If you hear or use the name Carneades, you know at least what sort
of a figure he was and what you might say about him: ‘‘I find the
force and vigor of his orations brought his rhetoric to such a degree of
excellence that he belies his training as a philosopher.’’ That could
save your social life at a dinner party. That is, I am suggesting that such
short written, anecdotal paragraphs are not just a history of sophists,
but also constitute a handbook for the discursive performance of the
pepaideumenoiin Empire culture.
There are also longer lives, and the longest of all is that of Herodes
Atticus. This is not organized like a traditional biography, however, but
epitomizes how continuous narrative is sucked into the orbit of the anec-
dote. The life is organized as a set of discrete paragraphs, each of which is
easily excerptable for retelling. So immediately after a paragraph on his
beneficence and some praise for the canal cut through the isthmus of
Corinth (552), we move straight into a paragraph on the man called
‘‘Heracles of Herodes.’’ There is no connection beyond ade. ‘‘As for the
man they call Heracles of Herodes.. .’’ (552), and the text shifts into
another story. There is no evident thematic link between the two para-
graphs, except that both are about Herodes Atticus. It is just another story.
We are given a physical description of Heracles, and details of his diet.
As you might expect from his name, he is a marvelous physical specimen
who wrestles wild boars and wolves and mad bulls, but, unlike the real
Heracles, this modern macho man lives mainly on milk, though occasion-
ally he eats enough barley for ten men (553). This is a sort of rustic hero,
who suitably enough claims Marathon, thegenius loci, as his father (553).
It is Heracles’ speech that especially amazes Herodes (554):
‘‘ôcí äb äc ªºHôôÆí;’’çÅ ›‘ ̇æþäÅò;‘‘ðHò KðÆØäåýŁÅò ŒÆd ðe ôßíøí;ïP ªÜæ ìïØ
ôHí IðÆØäåýôøí çÆßífi Å:’’ŒÆd ›’`ªÆŁßøí‘‘ ìåóïªåßÆ;’’çÅ;‘‘ôBò’`ôôØŒBò IªÆŁeí
äØäÆóŒÆºåEïí Iíäæd âïıºïìÝífiø äØƺݪåóŁÆØ;ïƒ ìbí ªaæ Kí ôfiH ¼óôåØ’`ŁÅíÆEïØ
ìØóŁïF äååüìåíïØ ̈æÜŒØÆ ŒÆd —ïíôØŒa ìåØæÜŒØÆ ŒÆd K ºøí KŁíHí âÆæâÜæøí
îıíåææıÅŒüôÆ ðÆæÆçŁåßæïíôÆØ ðÆæ’ÆPôHí ôcí çøící ìAººïí X îıìâܺºïíôÆß ôØ
ÆPôïEò Kò åPªºøôôßÆí; ìåóïªåßÆ äb ¼ìØŒôïò âÆæâÜæïØò ïsóÆ ªØÆßíåØ ÆPôïEò
çøíc ŒÆd ªºHôôÆ ôcí ¼ŒæÆí’`ôŁßäÆ IðïłÜººåØ:’’106 Situating Literacies