Ekphrasis, Vision, and Persuasion in the Book of Revelation 3161539788, 9783161539787

Table of contents :
Cover
Preface
Contents
List of Tables
Abbreviations
Chapter 1: Introduction
A. Locating Revelation in its Literary Context
I. Visuality and Sight in Revelation
II. Visuality and Sight in Jewish Literature
III. Visuality and Sight in Greco-Roman Literature
B. Locating Revelation in its Rhetorical Context
C. Revelation and Rhetorical Criticism: The Current State of Scholarship
D. The Approach of this Study
I. Rhetorical Criticism as Historical and Literary
II. Genre, Authorship, and Dating
III. Method
E. Structure and Argument
Chapter 2: Epiphanic Encounter and the Rhetoric of ῎Εκφρασις
A. The Progymnasmata
B. The Subjects of Ekphrasis in Antiquity
C. Ekphrastic Traits
I. Vividness ἐνάργεια
II. Clarity (σαφήνεια)
III. Style (λέξις)
IV. Versimilitude
D. Visuality and Sight in the Ancient World
E. An Appeal to Pathos
F. Implications for Reading Revelation
I. Excursus: The Style of Revelation
G. Conclusion
Chapter 3: The Rhetoric of Fear in Rev 1:9–20
A. R ev 1:9-20 as an Ocular Proof
I. An Appeal to Ethos
II. The Vision as Testimony
III. Visual Markers
B. An Ekphrasis of One “Like a Son of Man” (Rev 1:12–20)
C. Interpretive Puzzles
D. An Appeal to Pathos
I. The Orator’s Role in Creating Emotion
II. Responses to Viewing
III. The Rhetoric of Fear and Divine Imminence
E. Fear that Foreshadows
F. Conclusion
Chapter 4: Game of Thrones: Ekphrastic Spectacle and Divine Worship (Rev 4:1–11)
A. Rev 4:1–11 as ἔκφρασις
I. New Elements in the Vision
(a) Twenty-Four Elders
(b) The Seven Spirits
II. Reciprocal Gaze
(a) Divine Gaze in Greco-Roman Culture
(b) Divine Gaze in Jewish Tradition
(c) Implications
III. Cultic Response
B. Making the Abse nt Present
C. Conclusion
Chapter 5: The Epiphanic Entrance of the Lamb (Rev 5:1–14)
A. Who is Worthy?
B. A Scroll that is Seen
C. An Appeal to Pathos
D. The Ekphrasis of the Lamb
E. Worthy is the Lamb
I. Acclamations of Worth
II. A New Song
III. Worthy of Wealth
IV. Worthy of Worship
F. Absence and Presence
G. Conclusion
Chapter 6: Dueling Images and Ekphrastic Competition
A. Poetic and Plastic Competition in t he Ancient World
B. Revelation’s Presentation of Good and Evil Images
I. Evil as Deceptive
II. The Dragon as Deceiver
III. The False Prophet’s Great Signs
IV. The Image of the Beast
V. Evil as Imitator
VI. Beast and Lamb
VII. Secret and Coded Names
VIII. Triadic Titles
C. Responses to Viewing in Revelation
I. Responding with Wonder (θαῦμα)
II. Responding with Worship (προσκύνησις()
D. Visual and Verbal Competition in Revelation
E. Conclusion
Chapter 7: Conclusion
Bibliography
1. Primary Sources
2. Secondary Literature
Index of References
Old Testament
New Testament
Early Jewish Literature
Early Christian Literature
Greek and Latin Literature
Index of Modern Authors
Subject Index
Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament

Citation preview

Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament · 2. Reihe Herausgeber / Editor Jörg Frey (Zürich) Mitherausgeber / Associate Editors Markus Bockmuehl (Oxford) · James A. Kelhoffer (Uppsala) Hans-Josef Klauck (Chicago, IL) · Tobias Nicklas (Regensburg) J. Ross Wagner (Durham, NC)

410

Robyn J. Whitaker

Ekphrasis, Vision, and Persuasion in the Book of Revelation

Mohr Siebeck

Robyn J. Whitaker, born 1974; 2014 PhD in Bible (New Testament), University of Chicago Divinity School; has taught at Princeton Theological Seminary, The University of Chicago Divinity School, and New Brunswick Theological Seminary; currently a Post-Doctoral Fellow and Instructor of Biblical Languages at Union Theological Seminary in New York City.

e-ISBN PDF 978-3-16-154008-0 ISBN 978-3-16-153978-7 ISSN 0340-9570 (Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament, 2. Reihe) Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliographie; detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de.

© 2015 by Mohr Siebeck Tübingen. www.mohr.de This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form (beyond that permitted by copyright law) without the publisher’s written permission. This applies particularly to reproductions, translations, microfilms and storage and processing in electronic systems. The book was printed by Laupp & Göbel in Nehren on non-aging paper and bound by Buchbinderei Nädele in Nehren. Printed in Germany.

For Peter, and all those faithful witnesses who have helped me see God

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Preface This monograph is a slightly revised version of my Ph.D. thesis submitted at The University of Chicago Divinity School in 2014. I am deeply grateful to my doctoral advisor, Hans-Josef Klauck, and to my dissertation committee, Margaret M. Mitchell and Loren Stuckenbruck, for all their feedback, advice, and encouragement along the way. All three, in their own distinct ways, have been inspiring models of academic excellence. For many years I have been interested in the way the New Testament authors wrote about visual experiences of God and particularly the way they navigated between their desire to see God and the aniconic nature of earliest Christianity. This project came into being when I discovered the extensive literature on ekphrasis within Classics and realized it gave me a language for describing what I observed to be an obsession with the visual in Revelation, a simultaneous ambivalence about image in the text, and an accompanying powerful rhetorical appeal. Since I started this research interest in visual exegesis, including the use of ekphrasis, has grown significantly. Several biblical scholars have begun to publish on ekphrasis and the New Testament, and sessions at SBL have been dedicated to the topic. I hope that this monograph will be a small contribution to that ongoing conversation. I am fortunate to have had some wonderful colleagues and friends who have provided stimulating conversations and other forms of support over the years. Especial thanks go to my parents, Peter and Gillian Whitaker, who were my first biblical teachers and instilled in me a love for this ancient and transformative text. My husband, Peter French, has been amazing, and words are inadequate to express how indebted to him for constant support and love on this adventure.

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Contents Preface..............................................................................................................VII List of Tables.................................................................................................. XIII Abbreviations................................................................................................... XV

Chapter 1: Introduction...................................................................1 A. Locating Revelation in its Literary Context............................................... 7 I. Visuality and Sight in Revelation...............................................................7 II. Visuality and Sight in Jewish Literature ....................................................9 III. Visuality and Sight in Greco-Roman Literature....................................... 13 B. Locating Revelation in its Rhetorical Context......................................... 15 C. Revelation and Rhetorical Criticism: The Current State of Scholarship 21 D. The Approach of this Study....................................................................... 27 I. Rhetorical Criticism as Historical and Literary........................................27 II. Genre, Authorship, and Dating ................................................................ 29 III. Method...................................................................................................... 32 E. Structure and Argument ........................................................................... 33

Chapter 2: Epiphanic Encounter and the Rhetoric of !"#$%&'(................................................................. 37 A. B. C. I. II. III. IV. D. E. F. I. G.

The Progymnasmata ................................................................................. 39 The Subjects of Ekphrasis in Antiquity..................................................... 41 Ekphrastic Traits.......................................................................................45 Vividness ()*+$,-'%) ............................................................................... 45 Clarity (&%#.*-'%)................................................................................... 49 Style (/01'()............................................................................................. 50 Versimilitude............................................................................................ 52 Visuality and Sight in the Ancient World..................................................53 An Appeal to Pathos................................................................................. 58 Implications for Reading Revelation........................................................60 Excursus: The Style of Revelation........................................................... 65 Conclusion................................................................................................ 69

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! Chapter 3: The Rhetoric of Fear in Rev 1:9–20............................71

A. Rev 1:9-20 as an Ocular Proof................................................................ 72 I. An Appeal to Ethos.................................................................................. 72 II. The Vision as Testimony.......................................................................... 75 III. Visual Markers......................................................................................... 80 B. An Ekphrasis of One “Like a Son of Man” (Rev 1:12–20)...................... 81 C. Interpretive Puzzles...................................................................................88 D. An Appeal to Pathos ................................................................................. 92 I. The Orator’s Role in Creating Emotion....................................................92 II. Responses to Viewing .............................................................................. 95 III. The Rhetoric of Fear and Divine Imminence........................................... 97 E. Fear that Foreshadows...........................................................................100 F. Conclusion...............................................................................................102

Chapter 4: Game of Thrones: Ekphrastic Spectacle and Divine Worship (Rev 4:1–11).............................................. 105 A. Rev 4:1–11 as !"#$%&'( ........................................................................ 106 I. New Elements in the Vision................................................................... 110 (a) Twenty-Four Elders ............................................................................... 110 (b) The Seven Spirits.................................................................................... 114 II. Reciprocal Gaze . ...................................................................................... 115 (a) Divine Gaze in Greco-Roman Culture ................................................... 115 (b) Divine Gaze in Jewish Tradition ............................................................118 (c) Implications ............................................................................................ 122 III. Cultic Response...................................................................................... 125 B. Making the Absent Present.................................................................... 130 C. Conclusion.............................................................................................. 135

Chapter 5: The Epiphanic Entrance of the Lamb (Rev 5:1–14).. 139 A. Who is Worthy?....................................................................................... 141 B. A Scroll that is Seen .............................................................................. 143 C. An Appeal to Pathos .............................................................................. 149 D. The Ekphrasis of the Lamb..................................................................... 152 E. Worthy is the Lamb................................................................................. 156 I. Acclamations of Worth.......................................................................... 156 II. A New Song ........................................................................................... 160 III. Worthy of Wealth................................................................................... 162

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IV. Worthy of Worship.................................................................................163 F. Absence and Presence............................................................................165 G. Conclusion.............................................................................................. 167

Chapter 6: Dueling Images and Ekphrastic Competition............ 169 A. Poetic and Plastic Competition in the Ancient World............................171 B. Revelation’s Presentation of Good and Evil Images..............................175 I. Evil as Deceptive ....................................................................................180 II. The Dragon as Deceiver..........................................................................180 III. The False Prophet’s Great Signs............................................................ 183 IV. The Image of the Beast...........................................................................187 V. Evil as Imitator....................................................................................... 191 VI. Beast and Lamb...................................................................................... 193 VII. Secret and Coded Names ....................................................................... 196 VIII. Triadic Titles.......................................................................................... 200 C. Responses to Viewing in Revelation ...................................................... 202 I. Responding with Wonder (2%34%) ........................................................ 203 II. Responding with Worship (5$6&"7*8&'() ........................................... 207 D. Visual and Verbal Competition in Revelation ........................................ 213 E. Conclusion.............................................................................................. 216

Chapter 7: Conclusion................................................................. 219 Bibliography.................................................................................................... 223 Index of References......................................................................................... 243 Index of Modern Authors................................................................................ 261 Subject Index................................................................................................... 265

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List of Tables

Table 1: Examples of Ekphrasis as Cited in the Progymnasmata

42

Table 2: Parallel Theophanic Descriptive Elements

82

Table 3: Throne Vision Elements

109

Table 4: Hymnic Attributes of God and the Lamb in Revelation

163

Table 5: Comparison of Land Beast and False Prophet

184

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Abbreviations AArch ABC ArtH ANRW BI BJS BR CBQ CH CI ClAnt CPh CQ CBR CurTM DSD ExAud GRBS HTR ICS Int JBL JBPR JHS JNES JR JRS JSJ JSNT JSOT JSOTsup JSQ JSS JTS LCL LXX MEFR

Acta Archaeologica Anchor Bible Commentary Art History Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt Biblical Interpretation Biblical Judaic Studies Bible Research Catholic Biblical Quarterly Church History Critical Inquiry Classical Antiquity Classical Philology Classical Quarterly Currents in Biblical Research Currents in Theology and Mission Dead Sea Discoveries Ex Auditu Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies Harvard Theological Review Illinois Classical Studies Interpretation Journal of Biblical Literature Journal of Biblical and Pneumatological Research Journal of Hellenic Studies Journal of Near Eastern Studies Journal of Religion Journal of Roman Studies Journal for the Study of Judaism Journal for the Study of the New Testament Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series Jewish Studies Quarterly Journal of Semitic Studies The Journal of Theological Studies Loeb Classical Library Septuagint Melanges d’archéologie et d’histoire de l’école français de Rome

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Mnem MT NovT NovTSup NT NTS Numen OT PRSt RAC Rhet RhM RLAC RQ SBL SJT Teubner TZ WUNT ZNW ZPE

Abbreviations

Mnemosyne: A Journal of Classical Studies Masoretic Text Novum Testamentum Supplements to Novum Testamentum New Testament New Testament Studies Numen: International Review for the History of Religions Old Testament Perspectives in Religious Studies Reallexikon für Antike und Christentum Rhetorica Rheinisches Museum für Philologie Reallexikon für Antike und Christentum Restoration Quarterly Society of Biblical Literature Scottish Journal of Theology Bibliotheca scriptorum graecorum et romanorum teubneriana Theologische Zeitschrift Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft und die Kunde der älteren Kirche Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik

! Chapter 1

Introduction “Seeing is believing” according to an old adage.1 To see something is to know that it is real, tangible, or true. This craving for material manifestation and visual evidence is particularly pertinent when it comes to human interaction with the gods. The proliferation of statuary and iconography found in the majority of religions signify humanity’s desire for a deity that can be experienced visually. Similarly, texts that record and recount epiphanic experiences point to the power of a visual encounter with a deity. Such confidence in the sense of sight as a means to validate experience is captured by Thomas’ statement in the Fourth Gospel that he will not believe Christ has risen unless he “see the mark of the nails” himself (John 20:24–25). This monograph is about the desire to see God and to make God seen. More precisely, it is about one ancient author’s attempt to give his hearers an epiphanic experience of God by igniting their imaginations and evoking their visual sense with his words, thereby allowing them to see the divine without creating any statuary of the divine. The author in question is John, the text is a Christian apocalypse known as the Book of Revelation, and the context is the religious, rhetorical, and literary culture of Asia Minor in the late first century CE of the Roman Empire. I argue that John’s vivid visions of God in Revelation transcend the usual style and imagery of Old Testament 2 prophetic

1

Thomas Fuller, Gnomologia: Adagies and Proverbs; Wise Sentences and Witty Sayings, Ancient and Modern, Foreign and British (London: B. Barker, 1732), 174. The quote is in a collection of sayings by Thomas Fuller. It dates back to the early 18th century when his volume was published, but is difficult to trace before that. He gives no record of his sources. 2 I am using the conventional terms “Old Testament” and “New Testament” throughout this book to denote the Hebrew Bible or Septuagint (also First Testament or Jewish Testament) and the New Testament or Christian Scriptures. In doing so, I acknowledge these terms are not unproblematic but I also wish to diminish distractions for the reader. To call the Old Testament “Hebrew Bible” potentially suggests it has little to do with Christianity and further dismisses the LXX text used widely within Orthodox Christianity. Much like the term “Old Testament,” which infers something outdated or defunct, it thus has the potential to simply reinforce a dangerous theology of hierarchy. See a critique of the terminology along these lines by Amy-Jill Levine, The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus (San Francisco: Harper, 2006), 193–6.

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Chapter 1: Introduction

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visions to maximize the visual effect and grant hearers an epiphany of God through word-pictures. To encounter the divine visually is something that people from a variety of religious cultures and time periods have sought to do. This desire often led to the creation of plastic images as human beings sought a tangible expression upon which to focus their devotion or by which to convince themselves that the object of their desire was near. The Wisdom of Solomon records this story to attribute the existence of idolatry to human yearning: For a father, distressed with grief at an untimely bereavement, made an icon of the child (90"*6: -;" (to offer obeisance, bow down) is used far more frequently than /%9$-7> (to serve, worship) in Revelation and almost four times more in Revelation than in any other New Testament book, indicating its importance for the author. 20 Hans-Josef Klauck, The Religious Context of Early Christianity: A Guide to GraecoRoman Religions (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2003), 271–3, and Price, Rituals and Power. 21 In the 1950s and 60s there were several studies on worship in Revelation which used the text to historically reconstruct first century CE Christian worship practices. See Otto Piper, “The Apocalypse of John and the Liturgy of the Ancient Church,” CH 20.1 (1951): 10–22; Lucetta Mowry, “Rev 4–5 and Early Christian Liturgical Usage,” JBL 71 (1952): 75–84; Shepherd Massey, The Paschal Liturgy and the Apocalypse (Richmond, Va.: John Knox Press, 1960); Pierre Prigent, Apocalypse et liturgie (Neuchatel, Switzerland: Delachaux & Niestlé, 1964); and John O’Rourke, “Hymns of the Apocalypse,” CBQ 30.3 (1968): 399–409. For a critique of these studies’ historical claims see: Klaus-Peter Jörns, Das hymnische Evangelium: Untersuchungen zu Aufbau, Funktion und Herkunft der hymnischen Stücke in der Johannesoffenbarung (Gütersloh: Gerd Mohn, 1971) and Ardea Russo, “Behind the Heavenly Door: Earthly Liturgy and Heavenly Worship in the Apocalypse of John,” (PhD diss., University of Notre Dame, 2009).

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Worship is controversial and contested in Revelation with 5$6&":*0> being used in extreme and contrasting ways. Human obeisance before the beast and his image is harshly condemned, symbolically demonstrated by various and gruesome forms of death as a result of God’s judgments (13:8; 14:9–12; 16:2). Similarly, when the Seer offers obeisance before the angel he is strongly rebuked and commanded to “give obeisance to God” (19:1; 22:8), a command issued to all humanity in 14:7. Human beings, it seems, get obeisance wrong. In sharp contrast, the heavenly host of twenty-four elders, angels, and four living creatures habitually offer obeisance before the throne and the Lamb in the heavenly realm (4:10; 5:14; 7:11; 11:16; 19:4). Unlike the false prostrations by humans, their obeisance is acceptable to God and functions as a model for the human recipients of the book. Having acknowledged the importance of sight and visual cues in relationship to ancient worship and the importance of worship for the author of Revelation, the rest of this introductory chapter will locate Revelation in its ancient literary context, one that encompasses both Greco-Roman and Hellenistic Jewish texts. Of particular note will be how these literary cultures approach sight and seeing with respect to the divine and human perception of the divine. I will then make a case for the prevalence of ancient rhetoric and its significance for Revelation’s author and hearers. Lastly, I will outline my method and locate this study amidst current scholarship on Revelation to demonstrate that my reading of Revelation’s visions of God as ekphrasis reveals an emphasis upon visual and verbal competition that makes a significant new contribution to our understanding of John’s rhetorical purpose.

A. Locating Revelation in its Literary Context I. Visuality and Sight in Revelation The importance of seeing for Revelation cannot be overstated. Whoever sees the world clearly, including the deceptive and mysterious powers of evil, will be saved. From the very beginning of the book the Seer’s testimony is framed in terms of sight: the I56"+/:F'( is given by God to Jesus to show (H-J1%') what will happen. K-L"*:4' is a verb that typically indicates something exhibited that can be grasped by the senses: it calls attention to the visual.22 John’s testimony is framed in terms of what he saw (M&% -NH6*, 1:2) and his commissioning is twice framed in terms of writing what he sees (O ?/05-'( 22 Ramsay Michaels, “Revelation 1.19 and the Narrative Voices of the Apocalypse,” NTS 37.4 (1991): 619.

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Chapter 1: Introduction

,$+F6*, 1:11 and 1:19). Furthermore, the narrator’s “I saw” (-PH6*) punctuates the narrative at frequent intervals, introducing each new vision and guiding the hearer.23 Sight is marked in other ways within the text as well. Eyes are everywhere in Revelation: the four living creatures are “full of eyes” inside and out (4:6– 8); the Lamb has seven eyes which are also the seven spirits of God going out to all the world thus indicating God’s all-seeing power (5:6); and the messianic Son of Man and, later, warrior comes with flaming eyes (1:14; 2:18; 19:12). Not only are believers asked to turn their gaze away from the beast’s icon and toward God, but there is also a sense in the text that humans are being constantly watched by the divine realm.24 Additionally, sight is the dominant medium of transmission in Revelation. In contrast to John’s prophetic predecessors, what is revealed to him comes primarily through sight and visionary media, not through the spoken and heard word. This is a reversal of the typical Old Testament pattern of divine revelation. For example, Ezekiel’s prophecy begins with a dramatic vision of God’s chariot, yet his commission is to speak God’s words not to convey what he has seen. The importance of speech in Ezekiel is emphasized in several scenes, such as when the prophet eats the scroll, has his tongue cleaved then loosened, and when God promises to speak with him (Ezekiel 3). In Exodus, Moses’ attention is visually seized by a burning bush, but what he experiences is speech and an audition rather than a vision (Exodus 3).25 Daniel comes closest to Revelation with its emphasis on dreams and visions as the basis for his wisdom and success. However, for much of the book, Daniel is an interpreter of dreams rather than one who receives them. The notable exceptions are Daniel’s night vision of the four beasts and the Ancient of Days (Daniel 7), the ram and the goat (Daniel 8), and the heavenly man (Daniel 10). Yet even Daniel does not “write what he sees” but, on the contrary, keeps the matter in his mind (7:28) or is instructed “to seal up the vision” 23 QPH6* occurs 45 times in Revelation and introduces each of the major visions sometimes with several occurrences clustered at the beginning of a new visionary segment. For example: 1:12; 4:1; 5:1–2; 6:1–2; 7:9; 13:1; 14:1; 17:3–6; 18:1; 20:1–4. 24 Harry Maier, Apocalypse Recalled: The Book of Revelation After Christendom (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2002), 64–70. Maier is one of the few scholars to have written on eyes and sight in Revelation. He associates the sense of being watched within the text to patterns of theatricality in the ancient world and, drawing on later Christian apologists, the idea of being a “fair spectacle” for God through moral living or martyrdom (Felix Oct. 37; Tertullian Spec. 29). 25 Other OT call stories that are primarily auditory include Samuel (1 Sam 3:1–15) which is interestingly called a vision ($%&') at the end despite no visual elements; the call of Jeremiah in Jer 1:1–19; the communication between God and Elijah in 1 Kgs 17:16–24 and 2 Kgs 1:15.

Chapter 1: Introduction

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(8:26; 12:9). John’s emphasis on the visual is rather unusual within the biblical tradition, but that is not his only literary context. Revelation is a hybrid document and not the result of a singular tradition. The author is a diaspora, Christ-believing Jew acutely familiar with the Old Testament yet writing in Greek and immersed in the culture of the urbanized, Hellenistic cities of Asia Minor. 26 As such, the sacred texts of the Jews as well as the literary culture of Hellenism are equally relevant. We will address the Jewish textual antecedents about seeing God before turning to GrecoRoman literary traditions. II. Visuality and Sight in Jewish Literature Anxiety about the desire to see the divine and fear of the danger and death associated with looking upon God weaves its way throughout the Old Testament.27 On the one hand, looking at the divine is often correlated with fear for one’s life such as when Jacob wrestles with a mysterious human figure. When he later recognizes that he has seen God face-to-face, Jacob seems astonished that he has lived (Gen 32:31).28

26

There are several working assumptions in this sentence, although none of them are particularly controversial. Even though John most probably writes from Patmos he is clearly familiar with the cities of Asia Minor addressed in the messages of Rev 2–3. This is indicated by his ability to name people (such as Antipas, 2:13) and to insert cultural references pertinent to specific locations such as lukewarm water in Laodicea (3:16) and Satan’s throne in Pergamon (2:13). The urbanization of these cities has been well documented by studies such as Friesen, Imperial Cults and the Apocalypse of John. I call John a “Christ-believing Jew” because the term “Christian” is not attested within the text of Revelation. John depicts himself as a faithful Jew within the text, although one who clearly believes Jesus was the Messiah (1:1–2, 5). He is clearly very familiar with Old Testament texts, liturgical traditions, and temple iconography. Furthermore, he critiques those who call themselves Jews “but are not,” presumably because they hold different theological opinions to his own (2:9; 3:9). The inference is he is a true Jew. 27 For a detailed analysis of the issues of seeing God and divine visitation in the Hebrew Bible see: Simeon Chavel, “The Face of God and the Etiquette of Eye-Contact: Visitation, Pilgrimage, and the Prophetic Vision in Ancient Israelite and Early Jewish Imagination,” JSQ 19 (2012): 1–55. Chavel argues that an etiquette of eye contact, derived from the human social sphere, dictated how people related to divine appearance once God selfdisclosed God’s presence (9). 28 Esther Hamori, When Gods Were Men: The Embodied God in Biblical and Near Eastern Literature (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2008), 25–8. Jacob’s experience with a figure that initially appears to be human is unusual in the biblical text. Only this account and Genesis 18 exemplify what Hamori calls “ish theophany” – theophany where God initially appears in normal human form. God’s true nature is revealed verbally rather than visually in these accounts.

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In one version of the Sinai revelation, the people are warned twice not to approach the mountain lest they die, even though God is already shrouded by thick cloud (Exod 19:21, 24).29 This deathly fear of the divine presence extends even to angelic visitations, as attested to by Gideon’s fear that he has seen an angel face-to-face (Judg 6:11–24).30 On the other hand, the idiomatic language of seeing and being seen often functions symbolically to denote divine presence or favor. 31 The Old Testament portrays a God who desires that people seek him and uses visual signifiers, such as the Tabernacle, to function as symbols of divine presence in Israel.32 In the LXX, the symbolic presence of the Tabernacle is expressed in terms of sight – R#2.&64%' )* D4J* (“I will be seen among you,” Exod 25:8) – acknowledging that visuality and divine presence are inextricably connected. Similarly, God’s blessing and favor are often depicted as a turning of God’s countenance or face towards the people (Num 6:22–27), and conversely the lack of God’s gracious face or gaze can have dire consequences (Ps 27:9; 102:3; Deut 31:17–18; Lam 4:16). The literal and figurative are blurred but equally important when it comes to seeing. Seeing the things of God, such as the Tabernacle, is akin to standing before the divine and seeing his face. Simeon Chavel writes: Regardless of the specific manner by which temple architecture, interior design, decoration and furniture (not to mention sound, motion and smell) made Yahweh present, ideological-

29 Countering the Mt Sinai account of Exodus 19 is the one in Exod 24:1–2; 34:3. There, Moses, his fellow leaders, and the seventy elders of Israel go up the mountain where we are simply told “they saw the God of Israel” (Exod 24:7–11). The disparities within the text of Exodus have been well documented by several scholars. See Joel Baden, J, E, and the Redaction of the Pentateuch (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2009), 153–72. A further account of the Sinai/Horeb revelation is recorded in Deut 4:10–14 and 5:2–5 where the Deuteronomist expressly records the people “saw no form” (4:12). The Deuteronomist is widely recognized to have rewritten the JE traditions and moved towards an emphasis on hearing over seeing divine revelation. Marc Brettler, “‘Fire, Cloud, and Deep Darkness’ (Deut 5:22): Deuteronomy’s Recasting of Revelation,” in The Significance of Sinai: Traditions About Divine Revelation in Judaism and Christianity, ed. George J. Brooke, Hindy Najman, and Loren T. Stuckenbruck (Leiden: Brill, 2008), 15–28. It is noteworthy that in the LXX translation of this text the visual access to the divine is downplayed and instead the people only see the place where God was: "%A -PH6* 9B* 9$L%) was associated with obtaining knowledge or insight.47 Epiphanic experience was likewise evoked by a material object, such as a statue, but could also result from a dream. 48 The classic example is Ae43 Dio Or. 12.61. Philo, in comparable terms, defends the temple as a place where people may obtain their desire to acknowledge and offer sacrifices to God. See Philo Spec. 1.55. For a comparison of Dio and Philo – Lars Hartman, “The Human Desire to Converse With the Divine: Dio of Prusa and Philo of Alexandria on Images of God,” in Being Religious and Living Through the Eyes: Studies in Religious Iconography and Iconology, ed. Peter Schalk (Uppsala: Uppsala University, 1998), 163–72. 44 Ja! Elsner, Art and the Roman Viewer: The Transformation of Art From the Pagan World to Christianity (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995), 96. 45 Clifford Ando, The Matter of the Gods: Religion and the Roman Empire (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008), 21. 46 Ando, The Matter of the Gods, 21–42; Klauck, The Religious Context, 25–30; and Andrea Nightingale, Spectacles of Truth in Classical Greek Philosophy: Theoria in its Cultural Context (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), 163. 47 Andrea Nightingale, “On Wandering and Wondering: “Theoria” in Greek Philosophy and Culture,” Arion 9.2 (2001): 31. Such pilgrimages might also include consulting an oracle, offering a dedication, seeking healing, or attending a festival. See Ja! Elsner and Ian Rutherford, Pilgrimage in Graeco-Roman and Early Christian Antiquity: Seeing the Gods (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), 12–25. 48 Ja! Elsner, Roman Eyes: Visuality and Subjectivity in Art and Text (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2007), 290. Elsner cites the classic example of this as Lucius’s vision of Isis in Apuleius Metam. 11.

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lius Aristides’ “Sacred Tales” (Or. 47), which catalogues his experiences of the gods through both dreams and cultic ritual. Verity Platt concludes, on the basis of an extensive study of ancient epiphany, that divine appearance to humans was a major preoccupation within Greco-Roman culture.49 She writes that despite a lack of doctrinal clarity in Greek religion about such matters there was a “highly evolved culture of discourse about the manifestation of deities to their human worshippers, and the mediating role played by representation.”50 The plethora of primary and secondary literature on sight, visuality, and the divine in the Greco-Roman world is far too vast to be fully addressed here.51 It was indeed a “highly evolved culture of discourse about the manifestation of deities” and one in which Revelation is firmly located. It was also a competitive culture. Both poets and material artists sought to bring the gods to life, to bring them before the eyes of the viewer, and to create the space for epiphanic experience. Dio’s imagined Phidias credits Homer with being the greatest creator of images of the divine even whilst defending sculpture (Or. 12.59). Hence, the visual construction of the divine is credited to both the poets (like Homer and Hesiod) and plastic artists.52 However, who was better at creating representations of the gods – poets or artists – was a subject of much debate in the Second Sophistic movement.53 Bridging this competition space between word and image is ekphrasis. Often associated with descriptions of art, ekphrasis uses verbal representation to manifest a visual image in the mind of the hearer.54 Such a technique reverses 49

Verity Platt, Facing the Gods: Epiphany and Representation in Graeco-Roman Art, Literature and Religion (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011), 23. 50 Platt, Facing the Gods, 23. 51 Other primary sources that address issues of visuality, representation, and religion include, but are not limited to Achilles Tatius Leuc. Clit.; Aelius Aristides Sacred Tales; Apuleius Metam.; Catullus 64; Ceb. Tab.; Dio Or.; Euripides Ion; Heliodorus Aeth.; Hesiod Scut.; Homer Il., Od.; Longus Daphn.; Lucian Am., Syr. d., Imag., Heracl., Dom., Zeux.; Ovid Metam.; Petronius Sat. 82–91; Philostratus Imag.; Virgil Aen.; and the epigrams in The Greek Anthology. Secondary literature on Greco-Roman religion and visuality includes but is not limited to Elsner, Art and the Roman Viewer; Elsner, Roman Eyes; Nightingale, Spectacles of Truth; and Platt, Facing the Gods. 52 Klauck, The Religious Context, 26. 53 Dio Or. 12; Lucian Dom., Somn.; Pindar Nem. 5.1–6. 54 Several scholars use the term in a more modern sense to indicate specifically a description of art. For example, see Andrew Becker, The Shield of Achilles and the Poetics of Ekphrasis (Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 1995), 2; Elsner, Art and the Roman Viewer, 23–24. The narrowness of this definition is critiqued by Ruth Webb, Ekphrasis, Imagination and Persuasion in Ancient Rhetorical Theory and Practice (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2009), 62–84, and William T. J. Mitchell, Picture Theory: Essays on Verbal and

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the effect of some art whereby a painting may tell a story, instead using words to paint a picture that is seen in the mind. Ekphrasis seeks to do the impossible: to use what is unseen to produce something seen, thus creating a visual representation through the medium of language. 55 Within the surfeit of ancient literature addressing visual representation, ekphrasis “focused” the broad idea of poetic word paintings into a specific rhetorical form complete with conventions and expectations.56 I shall address the rhetorical form, function, and conventions of ekphrasis in chapter two before analyzing John’s ekphrases of the divine in chapters three, four, and five to demonstrate how this rhetorical form functions in Revelation. From the Jewish Pentateuch to Homer’s epics to Philostratus’ Imagines in the early third century CE, ancient writers have variously described the ways the gods are manifested in statuary, art, visions, and poetry. Throughout this book I will refer to those works that were roughly contemporary with Revelation, are recognized ekphrases, or demonstrate close literary similarities to the visions in Revelation. In doing so I do not claim literary dependence or that the author of Revelation read particular works. It is, however, a claim that there was a pervading culture in which John and his addressees participated – a culture that primarily interacted with the divine through the sense and language of sight and reflected upon those visual interactions. Despite this intense visuality it was also a culture of oratory and discourse, an issue to which we now turn.

B. Locating Revelation in its Rhetorical Context Jewish, Greek, and Roman texts are not merely “background” for the New Testament but rather texts that share a culture and context.57 The rhetorical culture of the Greco-Roman period was inherently conservative, agonistic, all pervasive, and required active participation from the hearer as well as the speaker. New Testament writers and their hearer-readers were both entrenched in this surrounding culture and simultaneously utilized its tools to

Visual Representation (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994), 159–160. I will address the subject matter of ekphrasis in chapter 2 in light of evidence from the Progymnasmata and other ancient texts. 55 Mitchell, Picture Theory, 152. 56 Margaret M. Mitchell, The Heavenly Trumpet: John Chrysostom and the Art of Pauline Interpretation (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2000), 101. 57 Averil Cameron, Christianity and the Rhetoric of Empire: The Development of Christian Discourse (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991), 38.

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attract outsiders to their message. It would make no sense for them to reject the usual and most effective means of communication – rhetoric. At its simplest, rhetoric is the art of persuasion. Malcolm Heath defines it as “a consciously skilled use of language to persuade.”58 The first use of W X896$'". dates to Plato in the late 5th century BCE, where it is used to denote public speaking (Plato Phaedr. 266b). But Socrates’ dialogue with Phaedrus suggests that some books on rhetoric already existed by this time, as did a sense of the order in which a speech should ensue, the kinds of proofs involved, and style required. 59 As far as we know, Aristotle’s Rhetoric represents one of the first attempts to describe and systematize rhetoric, famously distinguishing the three species of rhetoric (epideictic, judicial, deliberative), the three means of persuasion (ethos, pathos, logos), and giving us the standard breakdown of parts of a speech (introduction, narration, proofs, and epilogue).60 However, the systematization and theorization of the rhetorical arts, including technical vocabulary, would only develop later.61 In the Hellenistic period, education became more standardized and communal.62 For a Christ-believer in the first century, this meant living in a culture where basic education was standard for the children of freepersons. 63 Moreover, being educated meant learning rhetoric; indeed, the cultural dominance of rhetoric is reflected in ancient education.64 Rhetoric was not simply one subject amidst a broad education, “it was the subject.”65 The school system was arranged into three basic phases of learning: students began with reading and writing (and arithmetic), then moved onto grammar, and lastly rhetoric, with only a select few students going on to study philosophy.66 By

58 Malcolm Heath, Hermogenes on Issues: Strategies of Argument in Later Greek Rhetoric (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995), 1. 59 Plato Phaedr. 266b–267d. 60 Aristotle Rhet. 1.3; 1.2; and 3.13-19 respectively. 61 George Kennedy, A New History of Classical Rhetorical (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1994), 3, and Jakob Wisse, Ethos and Pathos: From Aristotle to Cicero (Amsterdam: Adolf M. Hakkert, 1989), 314. 62 Kennedy, A New History, 81-85, and Henri Marrou, A History of Education in Antiquity, trans. George Lamb (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1982), 143–44. The exception was the children of royalty who tended to be educated privately. 63 Marrou, A History of Education, 144; Kennedy, A New History, 201. 64 Heath, Hermogenes on Issues, 6. 65 Craig Gibson, “Learning Greek History in the Ancient Classroom: The Evidence of the Treatises on Progymnasmata,” CP 99.2 (2004): 126 (italics his). Gibson makes this claim as part of a discussion on the place of history in education, arguing that history was not a subject but was subordinate to a general education in rhetoric. 66 Marrou, A History of Education, 150–210. Studying philosophy meant adopting the lifestyle of a philosopher, signified by the traditional philosophers cloak. As such it had

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the imperial period, the Progymnasmata, the early exercises in composition, were codified and widely used.67 These exercises were begun in grammar school at the secondary stage of education and continued only if one went onto more advanced rhetorical training. 68 A noteworthy trait of rhetorical training in the imperial period was the general conservatism embedded in the pedagogy. Hellenistic education attempted to mimic and capture the grandeur and traditions of the classical period and thus innovation and originality were not highly valued traits.69 From the earliest phase of school, students learned by rote, memorizing parts of ‘canonical’ fables, drama, and poetry.70 Even at the advanced stage of rhetorical training theory was supplemented by classic examples to be studied and imitated. Imitation of Attic style was particularly valued. The Progymnasmata are full of citations and examples for precisely this reason and Theon urges teachers to supplement their classes with further suitable examples.71 Such constant looking back and emphasis on mimicry may provide one cultural explanation for why Revelation is full of Old Testament allusions and paraphrases, borrowing heavily from tradition even whilst constructing a new narrative. Another important characteristic of rhetorical education was the “agonistic paradigm” in which rhetoric was taught. 72 Marrou credits this agonistic outlook to Homer, whose heroes were aroused to competition through great less in common classroom-style schooling and was probably more akin to the kind of training and formation one might now receive in a monastery. 67 Kennedy, A New History, 202; Marrou, A History of Education, 173. 68 Marrou, A History of Education, 173. Marrou suggests that the first five exercises (first three of Theon) were typically covered in grammar school and the remaining left for rhetorical school. Using Theon as a guide, this means grammar students would have begun composition exercises on chreia (Y$-L%) including aphorism (I#6$'&4* "%A 6T I"676*9-( 96[( //656'L%) that sharpens the typical biblical prohibition. The conclusion will address the implications of such a reading – that the visions of the divine in Revelation suggest that John is not simply appropriating existing Jewish texts, but reinterpreting them for a new audience and time through vivid language, an emphasis on sight, and use of rhetorical forms. That is, his use of literary visions is not a simple adherence to a theophanic tradition, but part of the persuasive argument of the text making form match

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function that grants hearers a verbal icon of God that allows them to experience God epiphanically. The hearers are invited to give obeisance to a God they can see in their “mind’s eye”: a God who might otherwise appear to be absent both spatially and temporally.

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Epiphanic Encounter and the Rhetoric of !"#$%&'( First of all her hair, thick, long and lightly curled, flowed softly down, loosely spread over her divine neck and shoulders. The top of her head was encircled by an intricate crown into which were woven all kinds of flowers. At its midpoint, above her forehead, a flat round disc like a mirror – or rather a symbol of the moon – glistened with white light. To the right and left the crown was bounded by coils of rearing snakes and adorned above with outstretched ears of wheat. Her robe, woven of sheer linen, was of many colors, here shining with white brilliance, there yellow with saffron bloom, there flaming with rosy redness; and what most especially confounded my sight was a deep black cloak gleaming with dark sheen, which was wrapped around her, running under her right arm up to her left shoulder with part of its border let down in the form of a knot; it hung in complicated pleats, beautifully undulating with knotted tassels at its hem…. She carried a wide variety of emblems. In her right hand she held a bronze rattle made of a narrow strip curved like a belt, with a few rods across the middle which produced a tinkling sound as her arm moved in a triple beat. From her left hand hung a golden boatshaped vessel, and on the projecting part of its handle there rose an asp, rearing its head high and swelling its neck wide. Her ambrosial feet were shod in sandals woven from leaves of victory-palm. Such was her imposing appearance as, exhaling the fertile fragrances of Arabia, she favored me with her divine voice. (Apuleius Metam. 11.3–4)1

In the penultimate scene of his tale of transformation from man to ass and back again, Apuleius offers the reader front row seats to his dramatic encounter with the goddess Isis. Having purified himself by bathing seven times in the ocean and prayed to the “queen of heaven” for salvation from his state as embodied ass, Lucius is granted a vision of her while he sleeps (cited above). The experience is so overwhelming that Lucius frankly asserts he will merely “attempt” to describe her “marvelous appearance” whilst simultaneously noting the limitations of human speech to do so adequately. In fact, the goddess is credited with supplying the requisite rhetorical skill. Lucius states, “the deity herself serves me with rich abundance of rhetorical eloquence (elocutilis facundiae).”2

1 Apuleius, Les Métamorphoses, ou, L’âne D’or, ed. D. S. Robertson (Paris: Belles Lettres, 2007). Translation from Apuleius: Metamorphoses: Books 7–11, vol. II, trans. J. Arthur Hanson, LCL 453 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1989), with some modifications of my own. 2 Apuleius Metam. 11.3.

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I begin this chapter with the vision of Isis because it is an excellent nonbiblical example of an ekphrasis of divine epiphany. All the hallmarks of ekphrasis, discussed below, are present. The scene is introduced with visual language and even Lucius’ plea to the goddess is framed in terms of sight, that she “restore me to the sight of my people” (redde me conspectui meorum, Metam. 11.2). In response to this plea, Isis is described as “appearing” and providing a “radiant vision” (Metam. 11.3). Lucius’ redemptive viewing of the goddess will set in motion a transformation that will allow others to view his true form, turning Lucius himself into an icon whom others view: an icon dedicated to the proclivity of the gods to visibly manifest their presence before humanity and the power of the goddess to transform lives (Metam. 11.16).3 In addition to visual language, the author utilizes one of the hallmarks of an ekphrasis in using richly descriptive terms that make the scene more vivid. In this vision the snakes are described as “rearing snakes,” the color red is “flaming,” her cloak “gleaming,” and the stars “glittering.” Such description makes the inanimate decorations of her dress seem alive. She is a moving, glittering, fragrant, auditory, multi-colored spectacle. Yet, in many ways, she is not a new spectacle. She is profoundly recognizable, her description heavily dependent on traditional depictions of Isis both in statuary and literature.4 This text, like Revelation, raises important questions about the interaction between human beings and the divine, and more particularly, human representations of the sacred and epiphanic encounter. Within Apuleius’ story, Lucius seeks the goddess’ presence and performs ritual actions in the hope of communicating with the divine. But it is the author’s skill (or is it indeed a gift of the goddess?) that brings her to life through his word-craft and makes her manifest to both Lucius and the reader. We, the readers, are likewise invited to gaze upon her dazzling form and we too are liable to be astonished. Are we astonished by an epiphanic encounter or amazed by the author's poetic skillfulness? Perhaps both. Ekphrasis, particularly ekphrastic description of a deity, bridges the gap between word and image to create a means of access to the divine. Such access calls into question the nature of mediation: can images be epiphanic even 3

Ja! Elsner, Roman Eyes: Visuality & Subjectivity in Art & Text (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2007), 297. 4 Ibid., 290, calls this a “classic example” of a vision where the deity takes the appearance of his or her statue. Recognizable imagery for each of the gods was typical throughout the classical and Hellenistic periods and utilized across art forms such as theatre, plastic arts, architecture, and literature. See Froma Zeitlin, “The Artful Eye: Vision, Ekphrasis, and Spectacle in Euripidean Theatre,” in Art and Text in Ancient Greek Culture, ed. Simon Goldhill and Robin Osborne (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994), 148–50.

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if mediated through words rather than experienced visually? Hellenistic texts such as Apuleius’ Metamorphoses, Philostratus’ Imagines, and Aristides’ Sacred Tales suggest they can. In this chapter I will describe the main literary characteristics of ekphrasis, based on extant examples, as well as the rhetorical functions of ekphrasis. I argue that, according to the Progymnasmata, there are three distinguishing features of an ekphrasis – )*+$,-'% (vividness), &%#.*-'% (clarity), and appropriate style for the subject matter (/01'(). To these three, I add two further elements that mark an ekphrasis – verisimilitude and language that emphasizes the visual sense. These five traits are usually combined with a narrative framework. The discussion of form will be demonstrated by reference to examples, particularly that of Isis (above) and other descriptions of deities. I will then locate the popular phenomenon of ekphrasis within a wider discussion of concepts of visuality and representation in the Greco-Roman world to demonstrate that although concepts of representation were diverse, ekphrasis was one way by which a hearer was granted visual access to the subject being described. Lastly, I will outline the implications of these concepts for the Book of Revelation.

A. The Progymnasmata We begin our discussion of @"#$%&'( with the Progymnasmata, the Greek textbooks outlining basic exercises for prose composition and rhetoric. 5 The existence of such textbooks indicates that rhetoric was an essential part of the education of young boys in preparing them for public life. Indeed this “technologizing of rhetorical education … was in fact virtually the only form of education available.”6 As stated in chapter one, these “preliminary exercises” in composition were mostly likely introduced to boys after they had learnt to read and write but before they went on to advanced training.7 As such, they provide us with insight into some of the underlying conceptions and assumptions of ancient rhetorical culture.8 Textbooks are problematic, however, and we will proceed with caution. They tend to present agreed upon facts, non-controversial opinions, and pro5

George A. Kennedy, Progymnasmata: Greek Textbooks of Prose Composition and Rhetoric (Leiden: Brill, 2003). 6 Averil Cameron, Christianity and the Rhetoric of Empire: The Development of Christian Discourse (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991), 86. 7 Kennedy, Progymnasmata, x. 8 Ruth Webb, Ekphrasis, Imagination and Persuasion in Ancient Rhetorical Theory and Practice (Burlington, Vt.: Ashgate, 2009), 4.

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vide for a beginner’s perspective rather than offer the full range of possibilities and intricacies of a technique. Furthermore, whilst examples drawn from the classical canon are given in the Progymnasmata they are by no means exhaustive.9 Thus we begin with the Progymnasmata but will also examine other treaties on rhetoric by orators such as Aristotle, Cicero, and Quintilian to gain a more complete picture of the rhetorical milieu of the first century CE. Examples from Classical and Hellenistic literature will likewise be referred to in order to demonstrate how ekphrasis functions in both rhetorical and less obviously rhetorical writings such as the novels of Heliodorus and Achilles Tatius, Apuleius’ Metamorphoses, Philostratus’ Imagines, and Aristides’ Sacred Tales. The Progymnasmata, dating from the first century CE through to approximately the fifth century, show enormous consistency in their approach and definitions of the main topics. It appears the authors essentially copied and commented upon each another with relatively minor changes. The author of the earliest extant Progymnasmata, identified by Byzantine scholars as Aelius Theon of Alexandria, most likely wrote some time in the first century CE.10 His work is addressed to teachers and he is self-conscious about the preliminary nature of the exercises, writing: But since we have become accustomed often to present the writing of encomia even to the young, therefore I have placed it among the progymnasmata, and at the same time have deferred an accurate systematic treatment of it to some suitable place, but here I made my teaching a very simple account. (Theon Prog. 61.24–29) 11

9

Simon Goldhill, “What is Ekphrasis for?” CP 102 (2007): 7. Goldhill considers the Progymnasmata to be part of a conflict over rhetoric and thus books that seek to persuade of a certain point of view. Yet he also acknowledges that paideia was a homogenizing force in the Hellenistic world (14). I think the similarity in both wording and content throughout the Progymnasmata indicate a high degree of agreement that suggests less conflict and point towards the homogenization he recognizes. 10 Kennedy, Progymnasmata, 1. The precise dating of Theon’s life and details are difficult. The text refers to Dionysius of Halicarnassis by name, setting the terminus post quem in the late first century BCE. Quintilian cites two people by the name of Theon (Inst. 3.6.48 and 9.3.76). If either author is this Aelius Theon then the terminus ante quem would be 95 CE. Therefore Kennedy, agreeing with the majority of scholars, places the Theon’s Progymnasmata to some period during the first century CE. For an opposing view see a recent article by Malcolm Heath that calls the early date into question. Heath argues for a fifth century date mostly based upon internal comparison with the other Progymnasmata’s wording and arrangement as a result of a lack of external evidence for either case apart from the tenth century Suda. See Malcolm Heath, “Theon and the History of the Progymnasmata,” GRBS 43 (2002): 129–60. 11 Aelius Theon, Progymnasmata, ed. Michel Patillon (Paris: Belles Lettres, 1997). Translation my own.

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Theon additionally includes instructions that the teacher must “first collect good examples of each exercise from ancient writings” to aid the learning of the youth, indicating that his work is a teaching aid rather than a comprehensive treatment of the subject matter.12 Ekphrasis is the subject of the twelfth of fourteen exercises outlined in Theon’s treatise, all of which are techniques for presenting a good rhetorical argument. I use the term “technique” deliberately, as ekphrasis is not a genre but rather a skill or tool that may be employed within a wide variety of genres. 13 Theon defines ekphrasis as “descriptive language, leading what is revealed vividly before the eyes” (@"#$%&'( )&9A /). 23

Hollander famously called ekphrasis of an object that does not actually exist (physically) a “notional” ekphrasis as a way of distinguishing it from descriptions of extant art. Descriptions of divinities would fall into this category for him. See John Hollander, “Word on Pictures: Ecphrasis,” Art and Antiques (1984). 24 Demosthenes Fals. Leg. 19.65. Cited as an ekphrasis in Nicolaus’s Progymnasmata and Webb, Ekphrasis, Imagination and Persuasion, 152. 25 Hans-Josef Klauck and Balbina Bäbler, Dion von Prusa: Olympische Rede (Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 2000), 163. 26 Dio Or. 12.2–4.

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In contrast, a third group of examples demonstrate the use of ekphrasis in purely literary settings. Shadi Bartsch’s groundbreaking work on the Greek novels identified their so-called “purple passages” as ekphrases. 27 The novels Leucippe and Clitophon and Heliodorus include ekphrases of dreams, a painting, cities, a garden, people, a statue of Isis, and the exotic camel-leopard among the subject matter, although this is by no means an exhaustive list. What these examples suggest is that alongside the development of an ekphrastic genre describing art epitomized by literature such as Philostratus’ Imagines or Cebetis Tabula, ekphrasis continued to be used as a rhetorical form and applied to an extensive assortment of topics within a wide variety of genres. Moreover, these topics included ekphrases of deities, either describing the plastic images of the gods or an individual’s epiphanic experience of the divine.

C. Ekphrastic Traits I. Vividness ()*+$,-'%) Having addressed the breadth of possible subjects for ekphrasis, we turn now to its virtues or defining qualities. The first and foremost virtue of a good ekphrasis, according to the Progymnasmata, is )*+$,-'%, usually translated “vividness.”28 Each of the extant Progymnasmata include vividness in their definition, using either )*+$,-'% or the adverb )*%$,C(, characterized throughout as a way of making the reader able to “all but see” what is described.29 Hermogenes writes that ekphrasis is )*%$,^( "%A D5’ EF'* G,>* 9B H8/674-*6* (“vivid and leading what is being revealed before the eyes”).30 Such definition embraces the association that already existed between sight and vividness.31 That is, vividness does not remain in the domain 27 Shadi Bartsch, Decoding the Ancient Novel: The Reader and the Role of Description in Heliodorus and Achilles Tatius (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1989), 5. “Purple passages” was a phrase coined by Reardon for the highly descriptive passages that many scholars considered digressions. Bartsch refutes the idea that ekphrases in these novels are rhetorical showpieces or mere digressions, demonstrating how they foreshadow events and set up readers’ expectations in important ways (pp. 6, 36, 55). 28 Vasiliki Kostopoulou, “Philostratus’ Imagines 2.18: Words and Images,” GRBS 49 (2009): 81; Webb, Ekphrasis, 5. LSJ also lists “clearness” or “distinctness”, “clear and distinct perception” and “vivid description” under possible meanings for the term. 29 Theon Prog. 118.7; Hermogenes Prog. 22-3; Aphthonius Prog. 36; Nicolaus Prog. 68. 30 Hermogenes Prog. 22. 31 See Plato Stat. 277c; Epicurus (Phil.) Epist. ad Her. 71.4; and Polybius Hist. 3.54.2.

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of literature as descriptive prose or sublime poetry, but is an active force upon the listener that evokes the sense of sight. Enargeia ()*+$,-'%) generates an image that is both vivid and palpably present: a visual presence through word. In many antique texts, enargeia is used alongside visual language. In the Odyssey, for example, the adjectival form )*%$,.( might best be translated “manifest” to denote the real presence of a god or the veracity of a dream or vision. When Athena appears to Odysseus in human form Homer adds the remark that Telemachus could not see her “for the gods do not appear in visible form/manifestly to everyone” (6_ ,`$ 5> 5+*9-&&' 2-6A #%L*6*9%' )*%$,-J().32 The quality of presence indicated by )*+$,-'% in this formulation suggests that this kind of manifestation of the gods was such a profound epiphanic experience that it could overwhelm the viewer and is therefore not suitable for everyone. Similarly, the Iliad juxtaposes the sound of the gods with their visual presence, the latter being much harder for a human to bear (Y%/-56A Ha 2-6A #%L*-&2%' )*%$,-J().33 Ancient accounts of enargeia assume “an extraordinary degree of correspondence” between images and words, acknowledging that words rouse images that in turn evoke a sense of divine presence and an emotional response in hearers.34 Emotional appeal is the desired rhetorical outcome of an ekphrasis. According to Quintilian, enargeia is “a quality which makes us seem not so much to be talking about something as exhibiting it. Emotions will ensue just as if we were present at the event itself.” 35 Quintilian’s claim is, of course, rather hyperbolic and represents rhetorical amplification (%b18&'(). Yet it also points towards the theoretical possibilities and ideal effects of a skilled ekphrasis in its ability to provoke emotion. In describing how best to conduct a judiciary speech, Quintilian further advises that a speech fails in its purpose if it stops at the ears and a judge has to deliberate on the issues “without their being brought out and displayed in the mind’s eye” (Inst. 6.3.62). Quintilian adds a new element in his emphasis on sight and enargeia in describing a scene. The outcome of visualizing an event is to provoke an emotional reaction, to penetrate the heart, not simply to convey information. 36 Longinus

32

Homer Od. 16.161. Homer Il. 20.131. 34 Ann Vasaly, Representations: Images of the World in Ciceronian Oratory (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993), 98. 35 Quintilian, Institutio 6.2.32, trans. D. A. Russell, LCL 126 (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2002). 36 Quintilian Inst. 8.3.67–8. I will address the emotional effect of ekphrasis more fully below. 33

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likewise acknowledges that for both orators and poets, enargeia stirs the emotions through vivid description.37 The vividness of a text remains a frustratingly subjective category. How vivid is vivid? How do we as modern readers look back at ancient texts and determine whether a description is vivid enough to have been considered an ekphrasis or, moreover, a successful one? Whilst acknowledging that the desire to categorize can be a modern concern, although one arguably shared by the authors of the Progymnasmata, this chapter attempts to identify the range of literary characteristics that usually accompany Classical or Hellenistic ekphrasis. Only then may we seek to identify and analyze these same characteristics in the New Testament and ask how successful they may have been as rhetorical tools. A large part of the problem of subjectivity in determining a good ekphrasis is that ekphrasis is defined by its effect on the listener, an effect we cannot access in ancient texts.38 As Ruth Webb has argued in her book Ekphrasis, Imagination, and Persuasion in Ancient Rhetorical Theory and Practice, part of the disagreement about subject matter in contemporary scholarship is a confusion of subject and effect.39 She writes, “[f]or the modern definition the visual quality is the referent, which in some definitions is already a representation of reality. For the ancient rhetoricians the impact of Ekphrasis is visual; it is a translation of the perceptible which mimics the effect of perception, making the listener seem to see.” 40 Ekphrasis mimics visual art by allowing the hearer to see in the mind’s eye what is heard. As stated above in reference to the range of subject matter, visuality is not necessarily inherent to the subject of ekphrasis but rather intrinsic to the effect of ekphrasis through the quality of vividness or enargeia. Ekphrasis may be of varying lengths, verse or prose, and about any subject, as long as it vividly brings that subject “before the eyes.”41 The fifth century rhetorician Nicolaus offers further insight into the function of enargeia stating: 37

Longinus Subl. 15.2. Webb, Ekphrasis, 7. 39 Much of the secondary literature on ekphrasis is written by art historians about texts that describe ancient art, such as Philostratus’ Imagines. Whilst the literature is fascinating, as is the discussion on ancient conceptions of sight, gaze, and visuality, a lacuna has been left. Perhaps because so much of the subject matter is visual art, scholars use the term ekphrasis in varied, loose, and ill-defined ways. It seems sufficient to say a text that describes art is ekphrastic or an ekphrasis. Classicists like Ruth Webb, Ekphrasis, are more inclined to addressing this deficit, particularly in highlighting the breadth of subject matter of ancient ekphrasis, as well as re-claiming the rhetorical nature of its usage. 40 Webb, Ekphrasis, 38. 41 Ibid., 8. 38

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‘Vividly’ ()*%$,C() is attached [to the definition] because in this way it most differs from narration (H'8,.&->(); the latter plainly sets forth actions, the former attempts to make hearers into spectators.42

Despite Nicolaus’ neat separation of ekphrasis and narration (H'.,8%) on the grounds of their corresponding levels of vividness, the distinction between the two is not always clear. It is not easy to determine when a lively narration becomes ekphrastic or a poorly crafted ekphrasis is heard as narration. One determinate is in the intention behind narration or ekphrasis. Ekphrasis seeks or “attempts” to turn hearers into spectators and thus endeavors to provide a vicarious visual experience for the hearer/reader. If we return for a moment to the ancient examples, we can compare texts allowing us to see the difference between the kind of vivid description that makes something ekphrastic and a description that offers a simple narration of a subject or event. In the fourth century BCE, the sculptor Praxiteles created a controversial, monumental, nude statue of Aphrodite. This Knidian Aphrodite was so well known as to make its way into several texts, thus allowing us to compare descriptions. Pliny refers to this Aphrodite in his Natural History where he gives a matter-of-fact account of the statue. He presents the reader with some facts about the Aphrodite, such as the reasons for her fame and how the statue came to be in Knidos, but he does not describe the statue itself in any way that could be imagined, except to note she is unclothed. Superior to any other statue, not only to others made by Praxiteles himself, but throughout the world, is the Venus, which many people have sailed to Cnidus to see. He had made two statues and was offering them for sale at the same time. One was clothed, and for this reason was preferred by the people of Cos who had an option to buy, although Praxiteles offered it at the same price as the other—this way he thought the only decent and proper response. So the people of Cnidus bought the Venus when the Coans refused, and its reputation became greatly enhanced. (Pliny Nat. 36.4.20)43

In sharp contrast to Pliny’s account, Lucian offers a different description of the Knidian Aphrodite. Lucian introduces his sketch of Aphrodite with an elaborate ekphrasis of the garden surrounding her temple, dripping with erotically-charged, evocative language. 44 He further notes such details as her hand placement, the way her gaze follows the viewer, her beauty, her smile, and the difference in perspectives when viewing from difference angles. 42

Nicolaus Prog. 68. Kennedy, Progymnasmata, 166, translates the adverb )*%$,C( as “clearly.” I have chosen “vividly” to denote that it belongs to the group of terms typically translated in these texts as “vivid” ()*+$,-'%, )*%$,.(). 43 The Elder Pliny’s Chapters on the History of Art, trans. K. Jex-Blake (New York: Macmillan, 1896). 44 Lucian Am. 13–4. Lucian also describes this Aphrodite’s head as an example of female beauty in Imag. 6.

Chapter 2: Epiphanic Encounter

49

In the midst [of the temple] the goddess is placed – a most beautiful work of art of Parian marble – arrogantly, with a grin, she smiles a little. All her beauty is revealed and exposed, covered by no garment except in as much as she uses one hand to imperceptibly conceal her shame. So great was the power of the craftsman’s art that the strong resistant marble gave way to each limb. Then Charicles, raving and frantic shouted out and said, “Most blessed indeed of the gods was Ares who suffered chains because of her!” And, at the same time, he ran up and, stretching out his neck as far as he could, started to kiss the goddess with importunate lips. Callicratidas stood by in silence with amazement (2%:4+c>) in his mind. (Lucian Am. 13)

Obviously, the rhetorical and literary purposes of Lucian and Pliny differ. Pliny includes mention of Aphrodite of Knidos in a section giving the history of sculptors who excelled in the use of marble. Lucian, whose Amores debates the virtue of love for females or love for youths, offers readers a “viewing” of Aphrodite that serves the wider purposes of his argument and plot. In Amores the character Charicles, who argues in favor of female love, rushes to kiss Aphrodite when he views her from the front because she epitomizes female beauty (cited above). She is praised even more effusively when viewed from the rear by his opponent Callicratidas, who is in favor of love of youths, because her rear view encapsulates all that is attractive about a young male. His ardent speech does the descriptive work of reciting each of her features from her flanks to her shins. The passionate responses of the two views – marked by tears, wonder (2%34%), and amazement (2%4?$L% or “visual spectacle,” a topic to which we now turn. A wonderful example of the power intrinsic to leading a subject before the eyes of the listener is found in the third chapter of Heliodorus’ Aethiopica, a novel that is arguably a commentary on both spectacle and knowledge. 68 The scene opens as Calasiris attempts to end his long narration of the festival at Delphi as he feels the pertinent points have been communicated. Cnemon, who has been listening to the account, protests that the narration cannot stop for the story has “not yet made me one who views (2-%9.()” and he desires “to be a spectator (2->$$L% when he evokes processional, visual, and theatrical language. g->$L%, meaning to watch or witness a spectacle, applied to a wide array of visually-oriented activities in the ancient world ranging from theatre to athletic contests to political-religious activities such as visiting sacred sites or consulting an oracle. In the Greco-Roman pilgrimage tradition, which predates Christian pilgrimage, official delegates (2->$6L) were sent to a wide variety of places in order to consult oracles, witness festivals, offer sacrifices, view religious sites, or act as political ambassadors from which they would be required to report back.70 The combination of religion and politics imbued such envoys 68

Heliodorus defines spectacle as either something that gathers a crowd, such as a procession or festival, or something unexpected and outside the realm of normal human experience. He further makes abundant use of theatrical language often describing his characters as if actors in a drama or tragedy. See Bartsch, Decoding, 110, 129. 69 Heliodorus Aeth. 3.1. Numbering in accordance with Les Belles Lettres edition: Les Éthiopiques (Théagène et Chariclée), 3rd ed., ed. R. M. Rattenbury and T. W. Lumb (Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 2003). Cnemon says – )4a ,63* E:5> 2-%9^* = &B( )50&98&- /