
Facing the Gods
Epiphany and Representation in Graeco-Roman Art, Literature and Religion
Verity Platt(Author)
Cambridge University Press
Published on 4. August 2016
Book
Paperback/Softback
502 pages
978-1-316-61919-3 (ISBN)
Description
This is the first history of epiphany as both a phenomenon and a cultural discourse within the Graeco-Roman world. It explores divine manifestations and their representations both in art and in literary, historical and epigraphic accounts. The cultural analysis of epiphany is set within a historical framework that examines its development from the archaic period to the Roman Empire. In particular, a surprisingly large number of the images that have survived from antiquity are not only religious but epiphanically charged. Verity Platt argues that the enduring potential for divine incursions into mortal experience provides a reliable cognitive structure that supports both ancient religion and mythology. At the same time, Graeco-Roman culture exhibits a sophisticated awareness of the difficulties in apprehending deity and representing divine presence, and of the potential for the manmade sign to lead the worshipper back to an unmediated epiphanic encounter.
Reviews / Votes
'Original and important.' The Times Literary Supplement '... a stimulating, wide-ranging work that should be of interest to all those studying the classical world; it will certainly become standard reading for anyone with an interest in Greek religion, Greek and Roman iconography, or the literary and philosophical discourses of the Second Sophistic. Elegantly written and argued.' Jenny Wallensten, Time and MindMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
52 Halftones, black and white; 1 Line drawings, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 244 mm
Width: 170 mm
Thickness: 27 mm
Weight
858 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-316-61919-3 (9781316619193)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Verity Platt
Facing the Gods
Epiphany and Representation in Graeco-Roman Art, Literature and Religion
Book
07/2011
Cambridge University Press
€181.00
Shipment within 15-20 days
Person
Verity Platt is Associate Professor in the Departments of Classics and Art History at Cornell University, New York, having previously taught at the University of Exeter and the University of Chicago. Her research interests include attitudes to the sacred image in antiquity, ancient theories of representation, the relationship between image and text, and Roman wall-painting and funerary art. This is her first book.
Content
Introduction; Part I: 1. Framing epiphany in art and text; 2. Material epiphany: encountering the divine in cult images; 3. Epiphany and authority in Hellenistic Greece; 4. The poetics of epiphany in Hellenistic epigram; Part II: 5. Virtual visions: piety and paideia in Second Sophistic literature; 6. Dream visions and cult images in Second Sophistic literature; 7. The apologetics of representation in Philostratus' Life of Apollonius of Tyana; Part III: 8. Dying to see: epiphanic sarcophagi from Imperial Rome.