Back to the Future

Abstract

AbstractChapter 2 explores the responses of Greeks in the Roman empire to the problem of being postclassical. More precisely, it teases out the implications of creating new cultural expression within the context of a long and rich literary tradition. It argues that imperial Greek authors use the past to negotiate their own potential canonicity in a hypothetical future. The chapter begins by outlining ideas of what constitutes ‘classic’ and ‘canonical’ literature, and how one might go about rivalling it. Ancient and modern literary criticism are drawn on to do so, with On the Sublime and Dio Chrysostom’s Oration 21 the focus of discussion in relation to imperial Greek oratory. Having established two common strategies employed by imperial Greek authors—competitive imitation and the use of novelty or originality—the chapter moves on to examine how these strategies are used by Arrian, Lucian, Aelius Aristeides, and Philostratos to promote their own cultural production as worthy of canonicity. Themes that are particularly important for this chapter are the relationship between the orator/author and his audience, the performative and agonistic context that underlies much Greek literature of the Roman empire, and the tension between text and speech.