A szofista Kallistratos képei az Athamas-leírásban (Callistr. Stat. 14)

Abstract

In his last ekphrasis, the sophist Callistratus gives a vivid depiction of Athamas driven by madness, when committing infanticide. He has already killed one of his sons, Learchus, and now the victim is the other one, Melicertes .To protect the child from her husband’s fury, Ino decides to commit suicide and throws herself into the sea together with Melicertes, where Amphitrite, the savage and terrifying creature awaits them with the Nereids dancing on the waves.The author refers to this work of art as a painting (eikón) that is presented somewhere far away on the coast of Scythia, and intends to demonstrate the beauties of the painting. At first, I present my Hungarian translation of the ekphrasis of Athamas, then I focus on the question of why Callistratus would conclude this imaginary tour with a description of a painting whereas he prefers verbalizing plastic art. Finally, I attempt to explore Greco-Roman visual culture elements that may have influenced this description.