Wonder, Space, and Place in Pausanias' Periegesis
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Axion Theas: Wonder, Space, and Place in Pausanias’ Periegesis Hellados by Jody Ellyn Cundy A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Classics University of Toronto © Copyright by Jody Ellyn Cundy 2016 Axion Theas: Wonder, Space, and Place in Pausanias’ Periegesis Hellados Jody Ellyn Cundy Doctor of Philosophy Department of Classics University of Toronto 2016 Abstract The Periegesis Hellados presents a description of the sites and sights of Roman Greece in ten carefully constructed books. These books present the fruits of author’s extensive travels and careful textual research over the course of several decades (between the 130’s and ca. AD 175-80) and compiled into a unified composite itinerary. There is no doubt that Pausanias travels through an “already written landscape,” and his travel experience is necessarily informed by and sometimes clearly motivated by his literary encounters. This project investigates Pausanias’ engagement with literary antecedents, with a particular focus on the antiquarian impulse to excerpt and compile anecdotes in thematic catalogues, which broadly resemble wonder-texts (paradoxographies). The organizing principle of these thematic catalogues contrasts with the topographical (spatial) structure of the frame narrative of the Periegesis. In part, this study aims to resolve the perceived tension between the travel account and the antiquarian mode in Pausanias’ project in order to show that they serve complementary rather than competing ends. Resolution of these competing paradigms allows in turn for a more coherent understanding of the Periegesis as unified subject. This study argues that wonder (thauma) is a unifying theme ii of Periegesis Hellados. Through epiphanies and descriptions of marvels, whether in catalogues or tied to particular features on his route, Pausanias negotiates the unbridgeable ontological distance between human and divine agents through a discourse of the marvelous that is firmly rooted geographic specificity. This study suggests the Periegesis Hellados can be broadly understood as an attempted re-enchantment of Hellas in the imperial age. iii Acknowledgments These acknowledgments are righfully printed at the opening of the thesis, but they are also the last bit I write. It is fitting to both begin and end with thanks. First and foremost, I would like to express my infinite gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Jonathan Burgess, who has been the advisor I did not know I needed and has generously guided me through the writing process. He has been patient when needed, firm when boundaries were called for, and consistently helped me refine my project. I would also like to thank the members of my supervisory committee, Dr. Suzanne Akbari and Dr. Dimitri Nakassis, who have offered insightful feedback and commentary through multiple drafts, and improved this thesis immeasurably. Not only has Dr. William Hutton set a shining example to emulate in his own scholarship on the Periegesis, he has been kind enough to act as External Examiner for this thesis, and lent his expert eye to my arguments. I am eternally grateful for his comments and support. The seeds of this project were sown in my year as a Regular Member at the American School of Classical in Athens, when I first travelled in Pausanias’ footsteps. I could not have spent that magical year in Greece without the support of the ASCSA as the Lucy Shoe Merritt Fellow. I am indebted to Dr. Eric Csapo for letting me write the entrance exams in his attic many years ago. In Greece, Dr. Guy Sanders and Dr. John Camp ignited my love of traipsing, topography and material culture on school trips in the Peloponnese and Ionia, and further fanned the flames by giving me the chance to excavate in both Corinth and the Athenian Agora. I have no doubt that their unflagging support won me a second year at the ASCSA to begin writing my dissertation as the Doreen Canaday Spitzer Fellow. I have received further support from the Vorres Foundation for my studies in Greece. The bulk of my doctoral research was enabled by the generous support of the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada through the Canada Graduate Scholar award. My thanks go to Dr. Margie Miles, Dr. Jeremy McInerney and Dr. Richard Janko, who allowed me to present parts of my disseration research at the ASCSA, and to collect iv valuable feedback from the members of the school. Thanks also go to the organizers of the NYU conference on ancient wonders (Mirabile Dictu) for the opportunity to present my work and meet peers with kindred interests. Further thanks go to the Classics Department at the University of Toronto for the invitation to present my work in the Literary and Philological Seminar series, and particularly to Dr. Erik Gunderson for his insightful response to the paper, “So basically you are talking about the re-enchantment of Greece.” I am forever grateful to Dr. Brad Inwood, who first taught me Greek, and has been encouraging my curiosity and idiosyncrasies ever since. I would also like to acknowledge the quiet and wry support of Dr. Malcolm Wallace, who hosted a small weekly reading group in his office and volunteered to lead me through Demosthenes as an independent study. His door was always open and his generosity towards students was boundless. Without Mac’s support, I would never have gone to Greece in the first place. Last but not least, I would like to thank my family for their constant encouragement, especially my husband, Thanos Webb, who thinks I can do anything, and my twins Aspasia and Huxley, who have taught me perspective, persistence, and (miraculously) time management. v Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................................... IV INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................................... 1 ALTERITY .................................................................................................................................................................... 3 A NOTE ON AUTHORIAL INTENT ............................................................................................................................. 6 ANTIQUARIAN COMPILATION(S) ............................................................................................................................ 6 TRAVEL NARRATIVE AS PARADIGM .................................................................................................................... 20 OUTLINE OF THE WORK ........................................................................................................................................ 23 CHAPTER 1: DEFINING WONDER .................................................................................................... 26 A NOTE ON USAGE .................................................................................................................................................. 27 “WHAT WE NOW CALL MARVELS” .................................................................................................................... 27 SUMMARY OF TREATMENTS OF WONDER IN ANCIENT AUTHORS ................................................................ 29 THAUMA: FEAR AND DELIGHT AND THE ‘VIEWING’ SUBJECT ........................................................................ 33 UNDERMINING THE VISUALITY OF WONDER .................................................................................................... 40 WONDERS AND MIRACLES .................................................................................................................................... 43 WONDER AND SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE ........................................................................................................... 48 GEOGRAPHY AND THE DISCOURSE OF WONDER .............................................................................................. 55 APPROACHING THAUMATA IN THE PERIEGESIS HELLADOS ............................................................................. 57 CHAPTER 2: WONDER-BOOKS AS PARADOXOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL LITERATURE ..... 65 GELLIUS’ LIBRI GRAECI MIRACULORUM FABULARUMQUE PLENI ...................................................................... 66 DEFINING PARADOXOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................................. 70 TRAVEL WRITING AND THE DISCOURSE OF WONDER .................................................................................... 81 AUTOPSY AND COMPILATION: RE-EXAMINING PARADOXOGRAPHY ............................................................ 92 CHAPTER 3: PARADOXOGRAPHY AND PERIEGESIS ................................................................. 95 “LEADING AROUND”: PULLING THE TOPOGRAPHICAL THREAD ................................................................... 96 UNDERMINING THE AUTOPSY/COMPILATION BINARY ................................................................................. 103 A NOTE ON THE READER, RESEARCHER, AND WRITER PERSONAE ........................................................... 105 CATALOGUING WONDERS IN THE PERIEGESIS HELLADOS ............................................................................ 106 Investigating Marvels ................................................................................................................................... 107 The Limits oF Ekphrasis