Motywy nowelistyczne w Żywotach Sofistów Filostratosa

In his Vitae Sophistarum (Lives of the Sophists) Philostratus the Elder many times draws on the “novelistic motifs,” embroiling his heroes in them. For instance, we find several of them in the biography of Herodes Atticus (II, 1). This is a story about a wise muscleman Agathion, a story about the sources of Herodes’ legendary wealth, or a story about the misfortunes of his family. The story about the death of Polemon of Laodicea (I, 15) is similar to the story of Labienus in Seneca the Rhetor (Contr. X, praef. 7). Scopelianus’ adventures (I, 21) remind us the scenes from the New Comedy. Philostratus appears in the Lives of the Sophists as a master of words, who seems to be more interested in art than historical truth. Therefore one should be very careful when dealing with his text.