In this article, I take a new look at the problem of Calasiris’ ‘duplicity’ as depicted in the long autobiographical narrative he delivers to Cnemon in Books 2-5 of Heliodorus’ Aethiopica. A close parallel for Calasiris’ self-presentation can be found in an unlikely source: the medical case histories of the doctor Galen. Through a comparison of Calasiris’ narrative with those of Galen, I demonstrate that both narrators employ similar ‘deceptive’ strategies to showcase their observational and deductive skills to their audience. Calasiris’ foregrounding of such ‘rational’ methods and his downplaying of the prophetic power that others attribute to him suggest that, despite the Aethiopica’s religious trappings, its ideal reader is a secular one.
Article
The Trouble With Calasiris: Duplicity and Autobiographical Narrative in Heliodorus and Galen
Mnemosyne
Document Type
Post-Print
Publication Date
1-1-2017
Disciplines
Abstract
DOI
10.1163/1568525X-12342501
Publisher
Koninklijke Brill NV
Citation Information
Kim, L. (2017). The trouble with Calasiris: Duplicity and autobiographical narrative in Heliodorus and Galen. Mnemosyne, 72(2), 229-249. https://doi.org/10.1163/1568525X-12342501