Philo of Alexandria - Books and Journals

critical studies 2002 201
are drawn from Plato’s Timaeus and Republic as well as Middle Platonist developments.
Reference is also made to Aristotle’s Physics, De generatione animalium
and De partibus, not to speak of numerous allusions to Stoicism. Such references,
however, are used for the purpose of interpreting the biblical text, e.g. the clarification
of difficulties inherent in the double account of creation, the explanation
of creation as act of divine will, the providential role of God etc. In addition the
doctrine of the Powers must be seen in the context of the Jewish prohibition
of pronouncing the divine Name and the double appellation of God and Lord
in the Bible. The article focuses in particular on the passages in Opif. dealing
with the simultaneous creation of the cosmos, the divine Model of which the
empirical world is a copy, the role of the Architect of the cosmos, as well as the
representation of the Divine powers in Cher., Abr.andDeo. (RR)
20217. F. Calabi, ‘Il governante sulla scena. Politica e rappresentazione
nell’In Flaccum di Filone Alessandrino,’ in eadem (ed.), Immagini
e rappresentazione. Contributi su Filone di Alessandria, Studies in Philo of
Alexandria and Mediterranean Antiquity (Binghamton N.Y. 2002) 45–
57.
The article studies the theatrical metaphors present in Flacc., the numerous
references to mimics and actors, and the presentation of public life as a great
spectacle in which the main figures present themselves publicly. As background
the author recalls the cross-currents between theatre and political oratory in
Greek literature of the 5th and 4th century b.c.e., the negative view of Plato,
who considered theatre as a place of fiction, and the Stoic use of the metaphor
of the actor. The article presents the evidence for the exhibitionism and villainy
of Flaccus, which is echoed by the games and contests in the circus, while the
reversal that takes place in the theatre is represented by the farce of Carabas.
Philo views the theatre in a negative light, seeing it as characterized by falsity
and obscurity. Apart from the traditional Jewish hesitation towards the theatre,
Platonic influences probably also play a role here. Opposed to the negative
representation of the deceivers is the dignified ‘spectacle’ of the persecuted Jews.
The account taken as a whole is negative, presenting the protagonist as similar
to a mimic or an actor. There is a reversal in relation to the Stoic metaphor of
the actor. The virtuous individual consents to the choices he has carried out. He
does not recite his life but lives it. For an English translation of this article see
below 20328. (RR)
20218. F. Calabi (ed.), Immagini e rappresentazione. Contributi su
Filone di Alessandria, Studies in Philo of Alexandria and Mediterranean
Antiquity (Binghamton N.Y. 2002).
The volume collects together the papers of a section of the ‘Mediterranean
XXI Conference’ held in Castellamare di Stabia, Italy in 1999. The studies
it contains were presented from a multi-disciplinary perspective, with each
author belonging to a different discipline and attempting to illuminate aspects