University of Tasmania, Australia

Biography and Fiction in Graeco-Roman Antiquity

The Hellenistic and Roman eras saw the production of a number of works which, while ostensibly biographical, have clear affinities with the untheorised genre of ancient prose fiction. Among these are the anonymous Life of Aesop and Alexander Romance, Philostratus’ Life of Apollonius of Tyana, and Porphyry’s Life of Pythagoras. Much remains to be explored in these works, including their varied and shifting generic affiliations, the understanding of biography and fiction, the narrative strategies which they employ, and the kind of readership which they imply. This project will further understanding of these texts both as works of literature (and on some occasions quite influential ones) and as sources for the topics which they explore.