Contemporary Receptions and Future Prospects among Classicists

Philo has long been of interest to classicists, but often merely because he preserves otherwise-lost fragments of literature. At present, the field is amidst a re-evaluation—the conventional canon is widening even as focus shifts from the recovery of “original” texts and their meanings to the history of their reception. In this vein, sharp divisions between “classical” and “postclassical” are breaking down, perhaps nowhere more decisively than with the so-called Second Sophistic. This literary era, once thought derivative and degenerate, is increasingly appreciated for its cultural dynamism and creativity. Philo anticipates this historical moment when, in the context of Roman hegemony, literary Greeks began to recover and reinvent their past. In such a context, this essay proposes three areas for further integration between the classical and Philonic studies: the extent of literary education; constructions of Greek cultural identity within Roman imperial politics; and practices of performance and theatricality.