The Logic of Inconsistency: Apollonius of Tyre and the Thirty-Days' Period of Grace

Abstract

Narrative inconsistencies and lack of motivation in the Late Latin Apollonius of Tyre are usually seen as indications of either an artless or an incomplete narrative. In this article I argue that narrative sequence and motivation are rather influenced both by the quasi-oral nature of this text and its late antique literary models, including martyr-acts. Problems in the plot of Apollonius of Tyre should be considered as evidence of the striking polyphony of this Late Latin narrative and of the creative rewriting of the story.

Stelios Panayotakis is Senior Research Fellow in Classics at the University of Ghent. His research interests include Greek and Latin fiction and riddles. He is co-author of the commentary on Apuleius' Tale of Cupid and Psyche (Groningen, 2004), and is currently preparing for publication a commentary on the anonymous Story of Apollonius, king of Tyre.