Tell me what you see: aesthetic responses in Hellenistic poetry

This thesis examines how poetry of the Hellenistic period represents visual images. In particular, it examines how aesthetic responses in poetry inform readers of the discussed art. Chapter one investigates the epigrams on Myrons Cow. There, I argue that poets tell us about Myrons Cow by way of short dramatic vignettes. The reported lifelikeness of Myrons Cow deceives its viewers and its this deception which most of the poems take as their focus. The second and third chapters explore how mime poetry handles aesthetic responses. In the second chapter, I argue that Theocritus Idyll 15 illustrates how characters display their erudition in their aesthetic response. Chapter three reads Herodas Mime 4 as offering readers baser characters reaching for intelligent aesthetic judgments. The goal of the study is to highlight other strategies used by Hellenistic poets to describe art than mere description.