Abstract

This paper aims to reconstruct the history of the link drawn by Philostratus between phantasia, defined by Pseudo-Longinus as an aptitude of mental visualization, and the representation of the gods in the Greek religious sculpture. Phantasia as power of invention is part of the solution to the difficulty of imitating a purely ideal, unseen model. This original relation, taken up by Philostratus, allows to grasp the philosophical background of the rhetorical theories of image and reveals the permeability between the two fields during the Roman period