Abstract

Epigram AP XVI 275, by Posidippus, contains an ecphrasis of a statue created by the sculptor Lysippus that is an allegory of Kairos – not in expository form but rather in the form of a dialogue of questions and answers, with the aim of revealing the hidden meaning of its peculiar iconographic features. Lysippus’ statue and Posidippus’ epigram are the oldest testimonies existing in art and in the literary sources for Kairos, which was the subject of other descriptions and of a rich iconography starting at the end of the Hellenistic age. They contain discrepancies in the selection of the features characterizing the concept, which possibly derive from a change in the meaning and the role of the allegory. The text provides an indication of the frequency with which certain abstractions were personified and deified in the Hellenistic age, sometimes to the point of becoming an object of worship.