Mapping Madness: Antiochus IV and Thauma in Athenaeus

This thesis examines what Antiochus IV intended to communicate in the Daphne festival and how his effort was remembered in Athenaeus’ Deipnosophists. The centerpiece of the inquiry into Antiochus’ message is a close reading of a close reading of the idiomatic languages through which his self-representation may have been articulated. The possibility that Antiochus intended to operate in a Seleucid-Babylonian ritual framework or/and appropriate a Ptolemaic-Macedonian mythic propaganda is raised to rationalize the eccentric exterior of his presence in the Daphne pompe. With the attempt to contextualize his self-representation in idiomatic expressions of kingship in the Hellenistic era, I argue that the king still aimed to produce a thauma in accordance with the cultural expectations. However, the idiomatic nature of his performance may have posed challenges for audiences unfamiliar with relevant cultural grammars. This potential discrepancy in idiomatic literacy leads to the second part of my investigation. I propose that the account of Antiochus’ Daphne festival in Athenaeus appears to be influenced by the cultural grammar and rhetorical interests of the Imperial elite, who would criticize a king’s exceeding luxury and mimetic performance and express their criticism in an artful and pungent method. I argue that both the logic and the wording of the criticism—that Antiochus deserved the epithet Epimanes (“Madman”) over Epiphanes (“God Manifest”)—are best understood as Athenaeus’ own contribution, not that of Polybius, despite his claim to be quoting this earlier historian.