Pepaideumenos, or What it means to be educated in the era of the Second Sophistic

Abstract

The article is devoted to examining the peculiarities of the phenomena of education and being educated during the so-called Second Sophistic period (1st – 3rd centuries AD). The study of the Second Sophistic as a cultural phenomenon is a relatively young area of academic interest, if viewed in the broader context of historical, philosophical, and philological studies. The pro-posed research focuses on two aspects: firstly, the Second So-phistic as a context within which “education” is understood in its specificity; secondly, the figure of the pepaideumenos, or the ed-ucated person. The article problematizes the phenomenon of the Second Sophistic, presents its characteristics in relation to the Old Sophistic, specifically in terms of education. Both Old and New Sophistic are primarily phenomena of education (paideia). The figure of the pepaideumenos (an educated and learned per-son) is examined in the perspective of the problem of cultural identity that emerged at the intersection of the Greek and Roman worlds. A distinctive feature of the discussed phenomenon is its pronounced involvement into rhetoric. The figure of pepaide-umenos is presented, in particular, in connection with the phe-nomenon of litteratura docta (learned literature) as one of the key features of the Second Sophistic. The pepaideumenos, in the spirit of the Second Sophistic, proves to be a multifaceted figure. These facets reflect tradition on the one hand and, on the other hand, tradition is reflected in them in a complex way, as both preserved past and preserved (or reproducible) identity (primari-ly in the Greek, or more precisely, the Greek-speaking world), along with the dialogue between the Greek and Roman worlds. An essential problem addressed in the article is the issue of mi-mesis/imitatio (imitation). The Second Sophistic is a phenome-non of epistrophe (returning). The attitude towards the past is a configuration or creation of it, but at the same time — its reflec-tion and criticism. In this perspective, the pepaideumenos ap-pears to be a holder of culture, its guardian.