Territórios do sagrado e figuras de alteridade em Cartago: Apuleio e a construção da imagem do filósofo (160-180 d.C)

Abstract

This study dealswiththe political action of Apuleius, philosopher from Madaura,in the city of Carthage, between the years 160-180 AD. We investigated Apuleius' strategies for the constructionof his identity as a philosopher, since, in Carthage, several groups disputed a similar authority in the sacred/philosophical field. The focus of the analysis is how Apuleiusrepresents himself and the otherness, based on the assumption thateveryidentity is evidenced through differencebeetween “we” and “them”. In the scope of self-representation, we demonstrate how the author formulates his own conception of what an authentic philosopher would be:handsome, articulated, erudite and, especially,endowed with thaumaturgical powers useful to public order. On the other hand, with regard to the representation of the other, we cut out two alterities that would make a contrast to the author: the so called false philosopherandthe magician/witches. Thefalse philosopherswould be Apuleius' competitors in the philosophical field, represented as individuals who would not have the right to wear the toga because they would not possess any of the aforementioned qualities. In turn, the magicians/witches who, acting clandestinely and anonymously, would face Apuleio in the sacred field, since the magic of the magicians was used as a solution to everyday conflicts in the city, such as love, financial and legal dilemmas, challenges that Apuleiusproposed to be solved by the authentic philosopher and his sacred philosophy. Against thesealterities, Apuleius launches the stigmaof gender, representing them as adulterous, lascivious, poisoning and disorder-promoting women. Apuleio spoke daily in the theater of Carthage, a space in which he occupied as his territory, where he could disseminate his representations about the world and build his image as a philosopher. The theater itself was a political instrumentfor him, as its category of sacred space made it the ideal stage for the author to spread his vision of a thaumaturge philosopher, in the same way that the necropolis, the circus and the amphitheater were sacred environments that were territorializedby magicians. As a theoretical contribution, we mobilized the concepts of representation, by Roger Chartier (1990); identity, by Tomaz Tadeu da Silva (2004); stigma, by Norbert Elias and John Scotson (2000); territory, by Claude Raffestin (1993); spaceof the sacred, by Mircea Eliade (1992); magic, by Marcel Mauss (1974); andgender, by Joan Scott (1995); in association with the analysis method, discussed by Laurence Bardin.