Acceso usuarios
Roberto Morales Harley
The article analyzes the ekphrasis of paintings as a subtype of ekphrasis. Having established the existence of the procedure in both Rome and India, and having looked at the historical-geographical framework for exchanges between these two ancient civilizations, it studies, on the Roman side, eight references to paintings in Plautus (3rd-2nd centuries BCE), and on the Sanskrit side, one in Bhāsa (3rd century CE), one in Śūdraka (4th century CE), three in Kālidāsa (5th century CE), two in Harṣa (7th century CE), two in Bhavabhūti (8th century CE) and one in Rājaśekhara (9th century CE). The purpose of the comparison is to support the hypothesis, advanced by Rodríguez-Adrados (2012), that cultural contact could have resulted in a possible influence from Roman theater into Sanskrit theater. Specifically, a borrowing from the ekphrasis of the painting in Terence’s (2nd century BCE) The Eunuch 583-591 into the ekphrasis of the painting in Bhāsa’s (3rd century CE) The Messenger’s Speech 6.15 - 12-6 is proposed. In conclusion, the plausibility of this supposed influence is argued.
