Il “viaggio solitario” come luogo d’incontro con il soprannaturale. Un topos letterario in P.Oxy. XI 1368 (Lolliano, Phoinikika) e nel primo capitolo del Pastore di Erma

Abstract

Comparison of the content of P.Oxy. XI 1368, which preserves a fragment of Lollianus’ Phoinikika, with a passage from the first chapter of the Shepherd of Hermas. The similarities between the two passages show that Lollianus and Hermas adopt the same literary motif, namely the topos of the solitary journey, in order to narrate encounters with spirits or other supernatural realities. The same topos is employed in Philostratus’ Life of Apollonius of Tyana IV, 25. Hermas, however, christianizes the motif through some additions.