Horapollon : Hellenism and hieroglyphics in Late Antiquity

This symposium is the first to be devoted to Horapollon, known as the author of a treatise on hieroglyphics (Hieroglyphica) - the only one to have come down to us from antiquity - but who remains a mysterious figure. He is identified with a philosopher of the same name from the^5th century, who came from a family of pagan intellectuals who tried to resist Christianity, which had become the state religion, by combining the exaltation of a profane Hellenism with the defense of a Pharaonic culture on the verge of extinction. This biculturalism is at the heart of the Hieroglyphica : while roughly half of the hieroglyphic signs Horapollon treats are more or less correct, the purely allegorical exegesis he gives is mostly dependent on traditions specific to late Hellenism. Since its rediscovery in 1419, this work has fuelled interest in hieroglyphics, profoundly influencing Renaissance iconography and emblematic literature.