Florica BOHÎLȚEA-MIHUȚ (University of Bucharest)
CLASSICAL AUTHORS IN SIDONIUS APOLLINARIS’ LETTERS
Keywords: Sidonius Apollinaris, colour, rhetoric, classical literature, cultural interpretation, Late Antiquity.
Abstract: This article aims to highlight how Sidonius Apollinaris, a member of the 5th century Gallic and Christian aristocracy, employs vocabulary of colours to depict the physical and psychological portraits of his contemporaries, as discussed in his letters. By skilfully utilizing literary techniques and adopting models from classical authors he studied extensively, Sidonius demonstrates not only his robust education but also the continuity of the “color”ʼs semantic pluralism: “color” in its literal sense, “color” as a means of emphasizing human character, and “color” as a rhetorical concept.