Abstract:This article examines the animalization of Nero in Book 4 of Philostratus' Life of Apollonius of Tyana and focuses, in particular, on Apollonius' surprising claim that Nero dared to do what no wild beast ever did, namely, devour his own mother (4.38.3–4). It argues that Apollonius' words evoke widespread beliefs about the reproduction of vipers, and that Philostratus took full advantage of connections that were active in the collective imaginaire —between young vipers, Orestes and Alcmaeon, and Nero—in order to present Agrippina's murder as an act of bestial cannibalism and, thus, Nero as a monstrous creature completely beyond redemption.

中文翻译：

---

毒蛇尼禄：泰亚纳的阿波罗尼乌斯生活中的动物学知识和政治批判

摘要：本文考察了菲洛斯特拉图斯的《泰亚纳的阿波罗尼奥斯传》第 4 卷中尼禄的动物化，并特别关注阿波罗尼乌斯令人惊讶的声称尼禄敢于做任何野兽从未做过的事情，即吞噬自己的母亲（ 4.38.3-4）。它认为，阿波罗尼乌斯的话唤起了人们对毒蛇繁殖的普遍看法，而菲洛斯特拉图斯充分利用了集体想象中活跃的联系——年轻毒蛇、俄瑞斯忒斯和阿尔克梅翁以及尼禄之间的联系——将阿格里皮娜的谋杀描述为野蛮的同类相食行为，因此，尼禄是一个完全无法救赎的怪物。