Enargheia e synkatathesis: sulla duplicità epistemica dell’ekphrasis nello stoicismo

The paper is divided in two parts. In the first section, I delve into the Stoic notion of sugkatatesis, that is, the “assent” by virtue of which the hegemonikon is able to distinguish between true and false sense-perceptions. I show how the process of sugkatatesis works in the famous ekphraseis of the hand and the wax tablet, employed respectively by Zeno and Cleanthes. In the second section of the paper, I deal with Seneca’s ekphrasis of the city of Syracuse, a description that illustrates the illusory features of sense perception.