Islands of Knowledge

Mythographic texts in the imperial age treat space as discontinuous. This is contrary to our modern idea of space, which is tied intimately to cartographical norms. In modern maps, each geographical entity is situated relative to others, obeys calculations of breadth and length, and respects proportionality rules. The space maps depict is full and continuous, standardized and precisely referenced. Space in imperial mythographic texts obeys other standards: it is a series of backdrops, made up of panels, each isolated from the next; space exists primarily to accommodate the deeds of heroes. Mythographic paragraphs chart an autonomous space which floats in a void, undefined by relationships to other enunciative spaces. Toponyms are used as cultural clusters around which a series of references are organized. Space in these texts is a cultural repertoire, emblematic of paideia, a common corpus of names, a shared landscape, before it is a geographical entity.