Characterized by a radiance that is composite and multiple, artifacts described as poikiloi resemble the prodigious daidalea (Frontisi‐Ducroux 2000, esp. 52–55 for the parallel bet- ween daidaleon and poikilon). But there are at least two noteworthy differences. First, poikilia is not exclusive to artifacts. Indeed, the Greeks use the term poikilos for living beings, in particular for three types of animals: snakes whose bodies are covered with rings and scales, birds with a variegated plumage, and animals with a mottled coat, such as the fawn or the panther.3 Their bodies display a variety of shapes and colors and composite surfaces that con- trast with the smooth and homogeneous surface of human skin (khrōs).4 Poikilia can also characterize certain men, heroes or divinities, such as Prometheus or Odysseus (e.g. Hes. Th. 510–511; Eur. IA. 526). What these have in common is less a “multicolored” or “versicolor” physical appearance, than specific aptitudes that characterize mētis, the crafty and cunning intelligence that plays a crucial role in Greek imagination. Detienne and Vernant have brought to light the close connection that originally existed between poikilia and mētis (1974, 25–31). The connection endures into the Classical period, to the point that applying the term poikilos to an individual is in itself sufficient to suggest the type of clever intelligence that, by then, could be denigrated (A. Equ. 758–759; Villacèque 2010, 144–145). Poikilia thus evokes a non‐dialectic kind of thought, which proceeds by circumvention and follows indirect and somewhat labyrinthine routes, like a maze.

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"They were not to show the least consideration for us but to regard us and treat us as if we no longer existed, this being the second torture devised by our adversaries in addition to the floggings."- Excerpt from the letter of Phileas to the Thmuites, quoted in the Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius.

Rumi says: I will drink blood, like the heart, so I travel without legs and hands, like the heart..."