Plato’s Atlantis in the Epitaphios attributed to Demosthenes, the Machimoi by Theopompus, the Trikaranos and Philip II · In D., 60, 8 the «invaders whom all those dwelling on our front to the westward neither withstood nor possessed the power to halt» cannot be read as referring to the attack of Eumolpus against Attica, because, obviously, Eumolpus arrived to Attica from a n-e direction: these words can be only a subtle allusion to the Platonic myth of Atlantis, even if this story was a new fiction and not a traditional myth. In the extreme circumstances after the battle of Chaeronea, this sort of discrete allusion could be a way for praising Athens, using non-legendary material too (that explains the subtlety of the allusion). On the other side, the story about Machimoi by Theopompus (FGrHist 115 F 75) shows that, in the same historical context, the Platonic myth about the war between the primeval Athens and Atlantis was mocked as a part of political propaganda against Athenian pretension to be able to halt Philip of Macedon.
36. L'Atlantide di Platone nell'Epitafio attribuito a Demostene, i Machimoi di Teopompo, il Trikaranos e Filippo II
Mosconi G
2019-01-01
Abstract
Plato’s Atlantis in the Epitaphios attributed to Demosthenes, the Machimoi by Theopompus, the Trikaranos and Philip II · In D., 60, 8 the «invaders whom all those dwelling on our front to the westward neither withstood nor possessed the power to halt» cannot be read as referring to the attack of Eumolpus against Attica, because, obviously, Eumolpus arrived to Attica from a n-e direction: these words can be only a subtle allusion to the Platonic myth of Atlantis, even if this story was a new fiction and not a traditional myth. In the extreme circumstances after the battle of Chaeronea, this sort of discrete allusion could be a way for praising Athens, using non-legendary material too (that explains the subtlety of the allusion). On the other side, the story about Machimoi by Theopompus (FGrHist 115 F 75) shows that, in the same historical context, the Platonic myth about the war between the primeval Athens and Atlantis was mocked as a part of political propaganda against Athenian pretension to be able to halt Philip of Macedon.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
