Series | Antiquity Studies
Edited book | Un monde partagé : la Sicile du premier siècle av. J.-C. entre Diodore et Cicéron
Chapter | Diodore et les monuments d’Agrigente : la réversibilité des signes
Diodore et les monuments d’Agrigente : la réversibilité des signes
Abstract
The present study focuses mainly on the monuments of Agrigento which are the only ones that, along with those of Syracuse, benefit from a relatively developed treatment in Diodorus. The mention of these monuments does not always appear at the place in the story where one would expect it. The changes of place, the silences and the choice to develop the descriptions more or less obey, for the historian, a narrative and dramaturgical purpose: it is a question of emphasising the links that unite certain episodes sometimes distant from each other depending on a moral causality. Part of the study is reserved for the Phalaris bull. Depending on the sources, the invention of this instrument of torture is attributed either to the tyrant or to the artist Perilaos. Diodorus very likely made Phalaris responsible for the machine in order to highlight a parallel between the cruelty of the tyrant and that of Agathocles.
Submitted: Feb. 13, 2023 | Accepted: May 19, 2023 | Published Dec. 19, 2023 | Language: fr
Keywords Carthago • Phalaris • Callimachus • Dionysius of Syracuse • Agrigento • Monuments • Gelo
Copyright © 2023 Renaud Robert. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/978-88-6969-742-5/007
