Ricerc@Sapienza

Our aim is to investigate the use of myth in Greek literature from a twofold perspective: on the one hand, the reworking of traditional myth as a means of reinterpreting current events; on the other hand, the opposite procedure in which current events are treated in the same way as traditional myth. Both perspectives are already identified by Isocrates (Paneg. 8) and Plato (Phaedr. 267b) - the latter referring to the teachings of Tisias and Gorgias -, who speak of the need to «actualise ancient events and to make current events ancient».