Elimi e Sicani: confini identitari tra mito e politica

Abstract

The ancient mythical tradition tracing the origins of the Elymians to groups of Trojans
arrived in Sicily with Aeneas – known to Hellanicus and Thucydides – seems to be
opposed by a further mythographic strand, on Heracles’ enterprises in Sicily. It can be
found in Diodorus, who emphasises the value of the Sicanian ethnos, seen as the main
protagonist of the settlement in western Sicily. This has generated a kind of distorted
image: Elymians and Sicanians have been seen as closely related; sometimes there
was even a complete overlapping between the two populations. In truth, the two
hypotheses about the settlement of western Sicily are to be understood in relation
to the peculiar aims of these aforementioned strands: while, according to the political
propaganda developed in Greece, the Elymians’ Trojan origin fostered the fifth-century
alliance between Athens and Egesta, Sicilian historians rejected this reading, exalting
instead the role played by Sicanians.

Keywords: Elymians, Sicans, Trojan legend, Thucydides, Diodorus