LICOFRONE, STRABONE E LA SIRENA PARTHENOPE

Abstract

A close reading of two passages from Lycophron’s Alexandra (vv. 712-721 and 732-737), supported by a fragment of Timaeus transmitted by the Lycophron scholia (FGrHist 566 F 98), throws light on the sense and multiple chronological layers of Strabo’s elliptical reference to the siren Parthenope’s sepulchre and the gymnastic contest prescribed by an oracle in Naples (V 4, 7).

Keywords : Lycophron’s Alexandra; Strabo; siren Parthenope; ancient Naples; myth and history.