La muerte de Esopo y el mito de Neoptólemo¿un caso de parodia mítica?

  1. Stefano Acerbo 1
  1. 1 Universidad Complutense de Madrid
    info

    Universidad Complutense de Madrid

    Madrid, España

    ROR 02p0gd045

Journal:
Veleia: Revista de prehistoria, historia antigua, arqueología y filología clásicas

ISSN: 0213-2095

Year of publication: 2024

Issue: 41

Pages: 33-47

Type: Article

DOI: 10.1387/VELEIA.24845 WoS: 001180938100027 DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openDocta Complutense editor

More publications in: Veleia: Revista de prehistoria, historia antigua, arqueología y filología clásicas

Abstract

Aesop’s death has often been compared to that of Neoptolemus, who was also killed at Delphi, so that their similarities have recently led to the hypothesis that the story about the fabulist may have originated as a parody of an official Delphic myth. However, this article aims to show that this hypothesis does not sufficiently address the differences both within the various biographical traditions about Aesop and between them and those of Neoptolemus. The analysis of the different variants shows that Aesop’s biography has gradually become more similar to the Neoptolemus myth, following a process of transformation largely independent of the traditions about the hero. The possible comic effects of comparing two such different characters were only used for parodic purposes in imperial times by a very peculiar author, Ptolemy Chennos.

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