I 'Lydiaka' di Xanto nella tradizione letteraria: osservazioni preliminari

The essay offers a detailed discussion of the somehow evanescent and often overlooked historian of the V century BC Xanthus the Lydian, whose historical works (Lydiaka, Magika and maybe a Peri Empedokleous), written in Greek, survive only in fragments, scattered in the literary tradition. The survey takes briefly into account all the main problems which modern critics must face, namely his not-Greek origin, the chronological relationship with Herodotus and his Lydikos logos on one side, and the historiographical one with Nicolaus of Damascus on the other, the question of the survival of his works in Hellenistic and Roman times (and the more complex question of possible Pseudepigrapha under his name), finally the nature and general tone of the evidence preserved. More detailed is the analysis of the judgments he received by ancient authorities, from Ephorus to Strabo, Dionysius of Halicarnassus and Roman authors such as Pliny the Elder and Solinus, who put Xanthus among the Asiatica Ingenia and the "historiae conditores". In conclusion, the essay tries to demonstrate that there is a clear gap between the fame and the good reputation he enjoyed in antiquity and the modern (mis)judgement about his poor historical value.