From the first half of the fifth century BC on, in Sicily various generations of tyrants, from Hippokrates of Gela to the Deinomenids Gelon and Hieron, worked on some relevant features shaping a longlasting autocratic model which was later recalled in use but also exploited and developed in time. They stressed the idea that autocratic rule was actually in the hands of the best man by displaying the characters of positive social figures associated with approved political or social authority. In this way they performed something as an actual, lively discourse on the potential excellence of monarchy. The paper explores that suggestion with a special reference to the very important field of the furerary behaviours, analyzing the significance of their heroic-style funerals and the way in which they are recorded and manipulated by later traditions
Experimenting Basileia: Princely Models and the Tyrants of Sicily
FRISONE, Flavia
2015-01-01
Abstract
From the first half of the fifth century BC on, in Sicily various generations of tyrants, from Hippokrates of Gela to the Deinomenids Gelon and Hieron, worked on some relevant features shaping a longlasting autocratic model which was later recalled in use but also exploited and developed in time. They stressed the idea that autocratic rule was actually in the hands of the best man by displaying the characters of positive social figures associated with approved political or social authority. In this way they performed something as an actual, lively discourse on the potential excellence of monarchy. The paper explores that suggestion with a special reference to the very important field of the furerary behaviours, analyzing the significance of their heroic-style funerals and the way in which they are recorded and manipulated by later traditionsI documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
