Antropopoiesi eroica in Omero: Fenice maestro di Achille

Abstract

In chant IX of Iliad there is the long digression of Phoenix, Achilles’ pedagogue, and plays a strategic role, as is recognized by almost all scholars. For this reason, the mise en abyme is a tool to explore the ambiguous relationship between language and reality, which remain central to the relationship between Phoenix and Achilles. The mise en abyme reveals the sense of vertigo mirror between teacher and student, becoming a metaphor and representation of masterful strategy in which the teacher / parent connection, enacts generative operation and produces a continuous exchange of roles. Phoenix, teacher and “parent”, is a fragile figure, oscillating between authority and weakness.