Le identità etniche dei fondatori nella storia di Akragas

Abstract

In the ancient literary traditions about Akragas the dual ethnic identity of the city, originated by its Rhodian and Cretan founders, is not questioned. This paper tries to understand whether in the course of time one of the two ethnic components has been given value, overcoming the other, or whether both can be considered as two well-balanced components in the forming of the self-representation by the people of Akragas and the image itself of the city. The examination of the evidence about mythical memories of the Rhodian and Cretan past, used for political and propagandistic goals in historical times, leads us to overcome the traditional scholarly idea that a progressive diminishing of the Cretan role occurred, in favour of the other component, the Rhodian one. In order to understand the role played by ethnicity in the story of Akragas, one needs to pose the attention to the peculiar circumstances related to each singular reference to mythical memories. So, while the family of the Emmenides resorted to the Rhodian origins of Akragas with the aim to emphasise the descent from Rhodian colonists of its members, Cretan traditions were largely employed independently of ethnic claims. The latter were used, for example, by Phalaris, and later by Theron himself, to justify their relationships with the Sicanians living in the hinterland of Akragas. The two mythical strands, Rhodian and Cretan, are part of the cultural heritage of Akragas, as is testified by the mythical account of the origin of the cult of Zeus Atabyrios reported by Diodorus Siculus.