Il Nachleben di Di one tra la Sicilia e l’Atene della seconda metà del IV secolo a.C.*

Abstract

Scholarship has recently engaged intensively with Dion, in some cases in order to investigate
the creation of his ‘legend’ by the Academy. The publication of a papyrus (III century BC ) with a
quote of Epistle VIII throws new light upon the long-standing debate about the main source,
i.e. the Platonic Epistles and their audience. This paper offers a fresh look at the political-cultural
environment in Athens in the second half of IV Century BC and at the hostility toward
Plato and his disciples (in particular, Dion). In this scenario the law of Sophocles (307-306)
is of some importance, imposing strict regulation on all philosophical schools. Furthermore,
archaeological evidence too permits to re-examine the figure of Callippus, the ‘betrayer’ of Dion,
and to offer a reconsideration of his engagement with Sicilian politics.