ISOTHEOI ED HEROIKAI TIMAI IN DIODORO: FRA TEMPO DEL MITO, SICILIA CLASSICA ED ELLENISMO

Abstract

Isotheoi and heroikai timai in Diodorus: between myth, classical Sicily, and Hellenism
This paper provides a reassessment of the formulae isotheoi / heroikai timai (or, less commonly,
thysiai) as used in Diodorus. By combining the textual analysis of the Bibliotheke
with a broader discussion of Diodorus’ contacts with 1st-cent. BC cultural debates about the
granting of cultic honours to political leaders, it will be shown that this author not only
applied these categories more systematically than his Hellenistic predecessors and contemporaries,
but also adapted them to his personal project of universal history. After commenting
upon Diodorus’ use of isotheoi and heroikai timai for characters of the ancient mythical
past, a few historical case studies from the Hellenistic period and Classical Sicily will be
explored in detail. It will be argued that the heroic honours assumedly granted to Alexander
in India and in Alexandria are the result of Diodorus’ consistent attempt to remove or
downgrade references to Alexander’s divinity and divine honours in the Bibliotheke. Conversely,
Diodorus’ problematic statement about Dio of Syracuse being granted heroikai timai
alive in 356/5 BC will be confirmed by means of a reappraisal of the evidence with a
methodology focusing on negotiation practice in moments of acute political crisis.