The death of Aesop and the myth of Neoptolemus: a case of mythical parody?
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Abstract
Aesop's death has often been compared to that of Neoptolemus, also killed at Delphi, so that their similarities have recently led to the hypothesis that the story about the fabulist may have arisen as a parody of an official Delphic myth. This article, however, aims at demonstrating that this hypothesis does not sufficiently address the differences both within the diverse biographical traditions about Aesop and between them and those of Neoptolemus. The analysis of the different variants shows that Aesop's biography has progressively become more similar to Neoptolemus myth, after a process of transformation largely independent from the traditions about the hero. The possible comic effects offered by the comparison between such two different characters were used for parodic purposes only in imperial times by a very peculiar author, Ptolemy Chennos.
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