Llucià a l’Illa dels Benaurats: una mirada crítica a la tradició literària i filosòfica grega

Abstract

The creation of alternative spaces constitutes a pivotal element in the works of Lucian of Samosata, serving as a medium through which he engages with the Greek paideia and directs his critical gaze towards both the Greek tradition and his own time. The concept of death and the journey represent particularly effective spatial frameworks for generating the required distance, from which the expressive resources required for the comedy and parody that distinguish Lucian’s literary creation can be mobilized. In True Stories, for instance, Lucian combines the fantastic journey with the world of death when, during his sea voyage, he arrives at the Island of the Blessed. The aim of this paper is to justify the insertion of this episode of the afterlife within the narrative sequence of True Stories and to see how Lucian uses it to review some topics of the Greek tradition, with special attention to the philosophers and Homeric poetry.