L’origine contesa delle città licie occidentali: dal mito alla colonia

Abstract

The Xanthos Valley is one of the best examples of multiculturalism and coexistence of different cultural influences of Greeks and Persians. On the one hand, in fact, there was an attempt to incorporate the region into the sacred Greek history, by creating genealogies and mythical ties (as well evidenced by literary works, such as those of the epic writer Panyassis and the local historian Policharmus); from other hand, the political propaganda carried out by Xanthos sovereigns during the fifth and fourth centuries BC clearly confirmed the local origin of Lycians and their relations with the Achaemenid world. The analysis of some local inscriptions and of the work of Menecrates of Xanthos allows to show a culture in which Greek elements are mixed with Anatolian or oriental elements.