L'isola, l'epeiros e il santuario: una riflessione sull'anathema corcirese a Dodona

In the studies concerned the relations between Corcyra and the oracular sanctuary of Zeus at Dodona proper emphasis has been given to an impressive anathema dedicated by the polis: a young man with a whip in the right hand and a cauldron placed on two side by side columns. Known only from literary sources, since ancient times it has been linked to the genesis of two proverbs: “the gong of Dodona” (Δωδωναῖον χαλκεῖον), and “the Corcyraian whip” (ἡ Κερκυραίων μάστιξ). Through a renewed analysis of the literary sources, the paper reconstructs the evolution of the tradition in order to clarify the origins of the proverbs, and to offer new possible hypotheses concerning the interpretation of the anathema, and the reasons of his dedication in the Epirote sanctuary.