IL ΜΥΘΩΔΕΣ DELL’OLTRETOMBA SPAVENTOSO E I RISCHI PER LA ΠΑΙΔΕΙΑ SU PLUT. DE AUDIENDIS POETIS 17B6-E8

Abstract

This article aims to highlight the relevant and detailed discussion on the Underworld
in Plutarch’s De audiendis poetis 17B6-E8. In this passage, Plutarch points out the negative effects of the Afterlife-descriptions on the young people by criticizing some aspects of the Underworld in the previous poetical tradition. Starting from general and highly rhetorical considerations which can be traced back to the analogue discussion on the same topic in Plato’s Republic, Plutarch exemplifies the awful imagery and aspects of the land of dead through poetical quotations (Sophocles, Homer, Pindar, and Euripides), which enrich his interpretation in a brief review of
the ‘Underworld-μυθῶδες’ across different literary genres.