Stratigrafia di un mito. I Pii Fratres da Licurgo alla Tarda Antichità

The legend of the “Pious Brothers” is documented over many centuries, from the Athenian orator Lycurgus through to the end of the Late Antiquity. The majority of the sources has it that two pious citizens of Catina saved their parents during a volcanic eruption, bringing them on their shoulders, unlike the other inhabitants that were annihilated. However, Lycurgus’ speech Against Leocrates stands apart within such a tradition, as he reports that only a son with his father was spared by the lava flow, while their town was overwhelmed by the eruption. Drawing on these peculiarities, this article argues that the orator attests to an older version of this legend, making reference to a “field of the impious” as an allusion to the destruction of an unknown Aetnean settlement sometimes in the 5th century BC. The later version of the legend was probably created in the late 2nd century BC. By this time, a public sculpture was exhibited in Catina’s forum. Since Augustus’ times, the new version of this myth spread all over the Roman empire; being related to the thriving colony of Catina, it mentioned two brothers and a “field of the pious” corresponding with the city centre.