Vizi e virtù dello pseudos (sempre secondo Luciano di Samosata)

The aim of this analysis is to illustrate the ambiguities of the relationship between pseudos and aletheia in the works of Lucian of Samosata. A dangerous and complicated relationship. Of course the pseudos, or the lie (but it also applies to fiction), has an extraordinary power. As we well know, these are problems and strategies that already belong to the narration of the Homeric epic. The starting point is the compositional strategy of a paradigmatic text, Lucian’s True Stories. The investigation develops through the analysis of Lucian’s Philoseudes (The lover of lies, or the doubter): the satirical hero Tychiades is the witness of the pseudea of the philosophers. At the same time with the pleasure of lying and critical rejection. We try to de ne the signs that distinguish the satirical hero: the voice of satire, Tychiades, Parrhesiades, or Lykinos, has the role of defending aletheia, the truth, in the face of the dangerous power of the pseudos. If the point of reference, like light emanating from a lighthouse, is aletheia, we can even take the pleasure and the freedom to experiment all kinds of pseudea. They could become the archetypes for the future of European literature.