Un filosofo, una statua mutila e un “eroe minore” di Maratona: creare una nuova identità a un monumento nel periodo della Seconda Sofistica

In a chreia by Lucian (Demon. 53), a philosopher identifies an anonymous damaged statue in front of the Poikile as a public dedication to Cynegyrus, a young Athenian who died at Marathon under extraordinary circumstances. In consideration of the growing popularity and relevance of the battle of Marathon during the imperial period, as well as the role of the adjacent stoa and its paintings as a lieu de mémoire and source of inspiration for rhetors, the author argues that the philosopher creates a new identity for the statue through a process of symbolic juxtaposition.