Gli Sciti tra storia e retorica, da Erodoto a Luciano

Starting from the description of Scythian society in the fourth book of Herodotus’ Histories, the contribution aims at examining some of the main lines of representation of the Scythians in Greek literature. For this purpose, a path is reconstructed that, first of all, takes into consideration the Hippocratic treaty On Airs, Waters and Places, thanks to which we can investigate the everyday life in Scythia in relation to the natural environment. Secondly, turning to the imperial age, Strabo’s work gives us an idea of the moral corruption of the Scythians due to a bad influence exercised on them by Greek civilization, while Dion of Prusa writes about a Scythian negative cultural effect on the inhabitants of Borysthenes. Finally, Lucian focuses on Anacharsis’ perceived extraneousness to Athenian culture, highlighting Scythians’ otherness compared to the Greek world.