45

RésuméDans le cinquième livre des Deipnosophistes, le juriste et poète Masurius met à l’épreuve des conventions homériques trois philosophes – Diogène, Athénion et Lysias – qui furent les conseillers hypocrites de rois ou de cités. La structure rhétorique de son discours lui permet de révéler quels imposteurs ils furent et de créer un lien entre le conseiller idéal et l’aède, afin de souligner sa propre nature d’héritier d’Homère.

Bard or Untrimmed Philosopher? Which One Should One Choose as an Adviser? (Athenaeus, Deipnosophists, V, 47-54, 211a-215c)In the fifth book of the Deipnosophists, the jurist and poet Masurius put to the test of Homeric conventions three philosophers –Diogenes, Athenion, and Lysias– who worked as hypocritical advisers to kings or cities. The rhetorical structure of his discourse allows him to reveal what impostors they were and to create a link between the ideal adviser and the bard, in order to emphasize his own status as heir to Homer.