Plato, Locri and 'the Flower of Italy': Revaluating an 'Ancient' Epiphet

Creedy, Edward

Abstract

It is often claimed that Plato described Locri, the Greek settlement on Sicily, as ‘the flower of Italy.’ Yet this phrase nowhere appears in Plato’s work, and a concrete reference is never provided for this attribution. This short note provides a correction to the record—suggesting that modern usage of the term in fact stems from a misunderstanding of the sixteenth century writings of Leandro Alberti.

Citation

Creedy, E. (online). Plato, Locri and 'the Flower of Italy': Revaluating an 'Ancient' Epiphet. Mnemosyne: A Journal of Classical Studies, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1163/1568525X-BJA10288

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 9, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Nov 20, 2024
• Deposit Date: Oct 4, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 21, 2024
• Journal: Mnemosyne: A Journal of Classical Studies
• Print ISSN: 0026-7074
• Electronic ISSN: 1568-525X
• Publisher: Brill Academic Publishers
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Pages: 1-10
• ISBN: 0026-7074
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/1568525X-BJA10288
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2944498