Mito e storia nella mitografia di età imperiale: Lico πολέμαρχος (Apollod., Bibl. III 41)

The way Lycus conquers power over Thebes in Pseudo-Apollodorus’ Library is marked by some elements that seem to refer to political institutions. His election as a polemarch may allude to events that took place in Boeotia in the fourth century B.C. This allusion represents a clear anachronism against the background of the mythographer’s tales. The anachronism is related to the narrative development of the section to which it belongs: the reference to polemarchy, by stressing the difference between the legitimate sovereignty of the Cadmeians and the illegitimate sovereignty of Lycus, Zethus and Amphion, contributes to the compositional plan conceived by ps. Apollodorus, which consists of genealogical continuity. Therefore, the anachronism can be considered as the result of a choice of the author and reveals that the mythographers played also a role in the iteration between mythical time and historical past that we can find in their works.