Models of Kingship and their tradition in Sicilian mythology: an overview

The ancient history of Sicily is characterised by the affirmation of strong, authoritarian governments classified in different ways by ancient tradition. Within the mythical tradition, we find numerous characters who held strong, authoritarian and always legitimate powers over large areas of the island. The characteristics of these figures seem to follow the forms and practices of the autocratic power of tyrants in the historical period. Thus we must ask ourselves whether the myth, as it was handed down to Diodorus, had undergone a reworking in the historical period in order to legitimise the tyrannical power that asserted itself in Sicily from the seventh century BC. Similar to the ‘just’ autocrats of the mythical age, the tyrants of the historical age had contributed to the economic progress of the populations subject to them.