Asteropos ed Epitadeus. Storie di due efori spartani e di altri personaggi dai nomi parlanti

Characters bearing names which illustrate their own personality or feats – «speaking names» – not only feature prominently in epic and mythic narrative, and in other ‘fictional’ literary genres, but also appear in historiography. In assessing the historical value of these characters and/or accounts, careful investigation is essential. Sometimes we face simple coincidences, sometimes people were assigned a task because of their names, but certainly ancient historians who indulged in stressing the fatal course of events liked to repeat received traditions about ominous names. In tales about origins, the oikist personalities (like Phalanthos or Battos) were understandably object of rich constructions playing on their speaking names; but historians could also create and introduce fictional characters with speaking names into near-contemporary events. The present paper focuses on two ephors with speaking names, Asteropos and Epitadeus. The former was probably the fictional founder of periodic asteroscopy, a practice of obscure origins and uncertain antiquity, the latter – in line with the meaning of his name – is credited with having proposed a bill to satisfy his own interests. Thus, Epitadeus seems to be a fictional character and therefore existing doubts on the historicity of his law are reinforced.