THE TROJAN CHRONICLES OF DICTYS AND DARES IN THE EARLY ITALIAN HUMANISM: A REASSESSMENT

Abstract: In this paper I examine the approach of Francesco Petrarca and Coluccio Salutati to the Trojan chronicles of Dictys and Dares. The sources in our possession show a relevant familiarity with those texts on the part of Petrarca. As for Salutati, careful examination shows that, despite his misgivings for those texts, he used them constantly for a number of purposes, documentary as well as literary.