Il primo lettore di Ditti e Darete. La guerra di Troia nei Romulea VIII e IX e nella Orestis tragoedia di Draconzio

This paper examines the intertextual dialogue between the Vandal-era Carthaginian poet Dracontius and the pseudo-documentary novels of Dictys Cretensis and Dares Phrygius in his Trojan-themed works: Romulea VIII and IX, and Orestis Tragoedia. The per-vasive influence of Ephemeris Belli Troiani and De excidio Troiae historia in these poems has been overlooked due to a misguided focus on Homer, whereas Dracontius relies on Dictys and Dares to create a narrative that stands out from traditional Latin sources, proposing a disillusioned and pessimistic view of the Trojan War, devoid of providential purposes and dominated by the basest human instincts. Recognising Dictys and Dares as primary sources of Dracontius reshapes our understanding of his poetry and the cultural landscape of his time, highlighting a transition from Greek to Latin narratives in the transmission of the Tro-jan myth in the Western tradition.