Παύσασθε ἐρίζοντες ὥσπερ ἄνθρωποι (Deorum Dial. 15, 1): Asclepio ed Eracle, nuove divinità nei dialoghi lucianei

This work aims to investigate the role played by Asclepius and Heracles within the Lucian work, with particular reference to the fifteenth of the Dialogues of the Gods in which they are - together with Zeus – main characters. The narrative elements that are also found in other dialogues (Zeus tragoedus, Deorum concilium, De morte Peregrini) make up here a close dialogue, where Lucian alternate a skilful use of symposiac lexicon and language relating to the heroic experiences of the two characters; his satire strikes not only the divine world and the excesses of polytheism, but also the heroic world and its values, as well as the rhetorical tools that support the agonal mechanism of dialogue.