Eforo e Apollodoro in Strabone

I. Strabo, who held Ephorus in high esteem (the Geographer is the most important source of his fragments after Diodorus), exploits most of all the first books of his Histories (I-III and IV-V, of mythographic and antiquarian/geographical nature respectively) in order to describe the ancient history of each greek region; an alternative source is the Commentary to the Homeric Catalogue of ships of Apollodor of Athens. The latter work informs Strabo if the (more ancient) Ephorean version is outdated or not. II. Strabo’s Delphic essay (IX 3, 5-12) is to ascribe to Ephorus, quoted at the end (parr. 11-12), because of many reasons: the antiquarian nature of the essay; internal unity; complementarity with Ephorus’ quotation, who narrates the ktisis of the sanctuary; the emerging of an episode in Diod. XVI; compatibility of the historical picture. Some elements of Ephorus’ method are also emerging, such as the use of literature as historical source (Pindar, but Homer and Aeschylus, Eum. too) and the (possible) use of autoptical data (inscriptions; signs of recent Phocean plunder). Delphic history is seen deterministically: its richness is caused by central position; the sanctuary knows a succession of plunders, tempted or done.