Luci e ombre del genos degli Alcmeonidi. Dinamiche e coinvolgimenti nel sacrilegio ciloniano

The paper examines the ‘Alkmeonid tradition’ analysing the genos’ involvement in the Kylonian sacrilege. We investigate the dynamics that caused the miasma that plagued Athens and reflect on the formation of an ‘historical memory’. Despite the fact that the Alkmeonids foiled the first attempt to establish tyranny in Athens, it is not in regard to the Kylonian conspiracy that they are perceived as liberators from tyrants, but only in concern to the expulsion of the Peisistratids. The Kylonian affaire is a key event in the formation of the ‘Alkmeonid tradition’ because sacrilege is a dark shadow over the Alkmeonids. This is true especially if we consider that the ‘Alkmeonid tradition’ ends with another sacrilege, the mutilation of the Hermai by Alcibiades.