ИСТОРИКЪТ ТЕОПОМП И ИНТЕРЕСЪТ МУ КЪМ КОТИС
THE HISTORIAN THEOPOMPOS AND HIS CREATIVE INTEREST IN KOTYS

Summary/Abstract: The active political career of the Thracian king Kotys transformed him into one of the remarkable individuals of the Early Hellenistic world. However, authors of various genres and from different historical periods have focused their attention not on his military and political activities, but rather on his character and on the dramatic end of his life. The reason for the long-lasting interest in his personality stems from the fact that Kotys’ name entered literary circulation in the intellectual context of the 4th century BC, when the views on the moral tenets of political life became a maxim for many creative men of letters and political figures. An important evolution in the 4th century BC literature can be seen in the tendency among many authors of prose to create and use written texts educating in aristocratic values as the principal paideia instrument for the educated elite. Such were also the goals pursued by the authors of historical works, notably Xenophon, Ephoros and Theopompos. King Kotys was present precisely among the moral paradigms of Theopompos’ History of Philip. That had decisive consequences for the negative image with which he remained in history. The devastating pamphlet against him presents one of the ways in which Theopompos delivers his moral instructions while following the main line in his works: shedding light on the links between imperialism and moral degradation.

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