Abstract
The text inquires into the meaning of Polybius’ references to Odysseus advancing the hypothesis of reconstructive mediation. The text’s two aims are first to delimit Polybius’ concept of mediation, then to use it to discuss possible meanings from the explicit association between Polybius himself and Odysseus in the Histories. §§ 2. and 3. analyze two sets of Polybius’ snippets through complementary approaches (M. Jay’s intellectual history, C. Romano’s hermeneutics, J. Thornton’s diplomatic perspective): the first one, on history’s mediative function, is discussed in the light of Polybius’ own theoretical
statements in book XII; the second one, centered on his explicit mentions to Odysseus, advances the hypothesis of political mediation perceptible in Polybius’ mediative attitudes. The conclusions (§ 4.) argue the coherence between discoursive and political mediations in two ways: reconstructive (by investigating a Polibian meaning about writing history) and historiographical (by drawing a topical comparison with Thucydides).