Il ruolo della Memoria e la percezione dell'Antichità nella Guida della Grecia di Pausania

Starting from the analysis of the Description of Greece, written during the II century AD, the paper aims to examine the countless ancient monuments that Pausanias encountered and described on his journeys. Following his itinerary, we learn of a tangled net of forgotten places, such as destroyed cities and deserted shrines, symbols of a past perceived as distant and mythical even then. Pausanias clarifies the meaning of these places through his own words, enriching these reflections with anecdotes concerning the caducity of human structures, both material and ideal. Remembrance thus assumes primary significance: acting as a genuine diachronic lens, it guides Pausanias to explain the historical evolution of the Greek landscape. The topic inevitably leads to emphasise how Pausanias’ work is still relevant today, but above all useful for understanding the archaeology of memory and the unchangeable value assumed by the ruins.