In his monumental work, the Bibliotheca historica (Historical Library), the Sicilian historian Diodorus Siculus wrote that the tyrant Dionysius, on account of his poetic inclinations, would invite experts to his court to comment on his compositions.
When questioned, the poet Philoxenus admitted without fear that the tyrant’s poems were mediocre.
Dionysius, deeply offended, ordered servants to take him to the Latomie. It is also said that during his imprisonment, Philoxenus composed his most famous work, Il Ciclope (The Cyclops).
The work recalls the famous enemy monster of Odysseus, introducing a new character to the story: the nymph Galatea, with whom the cyclops falls madly in love.
