this post was submitted on 17 Feb 2026
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I’m mostly familiar with late Roman sources, which aren’t really representative of classical Greece.
I don’t think there’s anything along those lines in Plato (and therefore Socrates) in any case, though, because the speakers in his dialogues are usually trying to explain their reasoning clearly rather than showing off their literary prowess or making ad hominem arguments. And as for Homer (and Hesiod, and playwrights dealing with mythological subjects), I don’t think it was common to portray mythological figures insulting each other by implying parallels to other myths, but I could be wrong. The places I’d expect to see it, if anywhere, would be things like political orations and comic plays, but I’m not familiar enough with classical Greek sources to think of any examples.