Abstract: (Historical, mythical and imaginary characters in Italian phraseology and paremiology). In this paper we intend to present a substantial number of Italian idioms and proverbs containing a personal name, referring to a real or imaginary figure, in whom the common man can recognize himself. Some extraordinary figures of historical, mythical or literary origin, and their stories, represent a landmark in Italian phraseology and paremiology, both strongly influenced by both classical and popular culture. We have divided phrases and proverbial sayings into groups on the basis of the sources from which they descend (sacred texts, literary works, Greek and Roman mythology, tales of various classical authors) to verify their origin, which sometimes remains obscure. Another problem which we present in this paper is the meaning of these linguistic forms, which generally remains firmly anchored to the image of the myth or the event from which it draws its origin, with its strong evocative connotations. Sometimes, with the passage of time, the meaning of certain expressions is lost or changed if the memory of the original context is no longer available or in response to changes in the vision of the world which have affected the modern man. Despite the exceptional nature of certain events and characters, the common man tends to accept them as paradigmatic by reducing them to his own condition and to the extent of his daily life, bringing them from a far away and abstract world to the reality of all people.