In this study, the author shows the diffusion of geographical knowledge between the 2nd and the first part of the 3rd century AD, examining some significant works written by the principal exponents of the intellectual movement known as Second Sophistic (Philostratus, Aelius Aristides, Lucian). In the second part, more specifically, the author interprets the beginning of Lucian’s Icaromenippus as a parody of periplographical texts.