A PHILOSOPHY AS OLD AS HOMER : GIACOMO LEOPARDI AND GREEK POETIC PESSIMISM Maria Giulia Franzoni A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of St Andrews 2017 Full metadata for this item is available in St Andrews Research Repository at: http://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/ Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10023/11357 This item is protected by original copyright A Philosophy as Old as Homer: Giacomo Leopardi and Greek Poetic Pessimism Maria Giulia Franzoni This thesis is submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of PhD in Classics at the University of St Andrews nd 22 November 2016 This is what I said to myself, almost as if that painful philosophy were of my own invention […] But then, thinking it over, I remembered that it was as new as Solomon and Homer and the most ancient poets and philosophers we know […] Giacomo Leopardi, Dialogo di Tristano e di un amico i 1. Candidate’s declarations: I Maria Giulia Franzoni, hereby certify that this thesis, which is approximately 80.000 words in length, has been written by me, and that it is the record of work carried out by me, or principally by myself in collaboration with others as acknowledged, and that it has not been submitted in any previous application for a higher degree. I was admitted as a research student in September 2012 and as a candidate for the degree of PhD in Classics in 2 0 t h J u n e 2 0 1 7 ; the higher study for which this is a record was carried out in the University of St Andrews between 2 0 1 2 and 2 0 1 6 . Date signature of candidate ……… 2. Supervisor’s declaration: I hereby certify that the candidate has fulfilled the conditions of the Resolution and Regulations appropriate for the degree of P h D in the University of St Andrews and that the candidate is qualified to submit this thesis in application for that degree. Date signature of supervisor ……… 3. 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An embargo on a thesis submitted to the Faculty of Science or Medicine is rarely granted for more than two years in the first instance, without good justification. The Library will not lift an embargo before confirming with the student and supervisor that they do not intend to request a continuation. In the absence of an agreed response from both student and supervisor, the Head of School will be consulted. Please note that the total period of an embargo, including any continuation, is not expected to exceed ten years. Where part of a thesis is to be embargoed, please specify the part and the reason. iii Abstract The aim of this thesis is twofold: it explores Giacomo Leopardi’s (1798-1837) interpretation of, and engagement with, Greek pessimistic thought and, through him, it investigates the complex and elusive phenomenon of Greek pessimistic thought itself. This thesis contends that Greek pessimistic thought – epitomised by but not limited to the famous wisdom of Silenus, the µὴ φῦναι topos – is an important element of Greek thought, a fundamental part of some of Greece’s greatest literary works, and a vital element in the understanding of Greek culture in general. Yet this aspect of ancient thought has not yet received the attention it deserves, and in the history of its interpretation it has often been forgotten, denied, or purposefully obliterated. Furthermore, the pessimistic side of Greek thought plays a crucial role in both the modern history of the interpretation of antiquity and the intellectual history of Europe; I argue that this history is fundamentally incomplete without the appreciation of Leopardi’s role in it. By his study of and engagement with ancient sources Leopardi contributed to the 19th century rediscovery of Greek pessimistic wisdom, alongside, though chronologically before, the likes of Arthur Schopenhauer, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Jacob Burckhardt. Having outlined some fundamental steps in the history of the reception of Greek pessimism, this thesis examines the cardinal components of Leopardi’s reception of it: his use of Greek conceptions of humanity to undermine modernity’s anthropocentric fallacy, his reinterpretation of the Homeric simile of the leaves and its pessimistic undertones, and his views on the idea that it would be best for man not to be born. iv A Silvia Munari, grande maestra, per il mio primo Leopardi. v Acknowledgments The most heartfelt thank you goes to my supervisor, Stephen Halliwell. I could not be more grateful for the chance of working on this topic and for the unwavering support, but I am most of all in awe of the matchless inspiration he has provided me with, fuelling so beautifully and continuously my passion for research. I am indebted to more people than I can mention for support, advice, and presence during these four years, first and foremost my family and grandparents, for their love, help, and presence, which no words can do justice to. I wish to thank in particular Nuria Scapin for the countless and fervent discussions on Greek thought and on the role of literature; Emanuele Dattilo and Anthony Ellis for their irreplaceable intellectual support; Elisabetta Grisendi, Giulia Sagliardi, and Raphaëla Dubreuil for their friendship, inspiration, and presence in these years. Many thanks also to my second supervisor Jon Hesk, for the generous help and availability throughout the PhD. A big thank you to the Classics crowds at the Universities of St Andrews and Edinburgh, to Davide Messina, Nicolò Maldina and Carlo Pirozzi at the Italian Department in Edinburgh, and to the marvellous people at 181 Bruntsfield Place. I am greatly indebted to my MSc supervisor, Michael Lurie, for sparking my interest in, and passion for, Leopardi’s connections with Greek pessimism. I also wish to thank Professor Glenn W. Most for his kind and extremely helpful advice during the initial stages of this thesis. Many thanks to Julia Smith, Nikoletta Manioti, and Ben Naylor for their help in the final stages of revision. My deepest gratitude goes to my partner Tom Mayo, whose continuous support cannot be put into words. vi A Philosophy as Old as Homer: Giacomo Leopardi and Greek Poetic Pessimism INTRODUCTION I. Leopardi and the Pessimistic Philosophy of Ancient Poetry..................................1 1. Poetry and Philosophy 2. The Philosophy of Ancient Poetry 3. Ancient Poetic Pessimism II. Literature, Methods, and Structure.........................................................................8 1. Research So Far, and Some Questions of Method 2. Structure CHAPTER 1 Τὸ µὲν δὴ πανταχοῦ θρυλούµενον: Modernity and Greek Pessimism I. An Old Question: The Greeks and Pessimism........................................................16 1. The Ancients on the Ancients: Towards a History of the µὴ φῦναι 2. Were the Greeks Pessimists? II. A Modern History of Ancient Pessimism...............................................................27 1. The Querelle Des Anciens et Des Modernes 2. Jean-Jacques Barthélemy: Moralism and the Disguise of Philosophy 3. A Different Tyranny: Pessimistic Greece in 19th Century Germany 4. Conclusion: Leopardi’s Role and the Destiny of Greek Pessimism CHAPTER 2 Animals and Humans, Animals on Humans.............................55 I. Leopardi and the Reception of Lucian.....................................................................58 1. Of Gods and Fish: Leopardi, Lucian, and Insightful Distance 2. “À la manière de Lucien”, “Alla maniera di Luciano” 3. Lucian and Leopardi, So Far II. Μύρµακες ἀνάριθµοι: Anthropocentrism and The Place of Man.......................69 1. Numberless and Insignificant 2. View from Vesuvius: La ginestra and the Trope of the Ants 3. Lucianic Mountains and Ancient Ants 4. Giving Things Names: Man’s Naming Obsession and What are Men? 5. Il Copernico: Heliocentrism and the Scala Naturae vii III. (Speaking) Animals and the Human Condition...................................................91 1. Life of Men, Life of Animals: Lucian’s Gallus 2. Homeric Comparatives and the “Preeminence of Unhappiness” CHAPTER 3 Oἵη περ φύλλων γενεή: Ancient Ideas of Ephemerality......................102 I. Leopardi and the Trope of the Leaves: From the First Homeric Readings to the Simonidean Translations (1809-1824) ......................................................................105 1. Germinating from the Sources: XLI and Botanical Language 2. Umana cosa picciol tempo dura: Brevity and Ephemerality 2.1. A New Verse: Οὐδὲν ἐν ἀνθρώποισι µένει χρῆµ’ ἔµπεδον αἰεί 2.2. Leaves and the Brevity of Human Life 2.3. “Umana cosa picciol tempo dura”: Leaves and the Precariousness of Human Life II. Ephemerality, the Operette, and the Zibaldone (from 1823) ..............................130 1. Ἐφήµερος, Pindar and Simonides – 1823-1824 2. Plants and Insects: The Zibaldone (1826-1827) III. Schopenhauer, Greek Leaves, and Leopardi.....................................................143 CHAPTER 4 Human Questions, Divine Answers: Silenic Wisdom and the Worth of Existence I. Leopardi and the µὴ φῦναι: Brief Notes on an Encounter...................................154 1. Biographical Data and Biblical Wisdom 2. The µὴ φῦναι: Existing Research, Barthélemy, and a Problem in Focus II. Greek Stories of Non-Existence.............................................................................161 1. Sappho, Existence, and Homeric Pessimism 2. “Favole” or the Art of Facing the Truth: A Note on Interpreting Fiction 2.1. Lucian’s Chiron: Anything But Life 2.2. Of Gods and Life: A Note on Divine Opinions 3. Pessimism and “Greekness”: a Thracian Anecdote 4. A Homeric Topos: Epic Wishes and the Questioning of Existence EPILOGUE.......................................................190 APPENDIX.......................................................193 BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................210 viii