BMCR 2013.07.17 on he BMCR blog
B yn Maw Classical Re iew 2013.07.17
Se gio Audano, Classici le o i di classici. Da Vi gilio a Ma gue i e
You cena . Echo, 8. Foggia: Edizioni II Cas ello, 2012. Pp. 314.
ISBN 9788865720806. €20.00 (pb).
Re iewed by Rod igo Ve ano, Uni e sidad de Se illa ( e [email protected])
[The able o con en s is lis ed a he end o he e iew.]
This book by Se gio Audano b ings oge he six essays and h ee sho no es [“no e di
le u a”] conce ning he ecep ion o Classical li e a u e om a numbe o
pe spec i es. I is he eigh h olume o he se ies Echo (Collana di s udi e commen i
di e a da Gio ani Cip iani). Acco ding o he au ho ’s wo ds, a numbe o he pape s
he e included had been o me ly published and a e now he subjec o a mo e
ho ough e iew.
The opics de eloped h oughou he di e en chap e s a e mani old and a ied, bu
all o hem may be said o deal wi h he o une (o mis o une) o classical ex s in
hei jou ney h ough he highs and lows o Wes e n his o y, conside ing he ways in
which hey ha e been ead and, some imes, mis ead, in o de o a ou ce ain
ending ideologies o indi idual in e es s p e alen in hose imes. F om he single
Vi gilian e se ha depa s om i s o iginal con ex and a els in he shape o a
sen en ia, up o he usage o he impe ial my h o Rome o suppo he ascis
in e wa discou se, e e y chap e o his book con ains a li le s o y in which
li e a u e is no me ely a subjec , bu a he he main cha ac e pe o ming an ac i e
ole.
The i s chap e ocuses on he in e p e a ion and ecep ion o a well-known e se o
Vi gil: in en as au qui i am excolue e pe a is (Aen. 6.663), a ibu e o a is s —
in a wide sense o he wo d — as hose alen ed men who con ibu e wi h hei
c ea i i y o ennoble he human condi ion. As he in e p e a ion o he s a emen
does lend i sel o di icul y ( o he dei ied s a us o a is s sugges ed by his passage
does no easily ha monize wi h Vi gil’s mind), Audano p o ides in he i s pa o
his chap e an impo an numbe o pa allel con ex s ( om Cice o, Luc e ius, and
Vi gil’s Geo gics), shedding ligh on some hidden in e ex ual dialogues ha help o
cla i y such a puzzling ques ion. Mo eo e , he exposi ion highligh s some o he
salien poin s in e ms o he his o ical ecep ion o his e se, om Seneca and Silius
I alicus o Dan e and Pe a ch. A sho no e conce ning i s use in he Nobel P izes’
mo o b ings he chap e o a close.
The second chap e also ollows he jou ney o a single e se ex ac ed om i s
o iginal place and sp ead as an isola ed sen ence: ince amo pa iae laudumque
inmensa cupido (Aen. 6.823). As Audano s a es, he e se cen es a ound an issue —
B u us’ pa icide and he es ablishmen o Roman Republic — ha becomes a ma e
o his o ical judgmen so ha he his o y o he in e p e a ion o his passage mo es
necessa ily oge he wi h he ideologies employed in e e y case o acili a e suppo .
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The hi d chap e o Audano’s book con inues he second one, a ending o some o
he mos impo an names in ol ed in his his o ical p ocess o exegesis: Augus ine,
Thomas, Machia elli, Ba oli and Al ie i.
Chap e ou is de o ed solely o Massimo d’Azeglio’s (1798-1866) memo ies, I miei
ico di, an au obiog aphical wo k ha gi es ise o a wide ange o mo al
conside a ions and poli ical e lec ions conce ning he new concep o I aly. Audano
unde akes an analy ical app oach o di e en passages o d’Azeglio’s no es,
ocusing on he discussion o he iew o he ‘Classic’ in ca holic educa ion and he
ole o ancien Rome om he s andpoin and mindse o a poli ician and commi ed
in ellec ual, g owing up in he mids o Eu opean de elopmen s cen ed on
na ionalism o ha e a.
Mo ing o wa d again in ime, chap e i e s udies he wo k o he Jewish-I alian
w i e Ca lo Le i, a no o ious opponen o Mussolini’s egime condemned o li e in
exile in a small illage in sou he n I aly. Audano’s de ailed analysis o Le i’s main
wo k, Ch is o si è e ma o a Eboli, shows wi h cla i y how he w i e uses he
Vi gilian backg ound o exempli y an an i-my h o Rome. Thus, agains he poli ical
app op ia ion o he impe ial his o y o Rome, as well as i s my hical appa a us, by
he suppo e s o Mussolini’s go e nmen , Le i emphasizes he s ange condi ion o
he T ojan he o — a o eign conque o , an in ade — and de ends he local
Volksgeis o he sou he n illage s as he only hei s o au hen ic I aly, in opposi ion
o he ascis impe ialis speech g ounded on he legend o Aeneas and he hegemony
o Rome wi hin he Augus an pe iod.
Chap e six e u ns o compa a i e li e a u e, and aces he es iges o He acli us’
philosophy in he pages o Ma gue i e You cena ’s Mémoi es d’Had ien. Audano
po ays a splendid analysis o he complex in e ex ual ela ionships be ween he
F ench no elis and he G eek philosophe , in he middle o which s ands he igu e
— om bo h his o ical and ic ional pe spec i es — o he Roman empe o . The
pic u e is comple ed by he addi ion o he S oic adi ion and i s eading o he
He acli ean legacy in he imes o Had ian, a ecep ion phenomenon o which
You cena , a decla ed admi e o Zeno’s philosophy, was ce ainly awa e.
Th ee mino eading no es close he book, all somehow ela ed o consola o y
li e a u e, Audano’s a o i e heme. All h ee exhibi an in elligen exe cise o
compa ison o he be e unde s anding o hese ex s and a e de ini ely wo h
eading. The olume includes a gene al bibliog aphy ollowed by an index loco um.
A numbe o inaccu a e e e ences wi hin he index a e hen co ec ed by he au ho
h ough he means o an e a a no e.
The pages o Classici le o i de classici a e an in i a ion o expe ience imme sion
in o he inne dialogue es ablished by li e a u e ac oss ime. The in o med eade will
ind an e udi e analysis o sou ces and an in ense app oach o he use o he
quo a ion and i s alues in he cons uc ion o li e a y iden i ies. The eade , in u n,
will disco e a window h ough which appea he nume ous ela ions ha lou ish
be ween ex s om di e en pe iods and ends. Fo li e a u e is bu one single
s eam in which he many oices o hose who ha e e e aken pa ne e ade o
silence.
Table o Con en s
P e azione di Gio anni Cip iani (pp. 5-7)
P emessa (pp. 9-18)
Saggi:
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1. Genesi e o una di un e so i giliano: Inuen as au qui ui am excolue e pe a is
(Aen. 6, 663) (pp. 21-64)
2. B u o e il longo pe co so di una sen en ia i giliana: Vince amo pa iae
laudumque immensa cupido (Aen. 6, 823) – P ima pa e (pp. 65-86)
3. B u o e il longo pe co so di una sen en ia i giliana: Vince amo pa iae
laudumque immensa cupido (Aen. 6, 823) – Seconda pa e (pp. 87-162)
4. Legge e l’an ico dopo Al ie i: le ambigui à di Massimo d’Azeglio ne I miei ico di
(pp. 163-194)
5. Mi o e an imi o di Roma nella ques ione me idionale: iusi i giliani nel C is o si è
e ma o a Eboli di Ca lo Le i (pp. 195-223)
6. E acli o e ’e e no i o no nei Mémoi es d’Had ien di Ma gue i e You cena (pp.
225-242)
No e di le u a:
1. Gli eccessi smaniosi del dolo e: iuso epig amma ico di un opos consola o io (pp.
245-251)
2. Due no a su Pe a ca e il gene e consola o io (pp. 253-267)
3. Sac a p o anis misce e: sugges ioni luc eziane nel es o di un mo e o sac o di
Nicolò Po po a (pp. 269-277)
No a bibliog a ica
Indice sele i o dei passi ci a i
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