Gli antipodi, il fulmine e i Centauri: le citazioni di Lucrezio nel Saggio sopra gli errori popolari di Leopardi

Abstract

This article examines the presence of Lucretius’ De rerum natura in Giacomo Leopardi’s early work Saggio sopra gli errori popolari degli antichi. After a general overview of the reception of Lucretius in the text, the analysis focuses on a selection of quotations from chapters 12-14 and 16. The analysis has shown that Leopardi’s knowledge of Lucretius’ text is mediated in each case studied by intermediate sources from which the quotations are systematically extracted. The aim of the article is to better understand the way in which Leopardi receives Lucretius in the Saggio by emphasising both the variety of sources used and the complexity of their layering. Ultimately, this approach has made it possible to reconstruct complex and multi-layered reading paths and to illuminate the crucial role played by the mediation of philosophical sources (such as Gassendi’s Syntagma) as well as scholarly compilations (including Forcellini’s Lexicon, Graevius’ Thesaurus and the works of Merus).