This paper focuses on the symbolic dimension of Vesuvius in the Middle Ages, with particular reference to its characterisation as a place devoted to the punishment of the sinners. Starting from a comparison with Etna, a volcano that enjoyed a more deeply rooted "infernal" tradition, the sources examined (ranging from Jordanes to Pier Damiani) are analysed not so much to retrace the chronological succession of Campania volcano’s eruptions as to highlight how lava became an effective metaphor for interpreting the moral sense of reality. The magmatic spectacles, in fact, had contributed to making Vesuvius a popular literary topos for representing infernal punishments, although the damage caused by its eruptions was also well known, and these destructive events had also contributed to the creation of legends.
Questo articolo focalizza la dimensione simbolica del Vesuvio in età medievale, con particolare riferimento alla sua caratterizzazione quale luogo destinato alla punizione dei peccatori. Prendendo le mosse dal confronto con l’Etna, vulcano che godeva di una ben più radicata tradizione “infernale”, le fonti prese in esame (che spaziano da Jordanes a Pier Damiani) vengono analizzate non già per ripercorrere la successione cronologica delle eruzioni del vulcano campano quanto per porre in risalto come la lava divenisse un’efficace metafora per interpretare il senso morale della realtà. Gli spettacoli magmatici, infatti, avevano contribuito a far divenire il Vesuvio un apprezzato topos letterario per rappresentare le pene infernali, nondimeno erano anche ben noti i danni provocati dalle sue eruzioni, eventi distruttivi che avevano anch’essi contributo a far sorgere delle leggende.
Aetnaei ignis imitator. An excursus on Vesuvius in the medieval imagination [AETNAEI IGNIS IMITATOR UN EXCURSUS SUL VESUVIO NELL’IMMAGINARIO MEDIEVALE]
Emanuele Piazza
2023-01-01
Abstract
This paper focuses on the symbolic dimension of Vesuvius in the Middle Ages, with particular reference to its characterisation as a place devoted to the punishment of the sinners. Starting from a comparison with Etna, a volcano that enjoyed a more deeply rooted "infernal" tradition, the sources examined (ranging from Jordanes to Pier Damiani) are analysed not so much to retrace the chronological succession of Campania volcano’s eruptions as to highlight how lava became an effective metaphor for interpreting the moral sense of reality. The magmatic spectacles, in fact, had contributed to making Vesuvius a popular literary topos for representing infernal punishments, although the damage caused by its eruptions was also well known, and these destructive events had also contributed to the creation of legends.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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Piazza Emanuele (Articolo) - Aetnaei ignis imitator. Un excursus sul Vesuvio nell’immaginario medievale.pdf
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