Carlo Brillante | University of Siena / Università di Siena (original) (raw)
Books by Carlo Brillante
Il cantore e la Musa. Poesia e modelli culturali nella Grecia arcaica, 2009
Questi studi esaminano la figura del cantore tradizionale in rapporto alla cosidetta "poetica arc... more Questi studi esaminano la figura del cantore tradizionale in rapporto alla cosidetta "poetica arcaica", con richiamo alle finalità perseguite da questo genere di poesia e al tipo di conoscenza che permette di conseguire. Successivamente sono indagati i mutamenti che misero in crisi questo modello autorevole, già ben definito nella poesia omerica ed esiodea, secondo modalità riconoscibili nelle riflessioni sulla poesia già in età tardo-arcaica (Simonide, Pindaro, Bacchilide, Cherilo). A questi temi, che riguardano più da vicino la storia letteraria, se ne accompagnano altri che hanno per oggetto alcune note figure del mito greco. Essi costituiscono il naturale complemento alle affermazioni di poetica ricorrenti nei poemi, sulle quali la critica ha comprensibilmente indugiato più a lungo. Con questa esigenza si spiega l'inclusione nella ricerca non soltanto di personaggi quali Femio, Demodoco, Thamyris, ma anche del re trezenio Pittheus e dello stesso Hermes, cui la tradizione attribuiva l'invenzione della lira. Conclude il volume un saggio dedicato alla ripresa di questi temi in Democrito e nello Ione platonico. Pur nell’ambito di un ripensamento profondamente originale essi utilizzano ampiamente il tradizionale modello epico. Nell'appendice sono prese in esame varie tradizioni sui Telchini, figure mitiche primordiali caratterizzate da una marcata invidia, cui tuttavia si attribuiva un'importante realizzazione culturale: l'invenzione delle arti plastiche.
Papers by Carlo Brillante
La figura del cantore tradizionale (Omero, Esiodo). Poetica greca arcaica e tardo-arcaica. Platon... more La figura del cantore tradizionale (Omero, Esiodo). Poetica greca arcaica e tardo-arcaica. Platone, Ione. Il mito dei Telchini e l'origine delle arti
Quaderni Urbinati di Cultura Classica, 2022
This essay examines some basic topics in Aeschylus’ Agamemnon: the reasons why Clytemnestra wante... more This essay examines some basic topics in Aeschylus’ Agamemnon: the reasons why Clytemnestra wanted to kill her husband, the ways she adopted to achieve the murder, and the attempt to establish a new order within the οἶκος. This order is based on the agreement with Aegisthus, the man she chose as new husband and head of the family. In order to understand her plan, of great relevance is the long dispute with the chorus after the
discovery of the murder. In the course of the whole tragedy Clytemnestra shows a cunning and strong temper, necessary to achieve her project, as many critics observed, but her plan doesn’t imply a complete reversal of the traditional roles between man and woman within the οἶκος. In fact, her project requires the presence of Aegisthus as the new guardian of the familiar hearth (v. 1435 s.). This is the first attempt of reconciliation within the γένος after the sacrifice of Iphigeneia (severely condemned by Clytemnestra) and the murder of the king. But although Clytemnestra
pursues her well-reasoned plan with cleverness and resolution, this cannot
have a positive issue.
Quaderni Urbinati di Cultura Classica, 2022
In this essay I will examine the meaning of the name “Homer” in Simonides’ poetry and his new app... more In this essay I will examine the meaning of the name “Homer” in Simonides’ poetry and his new approach to Homeric poems in comparison with the performances of rhapsodes in late archaic Greece. The elegy for the victory of Plataea against Persians (fr. 11 W.2) is important also for a new examination of this topic. In this composition the name of “Homer”
is introduced as “character” and as “authority”. The heroes who took part in the Trojan war are not famous because of the action of poetry in handing down fame to posterity, as in the traditional model, but for the qualities of a particular singer (v. 15: ἀν[δρὸς] ἕκητι), who gave a reliable and final account of the achievements of the Achaeans at Troy (v. 17: πᾶσαν ἀλη]θείην, according to West’s restoration, generally accepted). A comparison with the contemporary rhapsodic practice will be useful to explain Simonides’ innovation. The rhapsodes and in particular the
Homeridai of Chios presented themselves as the legitimate heirs of Homer and claimed a strong continuity in the performance of the poems ascribed to him. When performing Homer the rhapsode played the part of Homer, so long as the performance lasted. A new analysis of the sphragis of the Homeric Hymn to Apollo requires distinguishing the character of the ancient singer (Homer) and the one of the contemporary rhapsode: both are “present” and working in the context of the Delian festival. In Simonides’ poetry this relationship and contiguity with “Homer” are nearly absent. The authority of the ancient singer and the high quality of his
verses are not in question, but there is no continuity with the great singer who definitely belongs to the past. As far as we can judge on the basis of the testimonies and other fragments (both elegiac and lyric), Simonides’ appraisal of “Homer” is grounded on a more objective analysis, on the comparison with other poets (Hesiod, Stesichorus), and finally on his personal judgment of the quality of Homer’s verses.
In this essay I will examine the different versions of Ajax' death in the poems of the epic c... more In this essay I will examine the different versions of Ajax' death in the poems of the epic cycle (Aithiopis, Little Iliad), and in Sophocles' tragedy. In this context I will deal with many themes with special reference to Homer and Pindar, but the main aim of this study is to exploit the meaning of the changes in the plot and the development in the characterization of the protagonist in Sophocles' tragedy. As far as we know, the events in the Aithiopis were quite simple. The madness of Ajax showed itself just after the verdict of the Achaean leaders. According to Arktinos the first signs of the hero's madness probably didn't mean a complete lack of the correct exercise of the thought. In the Little Iliad, a more recent epic poem in which characters are quite far from following the traditional heroic code, we can recognise two elements which probably were an innovation: the part of Athena as a determinant presence for the madness of Ajax and the slaughter of the ...
Il sogno di Clitennestra nell'Orestea di Stesicoro e nelle Coefore di Eschilo, 2018
This essay examines Clytaemestra’s painful dream in the versions of Stesichorus (fr. 217 Page = 1... more This essay examines Clytaemestra’s painful dream in the versions of Stesichorus (fr. 217 Page = 180 Davies-Finglass) and Aeschylus (Cho. 526-539). In Stesichorus’ fragment Agamemnon’s soul coming to visit Clytaemestra shows the features of a revenger daemon (Erinys), who often presents, both in literature and in figurative art, the shape of a snake. As for the second verse of the fragment, many arguments suggest that the “Plisthenid king” is Agamemnon and not Orestes. Aeschylus resumes many traits of the stesichorean version (the snake to symbolize the revenger, the distressful character of the experience), but the meaning of the dream is basically different. While the stesichorean dream leans toward the past (the coming back of the dead to ask for revenge), the aeschylean one foreshadows a threatening future. Of great interest along the whole tragedy is the symbol of the snake and of his different species (δράκων, ἔχιδνα), which are used to portray aptitudes and behaviours of both Orestes and Clytaemestra
In this essay I examine the chapter of Thucydides’ Histories where the historian tries to explain... more In this essay I examine the chapter of Thucydides’ Histories where the historian tries to explain the qualities Themistocles showed in his political career by solving complex problems and reaching at the same time a great success (1, 138). According to Thucydides, Themistocles showed great intelligence and skill in many ways, and his qualities were agreed upon by his contemporaries. In this chapter the historian tries to give a rational analysis of these qualities, making use of concepts such as σύνεσις, γνώμη, and also emphasising the natural qualities of his mind: he was at the same time κράτιστος γνώμων for the present and ἄριστος εἰκαστής for the future. On one hand, Themistocles shows the traditional qualities of a man endowed with μῆτις, on the other, those shared by the best contemporaries as Pericles. In any case Thucydides emphasises the peculiar qualities of this exceptional man, who cannot be compared to any one of his time
La NOSOS di Aiace (a proposito di Soph. Ai. 654-659), 2013
Abstract: In this study I reexamine the ll. 654-659 of Sophocles' Ajax. The hero shows th... more Abstract: In this study I reexamine the ll. 654-659 of Sophocles' Ajax. The hero shows the intention of going to the sea shore to purify his body and to appease Athena's wrath. According to a general opinion the origins of impurity are due to his killing of animals when he was victim of the madness sent by Athena. Yet this motivation does not seem sound because the killing of animals is not a good reason to cause pollution. A new analysis of these lines and the comparison with the iliadic episode where the Achaean army celebrates a similar rite after the plague sent by Apollo and the restitution of Chryseid to her father (Il. I 312-317) require a different explanation. Ajax presents his project as the consequence of Athena's wrath and of the sickness (nosos) sent by the goddess who corrupted his mind. Rites of purification are presented as necessary in order to eliminate any trace of dirt and to get a decisive rescue after the crisis.
Brillante Carlo. L'interpretazione dei sogni nel sistema di Erofilo. In: Mélanges Pierre Lévê... more Brillante Carlo. L'interpretazione dei sogni nel sistema di Erofilo. In: Mélanges Pierre Lévêque. Tome 4 : Religion. Besançon : Université de Franche-Comté, 1990. pp. 79-87. (Annales littéraires de l'Université de Besançon, 413
M. Bresciani Califano (cur.), Sogno e sogni. Natura, storia, immaginazione, 2005
La voce della Musa. Suoi caratteri e funzioni in rapporto alla figura del poeta e alla poesia gre... more La voce della Musa. Suoi caratteri e funzioni in rapporto alla figura del poeta e alla poesia greca arcaica
Il cantore e la Musa. Poesia e modelli culturali nella Grecia arcaica, 2009
Questi studi esaminano la figura del cantore tradizionale in rapporto alla cosidetta "poetica arc... more Questi studi esaminano la figura del cantore tradizionale in rapporto alla cosidetta "poetica arcaica", con richiamo alle finalità perseguite da questo genere di poesia e al tipo di conoscenza che permette di conseguire. Successivamente sono indagati i mutamenti che misero in crisi questo modello autorevole, già ben definito nella poesia omerica ed esiodea, secondo modalità riconoscibili nelle riflessioni sulla poesia già in età tardo-arcaica (Simonide, Pindaro, Bacchilide, Cherilo). A questi temi, che riguardano più da vicino la storia letteraria, se ne accompagnano altri che hanno per oggetto alcune note figure del mito greco. Essi costituiscono il naturale complemento alle affermazioni di poetica ricorrenti nei poemi, sulle quali la critica ha comprensibilmente indugiato più a lungo. Con questa esigenza si spiega l'inclusione nella ricerca non soltanto di personaggi quali Femio, Demodoco, Thamyris, ma anche del re trezenio Pittheus e dello stesso Hermes, cui la tradizione attribuiva l'invenzione della lira. Conclude il volume un saggio dedicato alla ripresa di questi temi in Democrito e nello Ione platonico. Pur nell’ambito di un ripensamento profondamente originale essi utilizzano ampiamente il tradizionale modello epico. Nell'appendice sono prese in esame varie tradizioni sui Telchini, figure mitiche primordiali caratterizzate da una marcata invidia, cui tuttavia si attribuiva un'importante realizzazione culturale: l'invenzione delle arti plastiche.
La figura del cantore tradizionale (Omero, Esiodo). Poetica greca arcaica e tardo-arcaica. Platon... more La figura del cantore tradizionale (Omero, Esiodo). Poetica greca arcaica e tardo-arcaica. Platone, Ione. Il mito dei Telchini e l'origine delle arti
Quaderni Urbinati di Cultura Classica, 2022
This essay examines some basic topics in Aeschylus’ Agamemnon: the reasons why Clytemnestra wante... more This essay examines some basic topics in Aeschylus’ Agamemnon: the reasons why Clytemnestra wanted to kill her husband, the ways she adopted to achieve the murder, and the attempt to establish a new order within the οἶκος. This order is based on the agreement with Aegisthus, the man she chose as new husband and head of the family. In order to understand her plan, of great relevance is the long dispute with the chorus after the
discovery of the murder. In the course of the whole tragedy Clytemnestra shows a cunning and strong temper, necessary to achieve her project, as many critics observed, but her plan doesn’t imply a complete reversal of the traditional roles between man and woman within the οἶκος. In fact, her project requires the presence of Aegisthus as the new guardian of the familiar hearth (v. 1435 s.). This is the first attempt of reconciliation within the γένος after the sacrifice of Iphigeneia (severely condemned by Clytemnestra) and the murder of the king. But although Clytemnestra
pursues her well-reasoned plan with cleverness and resolution, this cannot
have a positive issue.
Quaderni Urbinati di Cultura Classica, 2022
In this essay I will examine the meaning of the name “Homer” in Simonides’ poetry and his new app... more In this essay I will examine the meaning of the name “Homer” in Simonides’ poetry and his new approach to Homeric poems in comparison with the performances of rhapsodes in late archaic Greece. The elegy for the victory of Plataea against Persians (fr. 11 W.2) is important also for a new examination of this topic. In this composition the name of “Homer”
is introduced as “character” and as “authority”. The heroes who took part in the Trojan war are not famous because of the action of poetry in handing down fame to posterity, as in the traditional model, but for the qualities of a particular singer (v. 15: ἀν[δρὸς] ἕκητι), who gave a reliable and final account of the achievements of the Achaeans at Troy (v. 17: πᾶσαν ἀλη]θείην, according to West’s restoration, generally accepted). A comparison with the contemporary rhapsodic practice will be useful to explain Simonides’ innovation. The rhapsodes and in particular the
Homeridai of Chios presented themselves as the legitimate heirs of Homer and claimed a strong continuity in the performance of the poems ascribed to him. When performing Homer the rhapsode played the part of Homer, so long as the performance lasted. A new analysis of the sphragis of the Homeric Hymn to Apollo requires distinguishing the character of the ancient singer (Homer) and the one of the contemporary rhapsode: both are “present” and working in the context of the Delian festival. In Simonides’ poetry this relationship and contiguity with “Homer” are nearly absent. The authority of the ancient singer and the high quality of his
verses are not in question, but there is no continuity with the great singer who definitely belongs to the past. As far as we can judge on the basis of the testimonies and other fragments (both elegiac and lyric), Simonides’ appraisal of “Homer” is grounded on a more objective analysis, on the comparison with other poets (Hesiod, Stesichorus), and finally on his personal judgment of the quality of Homer’s verses.
In this essay I will examine the different versions of Ajax' death in the poems of the epic c... more In this essay I will examine the different versions of Ajax' death in the poems of the epic cycle (Aithiopis, Little Iliad), and in Sophocles' tragedy. In this context I will deal with many themes with special reference to Homer and Pindar, but the main aim of this study is to exploit the meaning of the changes in the plot and the development in the characterization of the protagonist in Sophocles' tragedy. As far as we know, the events in the Aithiopis were quite simple. The madness of Ajax showed itself just after the verdict of the Achaean leaders. According to Arktinos the first signs of the hero's madness probably didn't mean a complete lack of the correct exercise of the thought. In the Little Iliad, a more recent epic poem in which characters are quite far from following the traditional heroic code, we can recognise two elements which probably were an innovation: the part of Athena as a determinant presence for the madness of Ajax and the slaughter of the ...
Il sogno di Clitennestra nell'Orestea di Stesicoro e nelle Coefore di Eschilo, 2018
This essay examines Clytaemestra’s painful dream in the versions of Stesichorus (fr. 217 Page = 1... more This essay examines Clytaemestra’s painful dream in the versions of Stesichorus (fr. 217 Page = 180 Davies-Finglass) and Aeschylus (Cho. 526-539). In Stesichorus’ fragment Agamemnon’s soul coming to visit Clytaemestra shows the features of a revenger daemon (Erinys), who often presents, both in literature and in figurative art, the shape of a snake. As for the second verse of the fragment, many arguments suggest that the “Plisthenid king” is Agamemnon and not Orestes. Aeschylus resumes many traits of the stesichorean version (the snake to symbolize the revenger, the distressful character of the experience), but the meaning of the dream is basically different. While the stesichorean dream leans toward the past (the coming back of the dead to ask for revenge), the aeschylean one foreshadows a threatening future. Of great interest along the whole tragedy is the symbol of the snake and of his different species (δράκων, ἔχιδνα), which are used to portray aptitudes and behaviours of both Orestes and Clytaemestra
In this essay I examine the chapter of Thucydides’ Histories where the historian tries to explain... more In this essay I examine the chapter of Thucydides’ Histories where the historian tries to explain the qualities Themistocles showed in his political career by solving complex problems and reaching at the same time a great success (1, 138). According to Thucydides, Themistocles showed great intelligence and skill in many ways, and his qualities were agreed upon by his contemporaries. In this chapter the historian tries to give a rational analysis of these qualities, making use of concepts such as σύνεσις, γνώμη, and also emphasising the natural qualities of his mind: he was at the same time κράτιστος γνώμων for the present and ἄριστος εἰκαστής for the future. On one hand, Themistocles shows the traditional qualities of a man endowed with μῆτις, on the other, those shared by the best contemporaries as Pericles. In any case Thucydides emphasises the peculiar qualities of this exceptional man, who cannot be compared to any one of his time
La NOSOS di Aiace (a proposito di Soph. Ai. 654-659), 2013
Abstract: In this study I reexamine the ll. 654-659 of Sophocles' Ajax. The hero shows th... more Abstract: In this study I reexamine the ll. 654-659 of Sophocles' Ajax. The hero shows the intention of going to the sea shore to purify his body and to appease Athena's wrath. According to a general opinion the origins of impurity are due to his killing of animals when he was victim of the madness sent by Athena. Yet this motivation does not seem sound because the killing of animals is not a good reason to cause pollution. A new analysis of these lines and the comparison with the iliadic episode where the Achaean army celebrates a similar rite after the plague sent by Apollo and the restitution of Chryseid to her father (Il. I 312-317) require a different explanation. Ajax presents his project as the consequence of Athena's wrath and of the sickness (nosos) sent by the goddess who corrupted his mind. Rites of purification are presented as necessary in order to eliminate any trace of dirt and to get a decisive rescue after the crisis.
Brillante Carlo. L'interpretazione dei sogni nel sistema di Erofilo. In: Mélanges Pierre Lévê... more Brillante Carlo. L'interpretazione dei sogni nel sistema di Erofilo. In: Mélanges Pierre Lévêque. Tome 4 : Religion. Besançon : Université de Franche-Comté, 1990. pp. 79-87. (Annales littéraires de l'Université de Besançon, 413
M. Bresciani Califano (cur.), Sogno e sogni. Natura, storia, immaginazione, 2005
La voce della Musa. Suoi caratteri e funzioni in rapporto alla figura del poeta e alla poesia gre... more La voce della Musa. Suoi caratteri e funzioni in rapporto alla figura del poeta e alla poesia greca arcaica
Gaia : revue interdisciplinaire sur la Grèce Archaïque, 2015
Time and Memory According to Simonides (fr. 645 ; fr. adesp. 947 P.) ; This essay examines two pa... more Time and Memory According to Simonides (fr. 645 ; fr. adesp. 947 P.) ; This essay examines two passages from Aristotle’s Physics and the commentary of Simplicius, in which Simonides’ ideas about memory and time are compared with those of the Pythagoreans. These judgements presuppose two completely different ideas about the meaning of memory and consequently about the functions of time in the achievement of knowledge. These marked differences are probably at the origins of the episode which, according to the biographical tradition, took place in Olympia, probably on the occasion of the Olympian games. Simonides’ text (fr. 645 P.) is then compared to the fr. adesp. 947 P., a quotation from a lyric poet which can be quite certainly ascribed to Simonides. The work of the Muse who “ does not taste only the present but goes forward harvesting all things” shows important differences not only from the Pyhagorean model but also from the Homeric one and emphasizes the function of the time in the new Simonidean poetics.
Il controverso nóstos di Agamennone nell'Odissea (IV 512-522), 2005
Riesame del passo dell'Odissea sul nostos di Agamennone (IV, 512-522). Attraverso un riesame ... more Riesame del passo dell'Odissea sul nostos di Agamennone (IV, 512-522). Attraverso un riesame dei testi epici e di alcuni luoghi dell' Elettra di Euripide che fanno riferimento alle terre possedute da Egisto, si propone una ricostruzione del percorso seguito da Agamennone nel viaggio di ritorno in Argolide
Quaderni Urbinati di Cultura Classica, 1987
... 136) non accoglie la propo sta di Wilamowitz, mentre Bowra (Oxford 19472, frr. 115, 116) sepa... more ... 136) non accoglie la propo sta di Wilamowitz, mentre Bowra (Oxford 19472, frr. 115, 116) separa il primo verso dai successivi. ... scindere dall'etimologia proposta, risulta nel complesso corretta 19: xeXex?? 8? xaXo?[xev x?? ext [xet'?ou?; xai ?xex? xtvo? [xuaxtxfj? 7tapa8oaeco? ...