Brucia il classico alla prova del tempo. Editoriale di Engramma 215

”Brucia il classico alla prova del tempo” (Burning classics in the test of time) is a title that projects an image charged with a double and antinomian energy. The classics that burn – in a literary, linguistic, archaeological, artistic, philosophical, and anthropological sense – bring into play not only the objects of study or reflection, but also the position, methods and commitment of those who study the classics or come into contact with these images and myths. The Cancel Culture movement – perhaps already on the wane – believes that the classics and the methods of teaching them in universities are a privileged instrument of cultural discrimination. They draw a distinction between us, who can recall the thought and art of ancient Greeks and Romans, and them, who cannot boast of the same ‘prestigious’ lineage. Many of the most important texts of those ancient cultures are imbued with politically incorrect thoughts and images and, by their dissemination in the history of science, lie at the root of all modern criteria of inferiority and exclusion of 'others': women, slaves, and barbarians, all perceived as non-Greeks on the basis of their language, a swallow's chirp for the Greek ear, skin colour, physical constitution, too wet or too dry. Is the burning of ancient books what the title suggests? Or, rather, does the title suggest a funeral pyre of interpretations accumulated over the centuries, which have forced the texts into a deliberate idealisation of everything – words, images, and artefacts – that comes to us from the Greeks and Romans? Is it the classics that must burn in the test of time, or the readings of the classics that ignite under the pressure of new questions? Are the classics, perhaps, by their very nature, fuel? But fuel for what? Perhaps the burning of the classics can make us think about the fuel needed to burn something else, or the fire that can burn those who approach this still-glowing matter. Issue 215 of Engramma delves into this theme. We have asked our contributors to respond to what the title suggests, each with their own approaches and modes. We have divided the issue into three parts. Section I: Essays; Section II: Material on the INDA performances at the Greek Theatre of Syracuse; Section III: Interviews, presentations, readings. Section I presents Elena Sofia Capra’s contribution, "Pace è solo una parola. Come Platone decostruisce la fine della guerra del Peloponneso nel Menesseno"; Michele Nardelli’s article "Il nomen Alexandri tra Giustino, Trogo, Livio e Timagene"; Annalisa Lavoro’s contribution "Le fonti antiche sul pesce esoceto"; Federica Marinoni’s essay "Tra le carte dei Sette contro Tebe. La messinscena del 1937 nei documenti d’archivio"; Guido Morpurgo’s contribution, "Tre anelli. Paul Marie Letarouilly, Les Édifices de Rome Moderne (1831-1870)"; Delphine Lauritzen’s essay, "L’Iliade, ce brûlot: l’actualité paradigmatique de La guerre de Troie n’aura pas lieu de Jean Giraudoux"; "Cancellare (e riscrivere) Omero. L’Odissea e i classici ‘bruciati’ da Isgrò", by Martina Treu; "Ri-nascere dal Classico: un recente impiego di Botticelli in ambito pubblicitario", by Ludovica Bosco. Section II updates the "Regesto degli spettacoli INDA 1914-2024", edited by Alessandra Pedersoli; it also includes a methodological note, "In cerca di Dioniso. Per una schedatura integrata degli spettacoli INDA", edited by Seminario catanese, which presents the methods for searching and organising materials in the various archives; and finally presents two files, edited by Carla Anzaldi, on the "Prometeo Incatenato, 1954 and the Prometeo, 1994". Section III, Interviews, Presentations, Readings, includes the presentation of "Fragmentary Greek Drama", the new series published by “L’Erma di Bretschneider” edited by Monica Centanni and Paolo B. Cipolla; "Uno e molteplice, a presentation of Synesius of Cyrene, Complete Works", edited by Francesco Monticini; "De Martino, Macchioro e Warburg, the presentation of the new edition of 'I greci selvaggi' by Riccardo Di Donato", edited by Piermario Vescovo; "Herlitzka, Lucrezio, la morte. In memoriam", a tribute to Roberto Herlitzka not only as one of the greatest Italian actors, but also as the translator of Lucretius’ poem, a poet in his own right. Nadia Terranova’s interview with Adriana Cavarero, "Tra ζωή e βίος. Donne che allattano cuccioli di lupo"; and "Il nome segreto della politica", by Peppe Nanni, a presentation of Donatella Di Cesare’s volume Democrazia e anarchia. Il potere nella polis.