Monographs by Vincenzo Damiani
Beiträge zur Altertumskunde, 2021
Across several texts, Epicurus memorably and accessibly summarizes his doctrines. This study syst... more Across several texts, Epicurus memorably and accessibly summarizes his doctrines. This study systematically analyzes Epicurus’ acts of summary, thereby closing a long-standing scholarly lacuna. To this end, a review of existing research is followed by an analysis of the terminology used in antiquity to designate philosophical and scientific compendia. The Epicurean sources are then surveyed chronologically. In two further chapters, Epicurean compendia are discussed in the broader context of ancient philosophical summaries. Their patterns of genre are illuminated not only on the basis of Epicurus’ own remarks but through related texts, in which authors explain the principles undergirding their own ‘poetics of abridgement’. The concluding chapter advances an updated summary of Epicurus’ fragmentary "On Nature", interpreting his compendia not merely as sources for reconstructing the main treatise, but as texts with literary value in their own right. This monograph therefore provides the first complete presentation of Epicurean philosophical compendia, arguing for an interpretation of the rhetoric of philosophical texts while also being informed by metaliterary details afforded by other ancient sources.
Papers by Vincenzo Damiani
T. Raiola, A. Roselli (ed.): Nell'officina del filologo. Studi sui testi e i loro lettori. Per Ivan Garofalo. Pisa/Roma, 2022
Taking an illuminating passage from Andreas Vesalius’ Epitome of his De humani corporis fabrica a... more Taking an illuminating passage from Andreas Vesalius’ Epitome of his De humani corporis fabrica as a starting point, I show in this paper how Epicurus and Galen used the technique of self-epitomisation to effectively convey information to different categories of recipients. Unlike Galen, Epicurus does not directly criticise the genre of didactic compendia – rather, he offers a reflection on the genre and attempts to illustrate its formal characteristics. While Galen distinguishes between «epitome», «introduction» and «treatise», Epicurus combines the functions of epitome and introduction into a single text type. In self-epitomising, both Epicurus and Galen revise their own writings according to specific communicative principles, strive to build up a reading canon, and aim at clarity of instruction by observing the correspondence between λέξεις and πράγματα. The hypothesis is put forward that Galen, despite his fundamentally critical attitude towards Epicurean philosophy, may have regarded Epicurus as a model in terms of strategies of didactic communication.
Traces of Ink. Experiences of Philology and Replication, 2021
This paper provides a brief survey of the latest research concerning the types and chemical chara... more This paper provides a brief survey of the latest research concerning the types and chemical characteristics of the ink used in the Graeco-Latin papyri from Herculaneum. According to the communis opinio, the Herculaneum inks are no exception to the wide- spread use of carbon black ink in antiquity. This position has been recently revised on the basis of studies that use X-Ray Phase Contrast Tomography (XPCT) to show a sig- nificant presence of lead in the ink of some fragments. This important discovery allows for the possibility of using lead as a contrast agent in order to distinguish the writing from the support in still rolled volumina through exposure to synchrotron light.
Atomism in Philosophy: A History from Antiquity to the Present, 2020
Adressat und Adressant in antiken Briefen, 2020
Based on the analysis of various letters of dedication by Archimedes of Syracuse and Apollonios o... more Based on the analysis of various letters of dedication by Archimedes of Syracuse and Apollonios of Perge, as well as the prefaces of letters by Seneca and Diogenes of Oenoanda, the essay illustrates the strategies used by authors of ancient scientific and philosophical literature to strengthen their relationship with the recipient or to portray themselves as authors.
Syzetesis - Semestrale di filosofia, 2019
Parole Rubate – Fascicolo N. 19 | Purloined Letters – Issue N. 19, 2019
This article offers a classification of various forms and types of intratextuality in Epicurus’ w... more This article offers a classification of various forms and types of intratextuality in Epicurus’ work. Starting from the main distinction between external and internal references to/within a text, this analysis focuses on didactic and argumentative structures as well as linguistic peculiarities. This survey seeks to clarify to what extent the study of self-quotation contributes to the reconstruction of fragmented texts and corpora, but also how Epicurus aims to establish a canon precisely through intra-authorial references.
DHd 2019 – Digital Humanities: multimedial & multimodal, 2019
When Wisdom Calls. Philosophical Protreptic in Antiquity, 2019
The contribution offers an interpretation of Galen’s understanding of protreptic literature. It d... more The contribution offers an interpretation of Galen’s understanding of protreptic literature. It demonstrates how the rhetorical choices made by Galen in his main protreptic works Protrepticus and Optimus medicus as well as his reuse of literary features of a typically philosophical genre reflect an approach often to be observed in his scientific output, i.e. the attempt to equate, on an epistemological level, his own concept of an ‘objective’ medical science based on logico-mathematical reasoning with what he considers true philosophy, namely one that is free from sectarian biases.
A short introductory text about the Herculaneum Papyri
The paper provides an essay of edition with brief introduction, translation and commentary of PHe... more The paper provides an essay of edition with brief introduction, translation and commentary of PHerc. 1026, cornice 9 col. 3. PHerc. 1026, currently stored in 12 cornici, has not been previously edited, mainly due to its poor state of conservation. The use of infrared photography helps in many cases to enhance the possibilities of deciphering quite extended segments of text throughout the cornici, yet the stratigraphy often remains fairly troublesome. This contribution should offer a first appraisal of the editorial issues the papyrus exhibits along with some preliminary suggestions about the content, which appears to be of an epistemological kind.
In this paper, I offer an interpretation of reception mechanisms and literary patterns of Epicuru... more In this paper, I offer an interpretation of reception mechanisms and literary patterns of Epicurus’ compendia of his own doctrines as a particular genre of knowledge transmission, best defined through its manifold communicative functions. The analysis does not move from a descriptive point of view, but rather from a normative one, i.e. it aims to throw light on those passages in which Epicurus more or less explicitly outlines ways of reception and rhetorical characteristics of those compendia. Comparisons with similar texts by later authors, mostly (and significantly, as I try to show) medical writings such as those of Galen and Oribasius, provide further context for Epicurus’ statements. The results of the survey are then exploited to suggest a plausible answer about the relationship between Epicurus’ abridgements and his main treatise Περὶ φύσεως.
Book Reviews by Vincenzo Damiani
Jahrbuch Literatur und Medizin, 2020
Conference Presentations/Talks by Vincenzo Damiani
Quando le figure di chi elabora un testo (auctor) e di chi invece, variamente ri-elaborando, lo c... more Quando le figure di chi elabora un testo (auctor) e di chi invece, variamente ri-elaborando, lo condensa (epitomator) non coincidono – ed è la maggioranza dei casi –, è legittimo chiedersi se e come senso e intenzione del testo primario si riflettano nell’operato di chi compendia. Ma cosa accade quando l’auctor è egli stesso, ad un tempo, epitomator? Quali criteri, quali motivazioni e quali tecniche guidano l’autore che torna a riflettere sulle proprie parole per conferire loro, quando non un diverso significato, una forma nuova per un nuovo pubblico? Tra gli autori antichi sul cui ‘laboratorio’ la tradizione offre più che qualche nota fugace, ridotta sovente ad un titolo d’opera che poco rivela, Epicuro e Galeno apportano, oltre a testi sufficientemente estesi per concedere ipotesi, anche e soprattutto una personale riflessione sui modi e gli intenti della riscrittura cui sottopongono le loro opere. Con le tre epistole-epitomi tradite da Diogene Laerzio, due delle quali compendiano i complessi e compositi 37 volumi Περὶ φύσεως, Epicuro compie, forse per primo, un tentativo non scontato di fissare in termini teorici le costanti di genere della Kompendienliteratur. Gli farà eco Galeno con le versioni abbreviate dei 16 libri Περὶ σφυγμῶν e con l’epitome – frammentariamente conservata in arabo – della Θεραπευτικὴ μέθοδος.
È soprattutto la praefatio il luogo del testo in cui si fa spazio la voce dell’autore, che vi chiarisce e giustifica il senso delle sue scelte: diversi altri esempi (tra cui Lattanzio e Oribasio), mostrano qui il sorprendente persistere di una topica specifica lungo un arco di più di cinque secoli; ed è nella praefatio che le questioni di metodo trovano risposta: selezione e ricomposizione delle informazioni rispondono a precisi intenti didattici e comunicativi, seguono una retorica propria che non può che essere diversa – talora opposta– rispetto a quella del testo d’origine. Prima introduzione, supporto alla memoria, mezzo d’immediato soccorso per l’anima e per il corpo, strumento fondativo di un canone di scritti e di dottrine: tutto questo può essere un’epitome, e nessuno è forse altrettanto qualificato a definirne usi e funzioni come l’autore stesso che, per umiltà o per superbia, necessità polemica o passione di maestro, si fa compendiatore, e quindi esegeta, di se stesso.
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Monographs by Vincenzo Damiani
Papers by Vincenzo Damiani
Book Reviews by Vincenzo Damiani
Conference Presentations/Talks by Vincenzo Damiani
È soprattutto la praefatio il luogo del testo in cui si fa spazio la voce dell’autore, che vi chiarisce e giustifica il senso delle sue scelte: diversi altri esempi (tra cui Lattanzio e Oribasio), mostrano qui il sorprendente persistere di una topica specifica lungo un arco di più di cinque secoli; ed è nella praefatio che le questioni di metodo trovano risposta: selezione e ricomposizione delle informazioni rispondono a precisi intenti didattici e comunicativi, seguono una retorica propria che non può che essere diversa – talora opposta– rispetto a quella del testo d’origine. Prima introduzione, supporto alla memoria, mezzo d’immediato soccorso per l’anima e per il corpo, strumento fondativo di un canone di scritti e di dottrine: tutto questo può essere un’epitome, e nessuno è forse altrettanto qualificato a definirne usi e funzioni come l’autore stesso che, per umiltà o per superbia, necessità polemica o passione di maestro, si fa compendiatore, e quindi esegeta, di se stesso.
È soprattutto la praefatio il luogo del testo in cui si fa spazio la voce dell’autore, che vi chiarisce e giustifica il senso delle sue scelte: diversi altri esempi (tra cui Lattanzio e Oribasio), mostrano qui il sorprendente persistere di una topica specifica lungo un arco di più di cinque secoli; ed è nella praefatio che le questioni di metodo trovano risposta: selezione e ricomposizione delle informazioni rispondono a precisi intenti didattici e comunicativi, seguono una retorica propria che non può che essere diversa – talora opposta– rispetto a quella del testo d’origine. Prima introduzione, supporto alla memoria, mezzo d’immediato soccorso per l’anima e per il corpo, strumento fondativo di un canone di scritti e di dottrine: tutto questo può essere un’epitome, e nessuno è forse altrettanto qualificato a definirne usi e funzioni come l’autore stesso che, per umiltà o per superbia, necessità polemica o passione di maestro, si fa compendiatore, e quindi esegeta, di se stesso.
The physical state of the papyrus seems to have significantly worsened through the last decades. Nonetheless, at least in the case of PHerc. 1026, infrared images drastically improve the possibility to read an increased amount of text; furthermore, the recent results of Reflectance Transformation Imaging applied to some Herculaneum rolls seem to be very promising in this respect. In a first commented edition of one single column from cornice 9, a fragment of a section on Epicurean epistemology could be recovered, showing interesting parallels with Philodemus’ treatise On signs as well as Epicurus’ 25th and 28th books On nature. An explicit mention of Epicurus himself could be recognized as well. On the palaeographical side, two different hands could be distinguished in the first cornici: further study will assess whether they belong to the same roll or, on the contrary, misplacements of the pezzi have occurred.
The contribution shall give an account of the editorial work carried out hitherto and present an edition of a new column of text.
Briefe können nun sowohl (1) als Mittel der Wissensweitergabe eingesetzt werden als auch (2) ihrerseits andere Texte begleiten. Im ersten Fall sind die einleitenden Abschnitte des Briefes relevant, der als Informationsträger im eigentlichen Sinne fungiert: Dabei können die philosophischen Lehrbriefe von Epikur, Seneca und Diogenes von Oinoanda illustrieren, wie Protreptik mit einführender bzw. kompendiarischer Wissensvermittlung kombiniert wird. Im zweiten Fall sind Briefe selbst als praefationes gedacht, d.h. als Begleitschriften z.B. für wissenschaftliche Traktate: Schon in hellenistischer Zeit ist dieses Phänomen, wohl mit didaktischer Zielsetzung, in der Schule Epikurs festzustellen; außerhalb eines institutionellen Kontextes stehen etwa Arrians Briefe an Loukios Gellios und Messalenos, die jeweils mit den Diatribai und mit dem Encheiridion Epiktets in Verbindung stehen; ähnlich sind Ciceros Widmungsbriefe in den Familiares gestaltet. Ein faszinierendes Beispiel im Bereich der wissenschaftlichen Literatur stellen schließlich Archimedes’ und Apollonios’ Widmungsbriefe dar, die Aussagen über die Kommunikation und den Erkenntnisaustausch unter Wissenschaftlern ermöglichen.
Durch nähere Betrachtung dieser exemplarischen Texte sollen bei beiden Erscheinungsformen (Briefproömien und Widmungsbriefe) die Strategien ermittelt werden, die zur Steuerung der Adressant-Adressat-Beziehung genutzt werden. Vor allem soll dabei untersucht werden, welche Bedeutung die verschiedenen Ausprägungen dieses Kommunikationsverhältnisses für die Festlegung des Charakters einer Schrift haben.