Un infinito numero

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Un infinito numero (German an infinite number ) is a historical and fantastic novel by the Italian writer Sebastiano Vassalli published by Einaudi in Turin in 1999 .

content

The story is told in retrospect from memory by the Greek named Timodemo. Timodemo was born in Nauplia and abandoned by his mother, a prostitute, at the age of five and sold as a slave. As a slave he was trained as a grammatical man , speaks two languages ​​and is proficient in counting. Around the age of 18 it was bought on the slave market in Naples by Virgil , one of the great classics of literature and already famous back then ("1000 drachmas! 4000 sesterces!"). A new life begins for him. The novel has the characteristics of an educational novel . Virgil makes Timodemo his secretary, who discovers Virgil's large private library with its numerous scrolls and delves into Homer ’s Odyssey . After a few years, Virgil releases the slave into freedom.

The friend of Virgil and an adviser to the young Octavian active Gaius Maecenas (patron) in the novel Mecenate , the mother of the Etruscans descended, suggests the two planning to visit Rasna (Rasenna), the land of the Etruscans, especially Virgil for Origins the city of Rome is looking for. After a strenuous journey, with a realistic description of the atmosphere of taverns and erotic adventures, Mecenate, Virgil and Timodemo arrive in the ancient cities of Surina and Arezzo , where they hope to unlock the secrets surrounding the Etruscans.

You go to the temple of Mantus , the god of the underworld of the Etruscans. The author introduces the narrative trick of a journey through time into the past, brought about by a trance state, similar to the future vision of Book VI of the Aeneid , whereby they are given the opportunity to experience other historical personalities such as the real Aeneas from Virgil's Aeneid . He turns out to be a fat, dirty and mean man, not a hero at all, as later generations describe him.

Rome's emergence is linked to the Etruscan League of Twelve Cities , but the Etruscans, although so progressive, left nothing in writing because, the author speculates, leaving something in writing also means death. With this realization, actually a frustrating experience for Virgil, the group finally returns to Rome, where Octavian is hoping for an epic poem about the origins of Rome. Although Virgil no longer wants his Aeneid to be published, he cannot prevent it. Timodemo spends the last years of his life alone in Apulia and indulges in a passion for reading.

literature

  • Fabio Stok: Augusto vs Virgilio nella letteratura contemporanea (Wishart, Nadaud, Vassalli). 2014, p. 11 ff. In: XIV AD SAECVLVM AVGVSTVM / THE AGE OF AUGUSTUS , International Conference, 24.-26. September 2014, Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Letras. ( Online at academia.edu ) (Italian).

expenditure

  • Un infinito numero. Virgilio e Mecenate nel paese dei Rasna. Einaudi, Torino 1999, ISBN 88-06-14745-5 .

Several editions appeared in Italy, most recently in 2015. A French translation appeared in 2005 under the title La source étrusque , a German-language edition has not yet appeared.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Fabio Stok: Augusto vs Virgilio nella letteratura contemporanea (Wishart, Nadaud, Vassalli). 2014, p. 11.