Le sirene in Tomasi di Lampedusa e le possibili fonti

Abstract

This contribution, a journey through literary classics, aims at verifying if there is a relationship between the short story Lighea (1961), by Tomasi di Lampedusa and traditional classical sources (Aristoteles, Homer, Ovid, Virgil). Besides, we will also try to establish a possible interdependence with Boccaccio’s original reworking of them in the Genealogie Deorum Gentilium. The siren, here seen as a representation of identity in the classical world, will be examined in the suggestive depiction of these authors, taking also into account various interpretations: her persuasive and sweet aspects as well as her brutal and ferocious sides.