Anacreonte, Leopardi e gli altri

This book examines the reception, translation, and rewriting of the pseudo-Anacreontic corpus in Italian literature between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Focus is placed on how translators such as Paolo Rolli, Francesco Saverio De' Rogati, and Giuseppe Maria Pagnini confronted the aesthetic challenges of rendering Greek delicatezza and simplicity into Italian verse. The analysis explores how the tension between stylistic fidelity and poetic freedom led to diverse metrical and stylistic rewritings. It examines extreme transformations, including Presepio Presepi's Christianized adaptation and Ugo Foscolo's early poetry, culminating in Giacomo Leopardi's engagement with the Anacreontic tradition. Through an in-depth comparative textual analysis of Leopardi's pseudo-translations—specifically the Odae adespotae in Greek and Latin—the research demonstrates how Leopardi transcended literal translation to internalize the ancient voice, ultimately bridging classical imitation and modern lyrical originality.