Gli studi lucreziani di Sebastiano Timpanaro

The article deals with the main contributions on Lucretius by Sebastiano Timpanaro, starting from the shorter notes dedicated to the discussion of detailed issues of textual criticism, to the reflection on the philological method contained in The Genesis of Lachmann’s Method, and the general interpretation of the poem to which Timpanaro arrives in the essay on Epicurus, Lucretius and Leopardi, with particular attention to the problem of Lucretian pessimism and Lucretius’ loyalty to the Epicurean doctrine. The article shows many connections between the Lucretian papers and Timpanaro’s main lines of investigation, such as the re-evaluation of the indirect tradition, the relationship between textual criticism and interpretation, and the interest in Giacomo Leopardi and materialist thought.