Riflessioni sulla natura del colore dai Presocratici al Timeo

I begin by outlining the development of the colour problem in the modern discourse, aiming to show the enduring resistance of the notion of colour as an intrinsic property of the objects, notwithstanding the scientific albeit counter-intuitive explanation of it as a subjective impression caused by a certain degree of refraction of light on the surface of the objects. Then I focus on how a few Presocratic authors as well as Plato in the Timaeus were able to exploit that notion, that to them was obvious, in terms and ways that remain well worthy of attention.