Zibaldone

by Leopardi, Giacomo

Stancati, Claudia, “The French Sources of Leopardi’s Linguistics.” In Lia Formigari and Daniele Gambarara, eds. Historical Roots of Linguistic Theories. Amsterdam: Benjamins, 1995, 129–40.

  Timpanaro, Sebastiano, “Appunti per il futuro editore dello Zibaldone e dell’epistolario leopardiano.” Giornale storico della letteratura italiana 135 (1958), 607–26.

  Timpanaro, Sebastiano, “Epicuro, Lucrezio e Leopardi.” In Nuovi studi sul nostro Ottocento. Pisa: Nistri Lischi, 1995, 143–97.

  Timpanaro, Sebastiano, “Il Leopardi e la rivoluzione francese.” Ibid., 127–41.

  Ugniewska, Joanna, “Strutture saggistiche e strutture diaristiche nello Zibaldone leopardiano.” Rassegna della letteratura italiana 91 (2–3) 1987, 325–38.

  Versace, Stefano, “Appunti su Leopardi e l’analogia.” ACME 58, no. 3, 2005, 239–63.

  Editorial Index

  Note: This index contains names and subjects that occur in the Zibaldone (including Leopardi’s footnotes); with three exceptions related to the disambiguation of names, the index does not include items to be found exclusively in the editorial matter (Introduction and Editorial Notes). The phrase see also refers to another headword in the Editorial Index; a simple also indicates other words in the translation that have the same or similar meaning but are not expanded in the Editorial Index. Locators refer to the manuscript page numbers of the Zibaldone. In a small number of cases, the word or concept to be located may appear in English just before or just after the cited manuscript page number. The reader should be aware of this, and slightly expand his or her search if necessary.

  A

  Abandon: see Ease

  Abelard, Peter (1079–?1142). French philosopher and theologian: 4368–69

  Abraham. Biblical patriarch: 1641

  Absolute/Relative (see also Universal/Particular): IN RELATION TO EACH OTHER: 159, 208, 254, 388, 391, 442, 583, 1084, 1184, 1198, 1527, 1618, 1621, 1626, 1637, 1645, 1791–92, 2074, 2662, 2972, 3721, 4292

  Abydenus. Greek historian of uncertain date, author of a history of the Assyrians: 3982

  Abyssinia, Abyssinians: see Nations, peoples

  Académie des Inscriptions: 1012

  Academies: 144–47; ACCADEMIA DELLA CRUSCA: 698, 774, 781–82, 784, 1892, 2124, 2130, 2181, 2335, 2397, 4237, 4382–83, 4386; Crusca Dictionary (Vocabolario della Crusca): 44, 205, 499, 511, 512, 593, 595, 597, 1104, 1109, 1132, 1144, 1164, 1181, 1230, 1241, 1252, 1282, 1422, 1661, 1679, 2071, 2215, 2312, 2325, 2328, 2338, 2363, 2366, 2392, 2461, 2466, 2474, 2556, 2564, 2587, 2704, 2705, 2810, 2843, 2845, 2865, 2922, 2925, 2926, 2947, 2984, 2995, 3001, 3005, 3008, 3057, 3170, 3264, 3288, 3390, 3488, 3541, 3548, 3588, 3687, 3811, 3817, 3904, 3928, 3938, 3945, 3969, 3992, 3995–96, 4000–4001, 4004, 4005, 4006, 4007, 4009, 4010, 4015, 4019, 4020, 4025, 4033, 4049, 4055, 4061–62, 4075, 4082, 4093, 4101, 4110, 4112, 4113, 4114, 4115, 4118, 4121, 4122, 4126, 4149, 4154, 4158, 4162, 4165, 4167, 4169, 4179, 4180, 4182, 4210, 4214, 4223, 4228, 4239, 4245, 4246, 4248, 4249, 4255, 4257, 4282, 4298, 4302, 4388, 4485, 4495, 4496, 4499, 4509, 4512; Crusca Dictionary (Veronese edition and its Addenda): 2282, 4146, 4158, 4162, 4165, 4167, 4246; FRENCH ACADEMY (AND DICTIONARY): 649, 686, 688, 708, 1002, 1051, 1813, 1888, 4145, 4270, 4304; OTHER ACADEMIES: 3018, 3070, 4422

  Academy (Platonic): 4190

  Acceleration: 1730–32, 1767, 1896, 2002, 2333, 3655

  Accius, Lucius (170–c. 86 BCE). Latin poet and dramatist: 54, 4458

  Achilles. Son of Peleus, and main hero of Greek army in the war against Troy. IN THE ILIAD: 1528, 3103, 3125, 3597, 4166, 4315, 4381, 4396–97; and Hector: 3095, 3097, 3103, 3111–14, 3143, 3591, 3606–607, 4405–406; and Priam: 99, 261, 1083, 2767–69, 3162; COMPARED TO AENEAS: 2, 289, 2760, 3141; and also to Tasso’s Rinaldo: 3612; COMPARED TO NAPOLEON: 4270, 4390

  Achilles Statius (Aquiles Estaço) (1524–1581). Portuguese poet and scholar: 4520

  Acontius. Athenian youth in a fable, in love with Cydippe: 4370

  Acro (Helenius Acro) (prob. fifth century CE). Commentator on Terence and Horace: 1166

  Action, activity/Inaction, inactivity. ANCIENT COMEDY: 42; CHRISTIANITY: 254; 2381–83; CIVILIZATION, ILLUSION, AND IMAGINATION, NATURE AND REASON: 14–15, 17, 37, 105, 176, 270–71, 298–99, 329–30, 442–47, 474–75, 1062–65, 1598, 1719, 2415, 3151, 3899, 3931, 3993, 4058–60, 4180–81, 4492; HAPPINESS AND PLEASURE: 268–69, 369–70, 646–50, 1328, 1389–90, 1588–89, 1988–90, 2361–62, 2702–703, 3160, 3848, 4185–88; PHILOSOPHY: 520–22, 536–38, 2453–54; SELF-LOVE, SELF-PROJECTION: 826–29, 958–60, 1585–86, 1728, 3835–38, 4040; SPEED AND VIGOR: 1999, 2017–18, 2049–50, 2054–57, 2239, 2337; TYRANNY: 252; VERB FORMS: 1160–62, 1205, 1388–91, 2345–46, 2816–18

  Actium, battle of (31 BCE). Defeat of Antony, marking the end of the Roman Republic: 1165, 2322

  Adam: 394–95, 397, 399, 401, 436, 437, 439, 450–51, 859, 869, 1100, 1773, 2404

  Adaptability, conformability: see Habit, habituation

  Addison, Joseph (1672–1719). English writer and playwright, founder of The Spectator: 1410, 3816, 4452

  Adelung, Johann Christoph (1732–1806). German philosopher, author of Mithridates, oder allgemeine Sprachenkunde: 4337

  Ad Herennium. Rhetorical treatise once thought to be by Cicero: 4145

  Adiabenians: see Nations, peoples

  Adolescence: 137, 278, 3518–19

  Adriani, Marcello (the Younger) (1553–1604). Florentine humanist, translator of Plutarch, Opusculi morali di Plutarco volgarizzati (Florence 1819): 2673, 2674, 2675, 2678

  Adulation, flattery, flatterers: 127–28, 196–97, 463, 507, 558–59, 1439–41, 1445–46, 1586–88, 2292–93, 3228–29, 4023, 4076–78, 4148, 4268–69, 4512

  Advantages/Disadvantages: 271–72; ANCIENTS AND MODERNS: 338–39, 1842–43, 2987–88; DOMINATION: 463–65, 1594–96, 2258, 3773–86, 4391, 4493–94; egoism, hatred toward our fellows, dissimulation: 197–98, 669–74, 1291–92, 1669–71, 1673–75, 1740–41, 1842–43, 2485–86; STRENGTH/WEAKNESS: 2259–63, 3271–82, 3361–62, 3779–82, 3878–79

  Aegisthus. King of Mycenae, murderer of Agamemnon: 3458, 3459

  Aelian (Claudius Aelianus) (c. 175–c. 235 CE). Roman author, Stoic, a teacher of rhetoric: 989, 3106, 3130, 4011, 4215, 4248, 4265

  Aemilius Paullus (Lucius) (c. 230–160 BCE). Roman consul: 454

  Aemilius Probus (late fourth century CE). Grammarian, to whom the Lives of Cornelius Nepos were erroneously attributed: 3628

  Aeneas. In Greek and Roman myth, one of the Trojan leaders in the Trojan War, and hero of the Aeneid: 95, 455–56, 1079, 1140, 2243, 2368, 2760–65, 3117, 3126, 3143–3145, 3614, 4209–210, 4315, 4446–48; COMPARED TO ACHILLES: 2, 289, 2760, 3135; and to Tasso’s Goffredo and Rinaldo: 3607–12

  Aeneid, see Virgil

  Aeolians: see Nations, peoples

  Aeolic digamma: 1127, 1156–57, 1276–77, 1280, 2070, 2197, 2744, 3820, 3988, 4013, 4014, 4035, 4180, 4334–36, 4431–32, 4433, 4434

  Aeronautics: 1738, 4198–99

  Aeschines (b. c. 390 BCE). Athenian orator and rival of Demosthenes: 1058

  Aeschines (fourth century BCE). Greek philosopher, known as Socraticus: 4153–54, 4435

  Aeschylus (525–456 BCE). The earliest Greek tragic poet, author of Prometheus Bound and the Oresteia: 40, 222, 3043, 3485, 4079, 4159, 4413, 4415, 4459, 4483

  Aesculapius. Greek God of medicine: 4470

  Aesop (c. sixth century BCE). Greek teller of fables: 3264, 4368, 4416

  Aetna (the Etna). A Latin didactic poem sometimes attributed to Virgil: 4209

  Aetolia, Aetolians: see Nations, peoples

  Affability: 126, 197–98, 1595, 1886, 3112, 3170, 4194

  Affectation: see Arts: TASTE AND JUDGMENT and Literature and Naturalness

  Affliction: see Pain, suffering

  Affò, Ireneo (or Ireneus Affo) (1741–1797). Man of letters based in Parma, a Franciscan friar: 4121

  Africa, Africans: see Nations, peoples

  Africanus, Julius (c. 160–240 CE). Early Christi
an chronographer: 2734

  Afterlife: see Christianity

  Agamemnon. Mythical king of Mycenae, commander of the Greek armies during the war against Troy: 2760, 3458, 4164, 4211

  Agatharchides (of Cnidus) (second century BCE). Greek philosopher and geographer, sometimes confused with an Agatharcides of Samos: 4152–53, 4193, 4213, 4330

  Agathias (c. 531–c. 580 CE). Greek poet, lawyer and historian: 2732

  Age(s) (see also Childhood; Youth; Old age): INDIVIDUALS: 102, 1315, 2046–47, 2602, 3806–808, 3944–45, 4138, 4141, 4284; HUMANKIND: 2046–47, 2602, 3806–808; civilization: 646, 823, 4120, 4124; Golden Age, Silver Age: 2250–51, 2256, 2679–80, 4224

  Agesilaus (c. 444–360 BCE). King of Sparta: 884, 1794, 3893

  Agesilaus. A hero of the Persian wars: 4153

  Agriculture: see Farming

  Agrippa, Marcus Vipsanius (64–12 BCE). Councillor to Augustus, defeated Sextus Pompey at the battle of Naulochus in 36 BCE: 4520

  Aim (also End, Objective, Purpose): 52–53, 1355, 4418, 4477; DOUBT, FEAR, UNCERTAINTY: 90–92, 369–70, 712–13; EXISTENCE: 826–29, 1507, 2157–59, 3237–39, 4127–32, 4168–69, 4169, 4228; PLEASURE AND HAPPINESS: 268–69, 345–47, 4518

  Ajax. Commander of the Salaminians during the war against Troy: 3111

  Alamanni, Luigi (1495–?1556). Florentine poet and statesman: 60, 62, 1162, 2374, 2461–62, 3067, 3416, 3996, 4300

  Alamanni, Luigi (the Younger) (1558–1603). Italian writer: 3018

  Alba (sometimes Alba Longa): see Cities

  Albania, Albanians: see Nations, peoples

  Alberoni, Giulio (1664–1752). Spanish cardinal and statesman, of Italian origin: 3887

  Alberti, Francesco. Author of the Nouveau dictionnaire français-italien/Nuovo Dizionario italiano-francese (1777), a work that matched the Crusca dictionary with that of the Académie Française: 1071–72, 1115, 1132, 1164, 2035, 2587, 2919, 3065, 3488, 3636, 3762, 3818, 3894, 4001, 4004, 4030, 4049, 4245, 4257, 4282, 4477, 4499, 4509, 4514, 4518

  Albigensians: 330

  Alboin (c. 530–572 CE). Lombard king: 3967

  Alcimus (fl. 300 BCE?). Greek author cited by Diogenes Laertius, identity not certain: 3491

  Alcinous. In the Odyssey, king of the Phaeacians and father of Nausicaa: 4170, 4396

  Alcman (seventh century BCE). Greek lyric poet who lived in Sparta: 4394

  Alcuin of York (730s/740s–804 CE). Anglo-Saxon theologian: 4522

  Aldine (press). Founded in Venice in 1494: 4404, 4441. See also Manutius

  Aldobrandini, Tommaso (second half sixteenth century). Florentine editor of Diogenes Laertius: 501

  Alemanni, Nicolò (1583–1626). Scholar of Greek origin, first custodian of the Vatican Library, editor of Procopius: 4473

  Alembert: see D’Alembert

  Alexander the Great (Alexander III of Macedon) (356–323 BCE). Conqueror of the Persians, and of Asia Minor as far as the river Indus: 14, 62, 107, 468, 883, 922–23, 961, 991, 1058, 2332, 2408, 2590, 2622, 3073, 3129–30, 3224, 3425, 3761, 4078, 4124, 4156, 4206, 4352, 4465

  Alexi, Ioan (1801–1863). Bishop of Gherla, author of a Wallachian (Romanian) grammar, published in Vienna in 1826: 4400

  Alexis (c. 375/394–c. 275 BCE). Greek comic poet of Middle and New Comedy, mainly resident in Athens: 4011

  Alfieri, Vittorio (1749–1803). Piedmont-born lyric poet and dramatist, author of an autobiography (Vita). 4, 38, 41, 153, 598, 701, 866, 1450, 1452, 2363–64, 2453, 2455–56, 2595, 3190, 3202, 4483–84; LANGUAGE AND STYLE: 12, 245, 701, 2455–56, 2595, 3418, 4216; WORKS: Agamennone: 3458–60; Oreste: 3458–60; Satire: 2456, 2595; Sofonisba: 3460; Virginia: 60; Vita: 200, 1028, 1260, 1455, 1999, 2966, 3482, 4241

  Alfonso II d’Este (1533–1597). Duke of Ferrara from 1559 to his death: 3176

  Algarotti, Francesco (1712–1764). Widely connected Venetian-born writer and scholar, and a confidant of Frederick II: 54, 64, 110, 207, 233, 1051, 1211, 1423, 1819–20, 2652, 2978, 3439, 3949, 3957, 3958, 4227

  Algerians: see Nations, peoples

  Alibert, Jean-Louis-Marc (1768–1837). French dermatologist, idéologue, author of Physiologie des Passions: 4231

  Alighieri, Dante: see Dante Alighieri

  Alighieri (spelling of name): 4386

  Allegory: 177, 224, 637–38, 1823, 2940, 3487, 4001, 4102, 4365–66, 4477

  Almachilde. The murderer of Alboin, king of the Lombards, in Machiavelli’s account: 3967

  Alphabet (in general): see Language and Sign(s)

  Alphabets (see also Language: ALPHABET, ORTHOGRAPHY, PRONUNCIATION and Languages): ANGLO-SAXON: 1271; ARCADIAN: 1270; ARMENIAN: 2622; CADMEAN: 1139; COPTIC: 1270; CYRILLIC: 4361, 4378; DEVANAGARI: 1139; ETRUSCAN: 1270; GERMAN: 1271; GOTHIC: 1271, 4523; GREEK: 54, 1136, 1139, 1168, 1169, 1264, 1270, 2621, 2740–44, 2955, 3080–82, 4392; HEBREW: 51, 1136, 1139, 1168, 1270, 1276, 1282, 1289–90, 1338, 1339, 2404–405, 2740, 2955, 2958, 4152, 4290, 4590; LATIN: 1136, 1169, 1270, 1968–69, 2621, 2740, 3081, 4284–85, 4290; MESOGOTHIC: 1271, 4312; MONGOL: 4341, 4341–42; PELASGIAN: 1270; PHOENICIAN: 1136, 1139, 1168–69, 1264, 1270, 1276, 2621, 2740–44, 2750, 2751; RUNIC: 4312; RUSSIAN: 1271; SAMARITAN: 1136, 1168, 1270, 1276, 2621, 2740; SANSKRIT: 2746

  Altamoro. Character in Tasso’s Gerusalemme liberata: 3525

  Amati, Girolamo (1768–1834). Italian scholar, specialist in Roman archaeology: 4173, 4369–70, 4440, 4465–66

  Amazons: see Nations, peoples

  Ambition: 150–51, 299–301, 556–57, 881, 920–22, 1728, 2677–78, 4077; AMBITIOUS MEN: 135–36, 888

  Ambrose, St. (330–397 CE). Bishop of Milan, the teacher of Saint Augustine: 2698

  America, Americans: see Nations, peoples

  American Philosophical Society: 4352–53

  Ammaestramenti degli antichi (by Bartolomeo da San Concordio): 2452

  Ammianus Marcellinus (c. 330–395 CE). Latin historian, author of a sequel to Tacitus: 991, 2137, 2661, 2698, 2732, 2882

  Ammonius (first to second century CE). Greek grammarian: 2779, 4464–65

  Ampelius, Lucius. Latin historian of uncertain date, author of the Liber memorialis: 2673

  Amphinomos. A Greek renowned, like his brother Anapias, for filial piety: 4209

  Amphion. Son of Antiope and Zeus, mythical founder of Thebes: 3432

  Amulius (third century BCE). Last king of Alba: 4451

  Amyot, Jacques (1513–1593). French humanist, translator of Plutarch: 94, 110, 1051–52, 2095, 3400, 4309–10

  Anacharsis (sixth century BCE). According to Herodotus, a Scythian prince who traveled widely and acquired a reputation for wisdom: 2670, 2673, 2683, 2804, 3044, 3224, 3225, 3229, 3234, 4279. See also Barthélemy

  Anachronism: 2763–64

  Anacreon (sixth century BCE). Greek lyric poet: 2, 16–17, 20, 30–31, 1840, 2589, 2921, 3045, 3441, 3442, 3443, 3982–84, 3988, 3991, 3992, 3995, 4042, 4177. ANACREONTIC (IN THE STYLE OF ANACREON): 6, 28, 1209

  Analogy: 66, 157, 3578, 3649, 3652; LINGUISTIC: 2006–2007; poetic: 19; OTHER SPECIFIC EXAMPLES OF: 84, 1688, 3199–200, 4292

  Analysis: 247–48, 1205, 1234–36, 1833–38, 1850–56, 2959–60, 3237–45; LINGUISTIC: 1134, 1283, 1285–86, 2593; VS. POETRY: 4177

  Anapias. A Greek renowned, like his brother Amphinomos, for filial piety: 4209

  Anarchy: see Government, governance

  Anchises. Trojan prince, father of Aeneas: 2366

  Anchorites: 76, 2381

  Ancient (the), antiquity (as source of poetry or a poetic word/concept): 1429–30, 2054, 2805, 4415; LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE: 1789, 2263, 3566–68, 4214

  Ancients and moderns: 121, 148, 338, 340–41, 352–53, 601–602, 931–32, 1555–56; ART AND LITERATURE: 3–5, 9–10, 41–42, 86–87, 233, 1412–14, 1573–75, 3478–79, 3482–88, 4267–68, 4268–71, 4308, 4311–12, 4343–50, 4351–52, 4352, 4439; poetry: 9–10, 15–21, 57, 58, 100, 170, 725–35, 1366, 1548–51, 1860–62, 1900–902, 2288–91, 2804–809, 2905–906, 2944–46, 3821–24, 3976, 4352, 4475–77; THE BEAUTIFUL: 92
7, 3545, 3988; THE BODY: 96, 115, 125, 207–208, 453, 473, 1332, 1601, 1631–32, 2217, 2754, 3252, 3292, 4291; CIVILIZATION: 162–63, 2676, 4158–60, 4171–72, 4289, 4368; GREATNESS: 1482, 2025–28, 2583–84, 3435–40; HAPPINESS/UNHAPPINESS: 168–69, 294, 327, 338–39, 422, 453–55, 484–85, 538, 1096–98, 1555–56, 2583–84, 3097–3107, 3134–35, 3292–95, 3351, 3976, 4070–71, 4240, 4309; despair, grief, death: 76–79, 88, 88–92, 105, 299, 618–20, 1677–78, 2434–36, 2672, 2673, 2675, 2754, 2943–44, 3029–31, 4156, 4243–45, 4277, 4283, 4410, 4441; misfortune: 43–44, 88, 503–507, 682–83, 1364, 2456–58, 2463–64, 3342–43, 4309; KNOWLEDGE, THOUGHT, WISDOM: 197–98, 231, 264–66, 334, 1771, 1976–78, 2379, 2672, 2800–803, 4190, 4294, 4486, 4522; explicit comparison between ancient and modern: 336–37, 1352–55, 1359–61, 2709–15, 4078–79, 4171–72, 4192–93, 4208, 4219–22. 4238–39, 4291–92, 4477–78, 4484, 4507–508; LOVE OF LIFE, VITALITY: 625–29, 1330–32, 3097–101, 3292, 4062–64, 4410; MORALITY, MORALS: 208–10, 342–43, 1710–12, 1794, 2492–93, 4172; MUSIC: 130, 159, 1781, 3228–29, 3423, 3424–25; NATURE: 1018–19, 1555–56, 3714; NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN: 931–32, 1026–27, 1043–44, 1351–52, 3676–82, 4256; POLITICS AND HOMELAND: 67–68, 123, 148–51, 161, 195–96, 311, 625–29, 895–96, 911–17, 1330, 1361–63, 3083, 3104–106, 3135–36, 3469–71, 4078–79, 4179, 4413–14, 4500; inequality, hatred of foreigners, and war: 119–20, 123, 148, 872–923, 930–31, 1004–1007, 1016, 1037, 1078–79, 1083–84, 1163, 1362, 1378, 1709–11, 1817–18, 1827, 1842–43, 2252–55, 2305–306, 2389, 2625–27, 2677–79, 2759–70, 3115–18, 3139–43, 3152–53, 3157–58, 3167–68, 4423–24; RELIGION: 77, 116, 131–32, 197–98, 334–38, 453–54, 503–507, 1444, 2367–68, 2387–89, 2456–58, 2463–64, 2669–71, 2673, 2683, 2968–69, 3342–43, 3430–32, 3494–97, 3544–45, 3881, 4048, 4050, 4076–78, 4094, 4110, 4206–208, 4210, 4309; STYLE, WRITING AND LANGUAGE: 86–87, 725–35, 975–77, 1356–61, 1366, 1412–14, 1470–72, 1477–94, 1499, 1689, 1900–902, 1988, 2025–28, 2037–39, 2171–73, 2288–91, 2475–78, 2914–16, 2916–17, 3471–77, 3482, 4216–17, 4268–71, 4473–74; VALUES, OPINIONS, SOCIAL USAGES AND CUSTOMS: 23, 38–39, 90, 148, 151, 606–607, 611–12, 678–83, 717–18, 876–85, 1448, 1648, 1739, 1841, 1932–34, 1941, 2322–23, 2254–55, 2255, 2420–25, 2686, 2736–39, 2943–44, 2987–89, 3386, 3430–32, 3433–35, 3435–40, 3602, 3644, 3797, 3920, 3974, 4144, 4144–45, 4166, 4170, 4179, 4183, 4183–84, 4201, 4206, 4224, 4238, 4245, 4255, 4256, 4268, 4275, 4275–76, 4286, 4289, 4298, 4305–306, 4427, 4441, 4477–78, 4481–82, 4517–18, 4524