Roberto Vecchioni lets out a laugh when he is pointed out that at the Festival del Classico someone like him plays at home. For thirty years, even after having achieved success, the singer of Lights at San Siro, of Samarkand and of a thousand other stories in music, he continued to teach Latin and Greek with passion at the classical high school, earning the title of «Professor “. Tonight the subject of his video-lesson will be Ulysses, or rather Odysseus, a modern man against adversity, one of the stages of the «Night of the Heroes» marathon which is the preview of the Classic Festival.
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Professor, but who was this Ulysses really?
«A complicated figure with many interpretations. Everyone thinks of the traveler, but there is also Ulysses looking for himself in the world, there is the modern version of Joyce, there is that of Adorno who in contemporary society sees him as someone who no longer travels for adventure but only out of interest ».
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A hero in chiaroscuro.
«It was already so in ancient times. His worst side comes out in the Iliad: a ruthless crafty one, one who, noble and beautiful, beats the ugly and plebeian Thersites. Years ago I wrote a song about Ajax, who commits suicide because he can’t get Achilles’ weapons. Ulysses had appropriated it, boasting merits he did not have ».
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What changes in the Odyssey?
“Looks like another person. He travels a lot, but he does it to go home. It tells the story of all of us, of when we grow up and together with the desire to discover the world we begin to feel nostalgia for our homeland, which in our case is the serenity of old age ».
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In the Divine Comedy, Dante eliminated this part.
“So he could send him to hell. He represented him in such a way – with the desire to go beyond all limits, to see purgatory – that God could only punish him. Dante was an exaggerated Catholic, but underneath he felt a great esteem for Ulysses ».
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Today it is difficult to aim for the Pillars of Hercules, when you need a self-certification to leave your municipality. How distant does a travel myth sound in the red zone season?
«We are faced with another interpretation: that of the inner journey. In my latest book, Lessons in flight and landing, I venture that perhaps Ulysses had only imagined his journey ».
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During the “Ask the curators” segment of the Torino Film Festival, a few days ago, a viewer asked if it makes sense to read Shakespeare in 2020. And Ulysses, what’s the point?
‘How can you not read Shakespeare? In his works there are all human behaviors! Even Ulysses today is more useful than ever: he is the symbol of the man who does not beat himself down in the face of destiny and adversity, the strongest medicine for the period we are experiencing ».
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A medicine that can be taught to children even from a distance?
“No. At a distance, notions can be transmitted, but the school is not made up of just notions. Teaching means leaving a strong mark on a student, convincing him, making him understand. You need unanimity and confrontation in presence. Today we are experiencing a frightening emergency, a wound for the culture. But I am convinced that the boys will be able to heal it quickly: they are intelligent, strong, this year will pass and they will recover ».
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What is your favorite classic myth?
«There are two: Antigone and Prometeo. She is the first feminist in the world and she taught us the importance of feeling over reason. He gave us the fire of art and technique, thus allowing us to forget the fear of death ».
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And in music?
“The list would be very long. Let’s say a symphonic and a light one: Puccini and Leonard Cohen ».
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Have you never really got tired of the classics?
“Never. At most, sometimes I get bored with moderns. The classics are an imprint and a refuge: the place where I go to look for something solid, on which to support my being a little man ».
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November 27, 2020 | 22:44
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