Motivos prometeicos en las Operette Morali

Aproximación a partir de Blumenberg

Abstract

Blumenberg agrees with Leopardi on the non-anthropomorphic interpretation of the myth of Prometheus. Both reject the interpretation of Prometheus as a symbol of man struggling for self-emancipation. In the article we show that Leopardi was ahead of his time, for we will have to wait for the crisis of modern reason in the 20th century for an anthropology as realistic as that of the Italian poet to emerge. The absolutism of reality or indifference to nature and the unhappiness caused by the knowledge of human contingency are essential aspects of Blumenbergian anthropology that can already be found in the Operette morali. The article also argues that Leopardi's pessimism, shared with Georg Büchner, does not lead to reactionary thinking, but rather to an integral or consolationless humanism.