La luce della luna: lucifluus in Zenone di Verona (Tract. 1.2.19) e Isidoro di Siviglia (Nat. 18.1; Etym. 3.53.1)

Donato De Gianni

2024-01-01

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Abstract

Abstract: In Etym. 3.53.1 and Nat. 18.1, Isidore of Seville describes the nature of moonlight, primarily drawing on Augustine’s commentary on Psalm 10. In the chapter of De natura rerum, he also explores specific allegorical meanings of the moon, already established in patristic exegesis, particularly referencing the symbolism of the resurrection of the dead. To indicate the shining part of the moon’s surface, Isidore employs the rare adjectival compound lucifluus, first attested in Juvencus’ Evangeliorum libri with reference to the sun and, metaphorically, to the Gospel. Significantly, this adjective is already used in a context similar to Isidore’s, in the second sermon (De resurrectione) of the first book of the Tractatus by Zeno of Verona (Tract. 1.2.19). In this sermon, the author offers a brief allegorical excursus on the moon, interpreting it as a symbol of mortal man and his future resurrection at the end of time. With some distinctions, he uses the same adjective to describe the brightness of the sun in relation to that of the moon. This close analogy in context and content suggests that Isidore, particularly in the passage from De natura rerum, might have considered Zeno’s sermon when reusing the term lucifluus.