Montagne di nuvole: su un'immagine lucreziana

This paper aims to shed new light on the important role played by vision in the De rerum natura, by examining Lucretius’ use of metaphorical references to mountains in his explanation of the celestial meteora in book 6. This imagery firstly occurs at 6, 156 – 159 where Lucretius employs the metaphor montes nimborum: this first image provides a starting point for the development of a remarkable cluster of metaphors and similes, which expands the mountain imagery and links it with other metaphorical references (wild beasts, metallurgy). Interestingly, these images seem to stem from Epicurean meteorology itself, which accorded to mountains an important role in the formation of clouds. The close link between this complex imagery and Epicurus theories, thus, offers an excellent example of Lucretius’ will of overcoming his master’s hostility towards poetry by shaping a poem that intimately reflected the Epicurean truth.