EMPATIE URBANE – Lettura pubblica dal “DE RERUM NATURA”

In Lucretius's text, a scientific treatise in hexameter, matter is in eternal struggle. the infinite cosmos without a centre, the void is the theatre of this struggle, in which humanity occupies a place of very little importance, life, which is not given as property to anyone but is for everyone to use, is precious and short, and in it the reasons for creation are inextricably intertwined with those for destruction, which does not even spare the soul, which is also mortal. These are the coordinates for an investigation of the cosmos that opens up the horizon in all directions, even in conflict, and guides our necessary disenchantment together with the irreducible will to give the right value to the time of our lives, both individual and collective. 'You can participate in the show, if your eyes are ready. Look at the rays of the sun when they illuminate the darkness of the room. You will see an army of tiny beings swirling in the beam of light, engaged in an endless struggle: battles are born, troops and squadrons are formed, encounters and clashes follow one another without respite. You will see the eternal agitation of bodies in the void."