Mitopoiesi e costruzione del paesaggio nella poesia di Giovanni Pontano: Napoli e il suo golfo nella IV saffica della 'Lyra'

Iohannes Pontanus with his poetry became the author of a new myth of Naples: he celebrated the greatness and beauty of its landscape, following in classical authors’ footsteps. They had attributed an elevated stature to Greek places and enlightened Greek mythical, cultural, and intellectual traditions. Pontanus performed the same cultural operation with Naples and its traditions. So, the new myth of Naples was born as a new Greece, from the shores of which the image of Aragonese greatness and magnificence was spread throughout Europe considering the wisdom tradition of the ancient Gulf of the Sirens. This essay focuses on the analysis of Pontano’s Lyra IV, from which it emerges how the poet was able to transfigure the landscape of the Gulf of Naples into a refined mythological construction that never loses sight the reality of its geomorphological nature.