Apotheosis Virgiliana is a polymetric poem which Sofia Alessio wrote in 1930 for the two-thousandth anniversary of the birth of Vergil (Bimillenario virgiliano). Although it does not mention the Fascist regime nor Fascist ideology, Apotheosis Virgiliana clearly illustrates the author’s deep affection for ancient and Christian Rome as well as his expectation of a revival of Roman antiquity in contemporary Italy, fuelled by the cultural atmosphere of the late 1920s and early 1930s in Fascist Italy.

The poem is divided into two parts, the first in dactylic hexameters (vv. 1-206), the second in Sapphic stanzas (vv. 208-275). The main characters of the first part are the ghosts of Vergil and Dante Alighieri (1265–1321), who join to travel across Italy and the Underworld (cf. Aeneid 6 and Dante’s Divine Comedy). Setting out from Naples (site of Vergil’s death), the two poets first reach Cuma, then Rome, Florence (Dante’s birthplace) and finally Mantua (Vergil’s birthplace) (vv. 13-23). Once back in Naples, they meet other illustrious poets of antiquity: Homer, Horace, Tibullus, Propertius, Ovid, and Catullus (vv. 27-33). After this, Vergil and Dante arrive in the Elysian fields (vv. 36-120; cf. Aeneid 6. 752-892). Sofia Alessio then introduces the figure of the Sibyl and, through her, the theme of Vergil as prophet of Christianity (vv. 121-133). After a transitional passage (134-148), Sofia Alessio summarises Rome’s history, from the legend of Romulus and Remus until the beginning of Augustus’ principate (vv. 149-197). The first section of Apotheosis Virgiliana concludes with Vergil himself praising Rome (vv. 199-206) (cf. Georgics 2. 173 ff.).

In the second part of the poem, Horace takes over and delivers a song in praise of Vergil (vv. 208-219) and the Roman Empire (vv. 220-221). At some point the song turns into a prayer to God for Italy’s prosperity (vv. 240-255). In this part one can find references to contemporary Italy (perhaps to the Lateran Pacts) and ongoing ideas about the rebirth of antiquity in Fascist Italy (e.g. vv. 222-231), although these are never spelled out explicitly.

Sofia Alessio submitted Apotheosis Virgiliana to the Certamen Hoeufftianum in 1930 (van Binnebeke 2020: 289n38), and later published the poem in the Latin journal Alma Roma (see van Binnebeke 2020: 289n213) and as a booklet (Sofia Alessio 1930). It has also recently been republished (Sofia Alessio 2002 1:227-251). The copy used for FLT (Sofia Alessio 1930) contains a personal dedication to Giuseppe Bottai (1895–1959), at that time the Minister of Corporations (Ministro delle Corporazioni).

Bibliography

Latin texts

Sofia Alessio, Francesco. 1930. Apotheosis Vergiliana. Reggio Calabria: Officine Arti Grafiche Vitalone.

———. 2002. Musa Alessiana. Carmi. Odi. Epigrammi latini. Translated by Ugo Verzi Borgese. 2 vols. Gioia Tauro: Tauroprint.

Secondary sources

Binnebeke, Xavier van. 2020. “Hoeufft’s Legacy: Neo-Latin Poetry in the Archive of the Certamen Poeticum Hoeufftianum (1923–1943).” In Studies in the Latin Literature and Epigraphy of Italian Fascism, edited by Han Lamers, Bettina Reitz-Joosse, and Valerio Sanzotta, 245–325. Supplementa Humanistica Lovaniensia 46. Leuven: Leuven University Press.

Nicolò Bettegazzi