THE HYMN “AD ARIMANE” AND THE CYCLE “ASPASIA” IN THE CONTEXT OF THE PHILOSOPHY OF PESSIMISM BY GIACOMO LEOPARDI

Balaeva Svetlana

The objective of the article is to identify the connection between two works by Giacomo Leopardi: the poetic cycle “Aspasia” and the unfinished hymn “Ad Arimane”. The main method of research is the comparative historical method, which allows to analyze these works by Leopardi in the context of European romantic literature, as well as in comparison with the then popular theoretical studies on the mythology of peoples and historical and anthropological studies of Persian culture. The article examines the fiction of the first third of the 19th century in the context of interest in exotic cultures, as well as facts from Leopardi’s biography that are important for the analysis of his artistic works. Studying Leopardi’s works in a comparative aspect allows us to formulate a hypothesis about why the hymn “Ad Arimane” remained unfinished. Leopardi rethinks his attitude towards love, nature and the concept of pessimism in general, which makes it impossible to complete the hymn in the meaningful register intended by the author.

Keywords:Arimane, Aspasia, romanticism, Leopardi, death, suffering