cantus circaeus

The purpose of this paper is to provide the reader an overview of the main philosophical issues of Giordano Bruno's comedy Candelaio, making a comparison with his previous works and also with the masterpieces of Machiavelli and Erasmus. After an historical background of Bruno's biographical events in the year 1582 and a brief synopsis of the comedy, the first paragraph deals with some considerations on magic, with a focus on Bruno's mnemotechnical works. In the second paragraph the main subject is Bruno's harsh commentary on pedantry and fake knowledge while the last paragraph is about Machiavelli's influence on Bruno's concepcion of fortune and opportunity. Furthermore, it is exactly in comedy that, behind the ridiculous image, a thought able to demolish clichés and consolidated knowledge can be hidden.

The philosophic and literary production of Giordano Bruno (1545-1600) is characterised by a constant issue about the mutual relationships between a text and its reader, both being the result of a reciprocal construction. In this article, we will focus especially on the Italian comedy The Candle Bearer (1582) and on the art of memory's treatise Cantus Circæus (1582) to show how the relation text/reader is essential to understand the philosophical implication of the two works. During the Renaissance, reading has to be considered an authentic assimilation exercise and the Art of memory was conceived as a tool to act on the soul. Through a very deep link with the reader, Bruno's works seek to renovate the human being and to shape his intellect according to the opus magnum of the universe.