The Discovery

Abstract Capra and Graziosi tell the story of a discovery, or rather a concatenated series of discoveries, that lead them to consider the legacies of one man: the Neapolitan revolutionary and classical scholar Luigi Settembrini (1813–76). In 1937, Prof. Raffaele Cantarella discovered a ‘translation from the Greek’ which, he soon established, was actually the original work of Settembrini. In fascist Italy, he chose not to publish the tale: it would have been damaging, if not downright dangerous, to reveal the national hero Settembrini as the author of sodomitic fantasies. In 1977, when Cantarella did publish The Neoplatonists, Settembrini was transformed from national hero to ‘pederast’ overnight (despite Settembrini’s insistence on equality between lovers, including in age). In 2017, Capra and Graziosi decided to translate the tale into English and take it as inspiration to intervene in a broader debate about post-truth politics, classical scholarship, and social justice.