Balene fuori luogo

rilevanza l’episodio biblico di Giona,inghiottito dalla balena dopo essere scappato dalla

Volontà di Dio e rigurgitato sulla costa solo quando il profeta ebbe capito il grave errore

commesso;

la storia di Pinocchio, inizialmente narrata con la figura del pesce-cane dallo scrittore italiano

Carlo Collodi (1826-1890) e successivamente rivista dall’azienda di animazione Walt Disney

con quella della balena, che riprende l’insegnamento biblico citato precedentemente; Jona che

Nel 1993 anche la cinematografia recente riprende il concetto simbolico con il film

visse nella Balena,del regista Roberto Faenza,che racconta le disavventure di un bambino

nell'orrore dei campi di sterminio nazisti, ai quali sopravvive ma in cui perde padre e madre.

In questo contesto Giona si trasforma nell'incarnazione dell'intero popolo ebraico, costretto a

restare “nel ventre della balena”, cioè in un mondo ostile che cerca di opprimerlo o addirittura

di distruggerlo, ma, con tenacia e forza d'animo, riuscirà ad essere “vomitato” dal mostro e a

tornare alla vita.

La tradizione del mostro marino che inghiotte il bambino risale a riti di popolazioni antiche: in

Australia si era soliti allestire cavità nella terra,sul davanti della quale veniva sistemato un

tronco d’albero che raffigurava le fauci; nell’ex Nuova Guinea tedesca invece per la

circoncisione veniva costruita una casa speciale: doveva rappresentare il mostro Barlum che

inghiotte i bambini. La tribù Jabim poneva una palma come trave superiore,le cui radici e

foglie dovevano richiamare i capelli del mostro e un graticcio di foglie di cocco dipinto a

macchie al posto dell’ingresso della capanna simulava invece le fauci. La capanna andava via

via sempre più stretta e bassa,riproponendo così la forma del mostro,fino ad arrivare alla

coda. Anche l’interno richiamava il ventre del mostro: nella capanna risuonava l’eco della voce

di Barlum.

Nell’età contemporanea l’idea della balena come spietato assassino rimane: il romanzo che

Moby Dick,

meglio espone questo pensiero è dello scrittore americano Herman Melville

(1851).

Qui l’imponente capodoglio bianco incarna la figura del Leviatano,poiché per le sue immense

dimensioni e la spaventosa forza è, secondo l’autore, la specie che meglio richiama l’immagine

mitica.

Anche l’economista Thomas Hobbes si avvale di questa figura biblica per rappresentare la

forza dello stato autoritario.

In Italia un’ altra situazione viene raffigurata con una balena: il partito della Democrazia

Cristiana.

I richiami a balene non si fermano solo al mondo terreno,tra politica e letteratura, ma anche

alla sfera celeste con la Costellazione della Balena,posta nell’emisfero australe, che viene

collegata al mito greco di Andromeda.

DIRITTO

“Leviathan”

Leviathan is not only the Biblical sea monster referred to in the Testament, but also the title of an

economical book. The author of Leviathan is Thomas Hobbes and the outrageous animal

represents the power of the State.

The natural law philosopher Thomas Hobbes lived during some of the most tumultuous times in

European history (consequently, it should be no surprise that his theories were thoroughly

pessimistic regarding human nature).

Born near Malmesbury, the early death of his father brought young Thomas Hobbes under the

care of his wealthy uncle. At the age of fourteen, he entered Magdalen College, Oxford, and took

his B.A. five years later. After his first tour of Europe in 1610, he made the acquaintance of Francis

Bacon. However, he only became converted to the scientific outlook in the 1630s, after being

seduced by Euclid's Geometry and hobnobbing with European scientists during a tour of the

continent.

Hobbes was particularly entranced by Galileo's reverse vision of dynamics.

After meeting Galileo in 1636, Hobbes sought to apply this idea to a comprehensive social

philosophy. He envisioned this in three parts. In the first part, of Body, he would relate the general

laws of motion; in the second, of Man, he would show how humans can be considered bodies in

motion (motivated by sensations, desires, appetites, etc.) and how they are impacted by external

motions; in the third part, of the Citizen, he would give the results of these dynamic human

interactions on the body politic.

In 1642, Hobbes's De Cive came out, a more detailed and formal analysis of the third part of his

scheme. Seeing that it had little impact in England, Hobbes set out writing a new treatise which

would explain his theory in a more down-to-earth manner. The result was Leviathan (1651).

Leviathan (1651) was clearly Hobbes's masterpiece. In it, Hobbes set out his doctrine of the

foundation of societies and legitimate governments.

Leviathan was written during the English Civil War; much of the book is occupied with

demonstrating the necessity of a strong central authority to avoid the evil of discord and civil war.

Hobbes postulates what life would be like without government, a condition which he calls the

state of nature. In that state, each person would have a right, or license, to everything in the

world. This inevitably leads to conflict, a war of all against all (bellum omnium contra omnes), and

thus lives that are "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short" (XIII).

But war is not in man's best interest. According to Hobbes, man has a self-interested and

materialistic desire to end war :

"the passions that incline men to peace are fear of death, desire of such things as are necessary to

commodious living, and a hope by their industry to obtain them" (XIII, 14).

He forms peaceful societies by entering into a social contract.

According to Hobbes, society is a population beneath an authority, to whom all individuals in that

society covenant just enough of their natural right for the authority to be able to ensure internal

peace and a common defence. This sovereign, whether monarchy, aristocracy or democracy

(though Hobbes prefers monarchy), should be a Leviathan, an absolute authority.

Law, for Hobbes, is the enforcement of contracts.

Hobbes' Leviathan state is still authoritative in matters of aggression, one man waging war on

another or any matters pertaining to the cohesiveness of the state. It should say nothing about

what any man does otherwise; so long as one man does not harm another, the sovereign should

keep its hands off him.

In actuality, however, the extent to which this sovereign may exercise this authority is conditioned

by the sovereign's obligations to natural law. Although the sovereign has no legislative obligations,

it is more beneficial for him to abide by those laws which prescribe peace for security (the laws of

nature). Thus this conditions the authority of the sovereign with a prudential morality, or, more

accurately, a moral obligation. A sovereign also maintains equality within the state, since the

common people would be "washed out" in the glare of their sovereign; Hobbes compares this

"washing out" of the common people in their sovereign's presence to the fading of the stars in the

presence of the sun.

In essence, Hobbes' political doctrine is "do no harm."

In chapter XV, 35, reads:

"Do not that to another, which thou wouldst not have done to thyself."

In Leviathan, Hobbes explicitly states that the sovereign has authority to assert power over

matters of faith and doctrine, and that if he does not do so, he invites discord. Hobbes presents his

own religious theory, but states that he would defer to the will of the sovereign as to whether his

theory was acceptable.

Thomas Hobbes also touched upon the sovereign's ability to tax in Leviathan, although he is not as

widely cited for his economic theories as he is for his political theories. Hobbes said:

"Equal justice includes the equal imposition of taxes. The equality of taxes doesn’t depend on

equality of wealth, but on the equality of the debt that every man owes to the commonwealth for

his defence."

Put simply, Hobbes believed that taxes were necessary to support the military and that the

military was necessary to enforce the rule of law. Thus, Hobbes saw taxes only as a necessary

support of the rule of law.

With the citation of the philosopher Hobbes we can see the beast Leviathan is connected not to

the god’s power but to the power of an authoritarian state.

This Leviathan has the power with a positive connotation: under his laws people can live in safety.

Bibliography:

Appunti e fotocopie fornite dalla professoressa K. Parker;

• http://it.wikipedia.org;

• http://publicliterature.org;

• http://oregonstate.edu.

•

English literature

Moby Dick

One of the most popular image of whales can be found in a notorious American novel, written in

1851 by Herman Melville: Moby Dick.

Melville’s career faded after the publication of the book and he was actually considered a failure

when he passed away in 1891. Fortunately, his work has been widely recognized since then and

Melville has taken his place amongst the literary giants.

Moby-Dick recounts the adventures of the narrator Ishmael as he sails on the whaling ship Pequot

under the command of Captain Ahab. Ishmael soon learns that Ahab seeks one specific whale,

Moby Dick ,which destroyed Ahab’s boat and bit off his leg.

The very mentioned Leviathan is incarnate in the Sperm Whale, because of is the best animal to

represent the mythological figure. He has an exceptional strength and a “cruel intelligence”.

This Leviathan has a negative description: he is seen as the terrible whale that haunts Ahab. He’s

like a spirit: Moby Dick is always present but appears only in the last three chapters, in which the

book gives account of the chase.

Moby Dick is a Sperm Whale with a white hump and his temperament is told in several legends.

Only few whalers have seen the White Whale but everybody know he has the gift of ubiquity and

immortality. He has an unusually intelligence, resorting to many clever stratagems to defeat Ahab

and crew that a normal whale would never be capable of. He also seems to be capable of using his

injuries to great advantage, as initially foretold when he slices Ahab's leg off with his lower jaw;

later on, during the first day of the chase, he wedges the same jaw into Ahab's whaleboat to trap

it, gently shakes it to terrify the crew, then snaps the boat in half and dumps Ahab into the water

(before swimming in circles around the captain in order to cut him off from his crewmates.) On the

second day, he allows Ahab and his men to strike him with their harpoons during a head-on

charge; he then swims around wildly to entangle the harpoons before yanking Ahab towards him

in order to cut him up with the harpoons embedded in his flesh.

In the chapter about his description, Melville shows the whale as :

“… a Sperm Whale of uncommon magnitude and malignity… Moby Dick was ubiquitous… he had

actually been encountered in opposite latitudes at one and the same instant of time…was immortal

(for immortality is but ubiquity in time)… it was not so much his uncommon bulk that so much

distinguished him from other Sperm Whale… Nor was it his unwonted magnitude, nor his

remarkable hue, nor yet his deformed lower jaw, that so much invested the whale with natural

terror, as that unexampled, intelligent malignity… his treacherous retreats struck more of dismay

than perhaps aught else… when swimming before his exulting pursuers, with every apparent

symptom of alarm, he had several times been known to turn around suddenly, and, bearing down

upon them, either stave their boats to splinters, or drive them back in consternation to their ship…”

(Chapter XLI, Moby Dick)

The Ahab’s hate towards Moby Dick born when the whale bit off his leg. After that the Captain

feels a desire of revenge. His hate soon becomes an identification of all his physical and

psychological problems in Moby Dick.

“…He piled upon the whale's white hump the sum of all the general rage and hate felt by his whole

race from Adam down…”

“He was intent on an audacious, immitigable, and supernatural revenge. Here, then, was this grey-