NON FINITO O NON FINIBILE? RIFLESSIONI SUL CONCETTO DELL’“OPERA LETTERARIA” E DEI SUOI CONFINI NELLA CULTURA GRECA

Abstract

There was an evident trend in ancient Greek culture towards narrations that were not definitively ended
which characterized many important genres, from epic poetry to historiography. It originated in the system
of oral communication during the archaic and classical age. Only in Aristoteles’ theoretical speculation did
the perfect telos begin to be considered an essential feature of a good literary product, and from the great
philosopher onwards, especially during the Hellenistic age, the Greek literary tradition developed different
strategies to conciliate Aristotelian theory with its inherent pleasure for never ending stories.