PORTE DELLA VITA, DELLA MORTE, DEL NULLA. SAGGIO DI MICRO-METAFOROLOGIA

The image of the door opening onto a different dimension of life, towards wis- dom or redemption, constitutes a “micro-metaphor” that can be traced from pre- Platonic Greek philosophy (Parmenides) to Hellenistic and Roman culture (Epicureanism, Stoicism, and in particular Diogenes of Oenoanda, Lucretius, Seneca), up to modern and contemporary culture. Of central importance in the history of this case of “metaphorology” (Blumenberg) is the role played by Chris- tianity and, in general, the dimension of personal will.