La forza del silenzio. Dalla Filomela di Ovidio a Lisario di Antonella Cilento

The present article examines how Antonella Cilento reinvents the myth of Philomela in Lisario o il piacere infinito delle donne, Premio Strega finalist (2014) and winner of Boccaccio Prize (2014). After evidencing the narrative aspects of Ovid’s myth – the rape; the cutting out of the tongue depriving the raped woman of her voice; the expression of the violence she experienced – the analysis focuses on how Cilento overturns the myth by interweaving Ovid’s tale with the topos of Sleeping Beauty. Despite her silencing, Lisario discovers and appropriates the pleasure that can be drawn from her body. The paper concludes by considering how the protagonist finds new and non violent ways to express herself and relate to future generations of women.