Teatrale rivelarsi: promenade ermeneutica sull’identità personale attraverso l’opera belliniana

The study of the reality of the Theatre from a scientific point of view involves a great variety of disciplines and knowledges. Philosophy can offer important theoreticalpractical contributions to this study (and on many fronts: aesthetics, philosophy of culture, narrative hermeneutics, political philosophy etc.). The birth of the Opera does not question the validity of this discourse, above all due to the fact that the essential elements that constitute it are already present in the classical theatre. This paper traces a reflective itinerary starting from Aristotle’s Poetics, re-read through Ernesto Grassi and, above all, Paul Ricoeur. Ricoeur’s theory of identity shows how the dimensions of narration and representation substantially contribute to structuring personal identity. The work and style of Vicenzo Bellini’s Opera are here made a testing ground to verify the incisiveness, the applicative value and the hermeneutic effect of Ricoeur’s perspective.