Page 308 - Lanzarotto Malocello from Italy to the Canary Islands

308 from Italy to the Canary Islands

I wonder if Herodotus learned in person, even moving by sea, what
he would then write in his works. The movements by sea of the great
navigator Eudoxus of Cyzicus are quite certain, as well as those of Pliny,
perhaps, in the case of the latter, with voyages more “on sight”.
But there was also a category of men (of holy men, in hindsight), like
Paul of Tarsus and Augustine of Tagaste, who took to the sea leaving their
homelands, already knowing inwardly the North Star that was to guide
them, lead them on the path of Faith and sermons.
In the case of Paul of Tarsus, it was a one-way trip as Rome was his
ultimate goal and, through his martyrdom, the place of reunion with the
Father. As for Augustine, fate granted his return to Hippo Regius, where
he was consecrated Bishop. In this case too, these writers took to the sea
and had confirmation of the concept that it is through storms (especially
inner ones) that God comes into full view, as opposed to just the idea of
Him.
Referring to Lanzarotto Malocello, the most exact scenery, that “right
vintage flavour” we were just talking about, is to call on the scene the
very people who dealt at that time with topics regarding the sea and re-
mote places, whether commercially, politically, or religiously.
Getting back to our topic, both in Pliny and Ptolemy the Fortunate
Isles corresponded to the modern Canary Islands. We mentioned Petrarca
and Boccaccio as writers who move their attention towards the Atlantic
and in particular the Fortunate Isles. This opening of the horizon presents
a gnoseological issue; there is a moment, in those daring expeditions at
the dawn of the new world, when the discoverer “discovers” himself. It is
indeed only when facing the other, he who lives in those remote edges of
earth - in our case, the scenario is the archipelago of the Canary Islands -
that the discoverer understands who he really is.
What Western man is confronted with by going past the Pillars of Her-
cules and reaching coasts and archipelagos is the other, an individual nev-
er seen before, perhaps dreamed more than once, but never fully outlined
in his reality.
In De vita solitaria - a work that fits in the wake of a strong tradition
that from the innermost Seneca parades next to the Confessions of Augus-
tine and comes to Boethius’ De consolatione philosophiae - the intent is
to set up a kind of spiritual refuge building a mental place where to find
shelter after taking cognizance of life and the disappointments it brings.