Nietzsche sotto Saturno. La conoscenza di sé e la vanitas nello specchio della melanconia

This article argues that Nietzsche’s thought and life are deeply intertwined with the tradition of melancholia studies, from Aristotle to Starobinski. Rather than merely assembling biographical evidence – drawn primarily from Nietzsche’s correspondence – it demonstrates a substantive philosophical continuity between the problem of melancholia and Nietzsche’s theoretical project. Within this framework, self-knowledge, a defining feature of the reformed melancholic paradigm, emerges as a foundational element of Nietzsche’s philosophy. On this basis, the article offers a new interpretation of "The Gay Science" § 341, reading it through the lens of "vanitas" and thereby situating it within the conceptual horizon of the melancholic paradigm.