Luego se quedó en silencio

Abstract

The words of a dying person are trustworthy, because they are uttered in front of eternity. Hence the habit of setting some literary works in the days which precede the protagonists’ death and of attributing to dying famous characters maxims meant as a spiritual heritage for future generations. there are also cases when the dying person takes advantage of such an extreme moment to pronounce a witty remark which will be read as an example of contemptus mortis. Though preceded by the episode of the death of Epaminondas, Christianity is the first to define dies natalis the day when men are born to true life, which does not belong to this world. Among the many “last words”, those pronounced by the famous grammarian Basilio Puoti (who was De Sanctis’ master) and documented in reliable sources, are particularly worth mentioning.