Italian Luminaries – Heroes & Villains
Sometimes, the paintbrush of history colors individuals who’ve helped shape her too strongly. Historic figures in Italy are either seen as heroes or villains. Very rarely, they are depicted in moderate tones, at least by those who write history for the popular public.
Italy has given the world some of its greatest heroes and most infamous villains. This section is dedicated to over 3000 years of Italian Heroes and Villains. However this will not be just dry historical dates and facts – instead, this section will focus on the unique and strange situations that brought these figures into the spotlight.
Italian heroes include poets, artists, politicians, actors, writers, and ordinary people who have been placed in extraordinary situations. Many Italian heroes such as Dante Alighieri and Michelangelo are well-known, while the accomplishments of Antonio Meucci are barely noticed.
Villains are the scoundrels, murderers, sexual deviants, warmongers, thieves, and tyrants that still reach out through the ages to scare us. These men and women have done evil things and caused widespread suffering to further their own ends, or worse, their sadistic pleasures. Emperors Nero and Caligula, Lucrezia Borgia, and her father Pope Alexander VI are just some of Italy’s larger-than-life villains who crossed the line into the realm of evil.
However, it may be too easy to paint history with such broad strokes of black and white, good or evil, Heroes and Villains. In reality, history is much more colorful and multi-dimensional than that. Good people, even heroes often do horrible things, while the lowest, vile criminal is capable of redeeming themselves through good deeds. Behind every title, whether hero or villain, there is always more to the story. From Leonardo Da Vinci to Benito Mussolini and everything in between, The historic figures in Italy, the Heroes and Villains have stories to share and secrets to tell.
