POETRY TODAY

Who cares about poetry today? Who would believe there is a town where workers and craftsmen take part in poetry contests, where 4% of the population are members of a poetry circle, where there are ten extemporary poets, and poetry is important in the school?
The answer is, Tolfa, two hours from Rome. A windy town of five thousand people , on a hill in Tuscia , the ancient Etruria. No-one knows how old the oral tradition is, but the poets often talk of Homer: he, they say, was the source, and without him there would be no poetry.
Besides,the Tolfetani talk of the Myceneans, as if they were here last month, prospecting for iron, in the times of the Trojan War (1250 B.C.) They claim to be the descendants of Dardanus, founder of Troy, and that theirs is the countryside of Virgil. Yet their everyday themes are more like those of Hesiod.
So we may ask, what are the links with Homer? What is the historical background of this tradition? What are the themes, the poetic forms used, and the role of the poet in the community?

These questions are all connected: the history of the place, the themes and forms of the oral tradition, the Homerids of yesterday and today, the poet in the community. The old tradition is changing, yet still influences the present. From la Rocca, the citadel, we can pick out traces of history.
There is the Mignone Valley, with Tarquinia to the west and Luni su Mignone to the east. Along this valley came peoples in ancient times, searching for minerals - lead, copper, silver, and even gold. But most of all iron.
Mycenean pottery sherds suggest trade and cultural exchanges with the Hellenic world; the historian Diogini states that the Arcadians introduced musical instruments to the area, including the lyre; perhaps they also introduced an oral tradition.

Later the Phoenicians came, and established ports towards the south on the Tirrenian Sea , today Civitavecchia, Santa Marinella and Santa Severa. The foundation of the present town, took place in the 10th century A.D., but there had been previous settlements at Tolfaccia and Tolficciola, abandoned after incursions by the Saracens. Later, in 1452, the Frangipane erected the walls of the citadel, the tower of which was used for the surveillance of surrounding territory ,symbol of an emerging aristocracy. Here, as in other localities, it assumes the role of leader and defender against invaders, aspiring to the values of chivalry and service to the church, and purity in conduct towards women.