ABSTRACT
Bergin and Fisch suggest that Joyce ‘read and digested Vico in Trieste about 1905 ... .’1 Indeed, there is evidence of Vichian terminology in Stephen Hero, which is thought to have been written between 1904 and 1906.2 The first reference to the Neapolitan philosopher in Ellmann’s biography is dated 1913.3 Ellmann also notes here Joyce’s familiarity with Croce’s Estetica, which has a long chapter on Vico and, it has been argued, is based on Vico throughout.4 Joyce read Vico in the original Italian and – apart from the Estetica, which was published in 1902 – under little external influence.
