From the Latin "in the midst of lands," the Mediterranean evokes classicism, cross-cultural influences, and blue skies upon which to project a desire: that of capturing the traits of a common identity. While the historian's perspective seems to refute the idea of Mediterranean identity—David Abulafia in this volume defines it as a fragmented space, where even in the past the meeting of cultures was the exception in some cosmopolitan cities and not the rule—the Muses are drawn to it. The melancholic and reflective vein of songs evoked by Turkish musician Zülfü Livaneli, the proverbial conviviality, and the celebration of leisure time praised by Matteo Nucci are viewed with a mix of fascination and reproach by Protestant-rooted countries: the nobility of the Greek profile of the homo mediterraneus can quickly become a scornful caricature synonymous with laxity and cultural backwardness. However one wishes to define it, the Mediterranean appears to be in crisis: neglected by the European Union, which looks at the North African and Levantine coasts only as a threat and energy resource, it is the crossroads of one of the greatest migrations in history. While every year hundreds of millions of vacationers swarm to its shores, like in a distorting mirror, hundreds of thousands of people undertake a dramatic reverse journey to escape wars, persecutions, and poverty. The liquid road, as Homer called it, is increasingly militarized, trafficked, and polluted, as well as overheated and overfished. Seen from the North African coasts, more than a Mare nostrum, it seems like a wall dividing the Arab world from the European one, a source of division rather than a crossroads of cultures. It would be wiser to extol its variety rather than seek a fleeting common identity, but perhaps Mediterranean identity is nothing more than a feeling, and as such, it does not want to hear reason. Despite everything, it remains fascinating, reassuring, and consoling. On its coasts, modernity does not fully take root, time flows differently, and people communicate more than elsewhere. And what if the homo mediterraneus is yet to come?
