Seneca the Younger

Seneca's Tragedies

It is impossible to determine if the tragedies were performed on stage: there is no evidence for either side. The German scholar Leo stated that they were recitation dramas but this reflected his conception of what a drama ought to be and this in turn was based on his conception of Greek tragedy.

Related Topics:
Recitation drama - Greek tragedy

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They have been successfully staged in modern times. The dating of the tragedies is highly problematic in the absence of any ancient references. A relative chronology has been suggested on metrical grounds but scholars remain divided. It is inconceivable that they were written in the same year. They are not based on Greek tragedy and whilst Euripides is a very distant ancestor of these works the main influence is Ovidian.

Related Topics:
Euripides - Ovid

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Seneca's plays were widely read in medieval European universities, so they strongly influenced Renaissance tragic drama, particularly the literature of Elizabethan England.

Related Topics:
Medieval - European - Universities - Renaissance - Tragic drama - Elizabethan England

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Dates are approximate.

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Dialogues

• (40) Ad Marciam, De consolatione (To Marcia, On consolation)
• (41) De Ira (On anger)
• (42) Ad Helviam matrem, De consolatione (To Helvia, On consolation) - Letter to his mother consoling her in his absence during exile.
• (44) De Consolatione ad Polybium (To Polybius, On consolation)
• (49) De Brevitate Vitae (On the shortness of life) - Essay expounding that any length of life is sufficient if lived wisely.
• (62) De Otio (On leisure)
• (63) De Tranquillitate Animi (On tranquillity of mind)
• (64) De Providentia (On providence)
• (??) De Constantia Sapientiis (On the Firmness of the Wise Person)
• (??) De Vita Beata (On the happy life)

Tragedies

• Hercules Furens (The Madness of Hercules)
• Troades (The Trojan Women)
• Medea
• Phoenissae (The Phoenician Women)
• Phaedra
• Agamemnon
• Thyestes
• Oedipus
• Hercules Oetaeus (Hercules on Oeta): Problematic authorship
• Octavia: Problematic authorship

Other

• (54) Apocolocyntosis divi Claudii (The Pumpkinification of the Divine Claudius), a satirical work.
• (56) De Clementia (On Clemency) - written to Nero on the need for clemency as a virtue in an emperor.
• (63) De Beneficiis (On Benefits)
• (63) Naturales quaestiones of no great originality but offering an insight into ancient theories of cosmology, meteorology, and similar subjects.
• (64) Epistulae morales ad Lucilium - collection of 124 letters dealing with moral issues written to Lucilius.
• (370?) Cujus etiam ad Paulum apostolum leguntur epistolae: These letters, allegedly between Seneca and St. Paul, were revered by early authorities, but currently are not believed to be authentic by most scholars. http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/tixeront/section1-3.html http://www.zenit.org/english/archive/9910/ZE991014.html#item4