Seneca the Younger
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Bust, traditionally thought to be Seneca, now identified by some as Hesiod. |
Lucius Annaeus Seneca (often known simply as
Seneca, or
Seneca the Younger) (
ca. 4 BC–AD
65) was a
Roman philosopher,
statesman,
dramatist, and in one work
humorist, of the
Silver Age of Latin literature.
Born in
Córdova,
Hispania, Seneca was the second son of Helvia and Marcus (Lucius) Annaeus Seneca, a wealthy
rhetorician known as
Seneca the Elder. Seneca's older brother,
Gallio, became
proconsul at
Achaia (where he encountered the apostle
Paul about AD
52). Seneca was uncle to the poet
Lucan by his younger brother Annaeus Mela.
Tradition relates that he was a sickly child and that he was taken to Rome for schooling. He was trained in
rhetoric and was introduced into the
Stoic philosophy by Attalos and Sotion. Due to his illness, Seneca stayed in Egypt from (25-31) for treatment.
After his return he established a successful career as an
advocate. Around
37 he was nearly killed as a result of a conflict with the Emperor
Caligula who only spared him because he believed the sickly Seneca would not live long anyways. In
41,
Messalina, wife of the Emperor
Claudius, persuaded Claudius to have Seneca banished to Corsica on a charge of adultery with
Julia Livilla. He spent his exile in philosophical and natural study and wrote the
Consolations.
In
49 AD, Claudius' new wife,
Agrippina had Seneca recalled to Rome to tutor her son who was to become the emperor
Nero. On Claudius' death in
54 Agrippina secured the recognition of Nero as emperor over Claudius' son,
Britannicus.
For the first five years Nero ruled wisely under the influence of Seneca and the
praetorian prefect,
Sextus Afranius Burrus. But, before long, Seneca and Burrus had lost their influence over Nero, and his reign became tyrannical. With the death of Burrus in
62 Seneca retired and devoted his time to more study and writing.
In
65 Seneca was accused of being involved in the
Pisonian conspiracy, which was a plot to kill Nero. Without a trial Seneca was ordered by Nero to commit suicide.
Tacitus gives an account of the suicide of Seneca. His wife,
Pompeia Paulina, intended to commit suicide after Seneca's death but was forbidden to do so by Nero.
Works attributed to Seneca include a
satire, a
meteorological essay, philosophical essays, 124 letters dealing with
moral issues, and nine tragedies. One of the tragedies attributed to him,
Octavia, is clearly not by him. He even appears as a character in the play. His authorship of another,
Hercules on Oeta, is doubtful. Seneca's brand of Stoic philosophy emphasized practical steps by which the reader might confront life's problems. In particular he considered it important to confront the fact of one's own mortality. The discussion of how to approach death dominates many of his letters.
Seneca's Tragedies
Many scholars have thought, following the ideas of the nineteenth century German scholar Leo, that Seneca's tragedies were written for recitation only. Other scholars think that they were written for performance and that it is possible that actual performance had taken place in Seneca's life time. (George W.M. Harrison (ed.),
Seneca in performance, London: Duckworth, 2000). Ultimately this issue is not capable of resolution on the basis of our existing knowledge.
The tragedies of Seneca 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 tragedies, they have a five act form and differ in many respects from extant Attic drama, and whilst the influence of
Euripides on some these works is considerable, so is the influence of
Vergil and
Ovid.
Seneca's plays were widely read in
medieval and
Renaissance European universities so they strongly influenced
tragic drama in that time, such as
Elizabethan England (
Shakespeare and other playwrights), France (
Corneille and
Racine) and the Netherlands (Joost van den Vondel) .
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) and
Octavia closely ressemble Seneca's plays in style, but are probably written by a follower.
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)
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
) [seven books]
* (63) Naturales quaestiones [seven books] 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. [
1] [
2]
Medieval writers and works (such as the
Golden Legend, which erroneously has Nero as a witness to his suicide) believed that Seneca had been converted to the Christian faith by
Saint Paul, and early
humanists regarded his fatal bath as a kind of disguised baptism.
Dante, nevertheless, placed Seneca in the
First Circle of Hell, or
Limbo, a place of perfect natural happiness where good non-Christians like the ancient philosophers had to stay for eternity, due to their lack of the justifying grace required to go to
heaven.
*
Loeb Classical Library*
Seneca the Elder*Original texts of Seneca's works at 'The Latin Library' [
3]
*
Free ebook of Seneca the Younger at
Project Gutenberg*
Moral essays (on Stoics.com)* John Cunnally,
Nero, Seneca, and the Medallist of the Roman Emperors, Art Bulletin, Vol. 68, No. 2 (Jun., 1986) , pp. 314-317
