Seneca, Lucius Annaeus

(5 or 4 BC-AD 65) Roman philosopher and tragic playwright. The nine Latin tragedies of Seneca are based loosely on Greek originals. These include Hercules Furens, Troades, Phoenissae, Medea, Phaedra, Oedipus, Agamemnon, and Thyestes. A tenth tragedy, Octavia, based on events in the reign of Nero, is sometimes attributed (almost certainly erroneously) to Seneca. It is a matter of great scholarly debate, whether they were written primarily for recitation, or intended to be staged. Although such problematic elements as unannounced changes of setting, sudden entries and exits, dumb-shows and the like do nt absolutely preclude ancient staging (the plays have been presented to modern audiences with considerable success), they may argue against it. Unlike surviving specimens of Greek tragedy, and the fragments of earlier Roman works, there are no implicit stage directions, and little felt sense of practical dramaturgy. Sene3ca aims not at subtle or consistent character delineation and still less at effective stage actions. He seems concerned instead with immediate rhetorical impact and the excitement of raw emotion through lurid descriptive passages.

The works contain highly effective set speeches, and some stirring choral odes, as well as numerous examples of precepts and "lessons" based on Seneca’s stoic philosophy. Whatever his influence or the theatrical use of his plays in ancient Rome, they later greatly appealed to renaissance playwrights and their audiences. The sensational violence and melodramatic horror, the prevalence of ghosts and black magic, the evocation of direst woe and catastrophe, and even the reourse to rant and bombast; these elements compelled attention and excited first admiration and then widespread imitation. Moreover, the dark mixture of court intrigue, deception, and pervasive anxiety that Seneca’s troubled works distil from the ago of Nero (in which he played a prominent role) was not too foreign or exotic for contemporary renaissance taste. His themes and philosophy were readily intelligible, the stories were sensational, and at times he created moments of genuine emotion, poetic beauty, or thrilling drama. His Latin was accessible, and his five-act format was easy to emulate.

The first English translation of Seneca appeared in 1559, and the Elizabethan stage was soon strewn with his demons, tyrants, fustian, and corpses. If Seneca-inspired ‘revenge tragedy’ spawned such flawed offspring as Titus Andronicus, it also deeply influenced Richard III and left more than its mark on Hamlet. Nor was his influence felt only in violent action and passionate rhetoric; his ideas absolutely permeate Elizabethan drama and decisively colour its mood and morality. His impact on the great dramatic works of that age was fundamental and, through it, has never ceased to influence our own. It is deeply ironic that of all the tragic works of antiquity (Greek or Roman), the most profound influence upon modern practice was exercised by plays that may never have been performed on the ancient stage.

Bibliography

Pratt, N., Seneca’s Drama (Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 1983)

Sutton, D., Seneca on the Stage (London, 1986)

Boyle, A.J. (ed.), Seneca Tragicus (Clayton, Victoria, 1983)