This new and important introduction to Seneca provides a systematic and concise presentation of this authorâs philosophical works and his tragedies. It provides handbook style surveys of each genuine or attributed work, giving dates and brief descriptions, and taking into account the most important philosophical and philological issues. In addition, they provide accounts of the major steps in the history of their later influence. The cultural background of the texts and the most important problem areas within the philosophic and tragic corpus of Seneca are dealt with in separate essays.
Gregor Damschen is a Research Fellow of the SNF at the University of Lucerne and a lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Halle. His research focuses on topics in ancient philosophy, epistemology and logic.
Andreas Heil is working at the University of Dresden. He is author of Alma Aeneis. Studien zur Vergil- und Statiusrezeption Dante Alighieris (2002), Marcus Valerius Martialis. Epigrammaton liber decimus (2004, with G. Damschen) and Die dramatische Zeit in Senecas Tragödien (in preparation).
Contributors: Michael von Albrecht; Mireille Armisen-Marchetti; Andrea Balbo; Margarethe Billerbeck; F.-R. Chaumartin; Gregor Damschen; Joachim Dingel; Catharine Edwards; Anna Maria Ferrero; Rolando Ferri; Susanna Fischer; Marica Frank; Alfons Fürst; Bardo Maria Gauly; Sander M. Goldberg; Margaret R. Graver; Thomas Habinek; G.W.M. Harrison; Andreas Heil; Christoph Kugelmeier; Matthias Laarmann; Mario Lentano; Wolf-Lüder Liebermann; C.A. Littlewood; Gottfried Mader; Ermanno Malaspina; C. W. Marshall; Roland Mayer; Giancarlo Mazzoli; Burkhard Mojsisch; Maria Monteleone; Fritz-Heiner Mutschler; Renata Roncali; Jochen Sauer; E. A. Schmidt; Werner Schubert; John Sellars; Aldo Setaioli; Robert S. Smith; Wilfried Stroh; Karlheinz Töchterle; Chiara Torre; Jula Wildberger; Gareth D. Williams; Michael Winterbottom.
"This almost 900-page introduction to Seneca is a valuable resource even for scholars whose work focuses on Seneca, since it covers the full range of Senecaâs work in philosophy and poetry, a range so wide that no one person can master it. (...) In its comprehensiveness, scholarly depth, and factual density it is very much a work in the Germanic tradition of Pauly-Wissowa, albeit entirely in English." Gregory A. Staley, Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2014.09.20.
"The volume (...) offers much material for several groups of users alike. It contains both informative introductions and deeper analysis. (...) The volume is an impressive achievement and seems indispensable for any serious institutional library of classics." Vincent Hunink, Mnemosyne 08.2015.
Contents
Preface
Part One â Life and Legacy Imago suae vitae: Senecaâs Life and Career
Thomas Habinek
TheWorks of Seneca the Younger and Their Dates
C.W. Marshall
Transmission
Rolando Ferri
Seneca and Senecae: Images of Seneca from Antiquity to Present
Seneca the Philosopher
Matthias Laarmann
Seneca the Dramatist
Werner Schubert
Part Two - Philosophy
Context: Senecaâs Philosophical Predecessors and Contemporaries
John Sellars
Works De providentia R. Scott Smith De constantia sapientis R. Scott Smith De ira Maria Monteleone Consolatio ad Marciam Jochen Sauer De vita beata Fritz-Heiner Mutschler De otio R. Scott Smith De tranquillitate animi Fritz-Heiner Mutschler De brevitate vitae R. Scott Smith Consolatio ad Polybium Jochen Sauer Consolatio ad Helviam Jochen Sauer De clementia Ermanno Malaspina Naturales quaestiones Gareth D. Williams Epistulae morales Aldo Setaioli De beneficiis Mario Lentano
Lost and FragmentaryWorks
Anna Maria Ferrero Epistulae Senecae ad Paulum et Pauli ad Senecam Alfons Fürst
Topics
Ontology and Epistemology
Mireille Armisen-Marchetti
Ethics I: Philosophy as Therapy, Self-Transformation, and âLebensformâ
Aldo Setaioli
Ethics II: Action and Emotion
Margaret R. Graver
Ethics III: Free Will and Autonomy
Aldo Setaioli
Ethics IV: Wisdom and Virtue
Jula Wildberger
Ethics V: Death and Time
Catharine Edwards
Physics I: Body and Soul
R. Scott Smith
Physics II: Cosmology and Natural Philosophy
Bardo Maria Gauly
Physics III: Theology
Aldo Setaioli
Part Three - Tragedy
Context
Wolf-Lüder Liebermann
Works Hercules furens Margarethe Billerbeck Troas Wilfried Stroh Phoenissae Marica Frank Medea Wolf-Lüder Liebermann Phaedra Roland Mayer Oedipus Karlheinz Töchterle Agamemnon Christoph Kugelmeier Thyestes Chiara Torre
Part Four - Apocolocyntosis Apocolocyntosis Renata Roncali
Part Five â Other Works
Epigrams
Joachim Dingel De vita patris Michael Winterbottom
Part Six - Synthesis
Senecaâs Language and Style
Michael von Albrecht
Systematic Connections between Senecaâs PhilosophicalWorks and Tragedies
Susanna E. Fischer
List of Journal Abbreviations
Bibliography
Andrea Balbo and Ermanno Malaspina
Editions of SenecaâsWorks (Since Haaseâs Opera Omnia)
Contributors
General Index
All those interested in Stoic philosophy, the history of drama, Neronian culture, and the intellectual influence of antiquity, as well as classical philologists and philosophers.