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978-1-107-03505-8 - The Cambridge Companion To Seneca

Edited by Shadi Bartsch and Alessandro Schiesaro
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The Cambridge Companion to

Seneca

The Roman statesman, philosopher, and playwright Lucius Annaeus Seneca

dramatically influenced the progression of Western thought. His works have
had an unparalleled impact on the development of ethical theory, shaping a
code of behavior for dealing with tyranny in his own age that endures today.
This companion thoroughly examines the complete Senecan corpus, with special
emphasis on the aspects of his writings that have challenged interpretation.
The authors place Seneca in the context of the ancient world and trace his
impressive legacy in literature, art, religion, and politics from Neronian Rome to
the early modern period. Through critical discussion of the recent proliferation
of Senecan studies, this volume compellingly illustrates how the perception of
Seneca and his particular type of Stoicism has evolved over time. It provides
a comprehensive overview that will benefit students and scholars in classics,
comparative literature, history, philosophy, and political theory, as well as
general readers.

Shadi Bartsch is Helen A. Regenstein Distinguished Service Professor of Classics

at the University of Chicago. She is the author of Decoding the Ancient Novel:
The Reader and the Role of Description in Heliodorus and Achilles Tatius
(1989); Actors in the Audience: Theatricality and Doublespeak from Nero
to Hadrian (1994); Ideology in Cold Blood: A Reading of Lucan’s Civil War
(1998); The Mirror of the Self: Sexuality, Self-Knowledge, and the Gaze in the
Early Roman Empire (2006); and Persius: A Study in Food, Philosophy, and the
Figural (2015).

Alessandro Schiesaro is Professor of Latin Literature and Director of the School

for Advanced Studies at Sapienza University of Rome. He is the author of
Simulacrum et Imago. Gli argomenti analogici nel De rerum natura (1990) and
The Passions in Play: Thyestes and the Dynamics of Senecan Drama (2003) and
the coeditor, with Jenny Strauss Clay and Philip Mitsis, of Mega Nepios: The
Addressee in Didactic Epic (1993) and, with Thomas Habinek, of The Roman
Cultural Revolution (1997).

A complete list of books in the series is at the back of this book.

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978-1-107-03505-8 - The Cambridge Companion To Seneca
Edited by Shadi Bartsch and Alessandro Schiesaro
Frontmatter
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Cambridge University Press
978-1-107-03505-8 - The Cambridge Companion To Seneca
Edited by Shadi Bartsch and Alessandro Schiesaro
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THE CAMBRIDGE
C O M PA N I O N TO

SENECA

EDITED BY

SHADI BARTSCH
University of Chicago

ALESSANDRO SCHI E SA RO
Sapienza University of Rome

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978-1-107-03505-8 - The Cambridge Companion To Seneca
Edited by Shadi Bartsch and Alessandro Schiesaro
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32 Avenue of the Americas, New York, N Y 10013-2473, U SA

Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge.

It furthers the University’s mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of
education, learning, and research at the highest international levels of excellence.

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Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781107694217
© Cambridge University Press 2015
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception
and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
no reproduction of any part may take place without the written
permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published 2015
Printed in the United States of America
A catalog record for this publication is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
The Cambridge companion to Seneca / edited by Shadi Bartsch, University of
Chicago; Alessandro Schiesaro, Sapienza University of Rome.
pages cm. – (Cambridge companions to literature)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
I S B N 978-1-107-03505-8 (hardback) – IS B N 978-1-107-69421-7 (paperback)
1. Seneca, Lucius Annaeus, approximately 4 B.C.–65 A.D. – History
and criticism – Handbooks, manuals, etc. I. Bartsch, Shadi, 1966– editor.
II. Schiesaro, Alessandro, 1963– editor.
PA 6675.C 36 2015
188–dc23 2014033239
IS B N 978-1-107-03505-8 Hardback
IS B N 978-1-107-69421-7 Paperback
Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of U R L s
for external or third-party Internet Web sites referred to in this publication and does not
guarantee that any content on such Web sites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

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CONTENTS

Contributors page ix

Seneca: An Introduction 1
S h ad i Bart s c h a n d A l e ssa n d ro S c h i e saro

P a rt I T h e S e n e c a n C o rpus

1 Seneca Multiplex: The Phases (and Phrases) of Seneca’s

Life and Works 15
S u san n a Braun d

2 Senecan Tragedy 29
Ch ri s to p h e r T r i n ac t y

3 Absent Presence in Seneca’s Epistles: Philosophy and Friendship 41

Cat h ari n e E dwa r d s

4 The Dialogue in Seneca’s Dialogues (and Other Moral Essays) 54

M at t h e w Ro l l e r

5 Seneca on Monarchy and the Political Life: De Clementia, De

Tranquillitate Animi, De Otio 68
M al co l m S ch o f i e l d

6 Exploring Appearances: Seneca’s Scientific Works 82

F ran ce s ca Ro ma n a B e r n o

7 Seneca’s Apocolocyntosis: Censors in the Afterworld 93

Ki rk F re u d e n b u r g

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Contents

P a rt I I T e x t s a n d C ontexts

8 Seneca and Augustan Culture 109

Jam e s Ke r

9 Seneca and Neronian Rome: In the Mirror of Time 122

Vi cto ri a R i me l l

10 Style and Form in Seneca’s Writing 135

G are t h W i l l i a ms

11 Seneca’s Images and Metaphors 150

M i re i l l e A r mi se n -Ma rc he t t i

12 Theater and Theatricality in Seneca’s World 161

Ce d ri c A. J . L i t t l e woo d

13 Senecan Emotions 174

D avi d Ko n s ta n

P a rt I I I Se n e c a n T e ns io ns

14 Senecan Selves 187

S h ad i Bart sc h

15 Seneca’s Shame 199

D avi d W ray

16 Theory and Practice in Seneca’s Writings 212

Care y S e al

17 Seneca’s Originality 224

E l i zabe t h A smi s

18 Seneca and Epicurus: The Allure of the Other 239

Al e s san d ro Sc h i e sa ro

P a rt I V T he Se n e c a n Trad itio n

19 Seneca and the Ancient World 255

Al d o S e taio l i
vi

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C on t e n t s

20 Seneca and the Christian Tradition 266

Ch i ara T o rre

21 Seneca Redivivus: Seneca in the Medieval and Renaissance World 277

Ro l an d M aye r

22 Senecan Political Thought from the Middle Ages to Early Modernity 289
P e t e r S tace y

23 Seneca and the Moderns 303

F ran ce s co Cit t i

General Bibliography 319

Index 347

vii

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Edited by Shadi Bartsch and Alessandro Schiesaro
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C O N T R I B U TO RS

M IREILLE AR MIS EN -MA RC H ET T I , University of Toulouse-Mirail

E LIZ ABETH ASMIS , University of Chicago

S H A D I BARTSC H , University of Chicago

F RA N C ES CA RO MAN A BER NO , Sapienza University of Rome

S USAN N A B R AU N D , University of British Columbia

F RA N C ES C O C ITTI , University of Bologna

CAT HAR IN E EDWAR D S , Birkbeck, University of London

KIRK FR E U D EN B U R G , Yale University

JAMES KER, University of Pennsylvania

DAV I D KO N S TAN , New York University

CEDRIC A. J. L ITTL EWOOD , University of Victoria

ROLAN D MAY E R , King’s College London

V ICTO R IA R IMELL , Sapienza University of Rome

M ATTHEW RO LLER , Johns Hopkins University

AL ESSAN D RO SC HIE SA RO , Sapienza University of Rome

M ALC O L M S C HO FIE LD , University of Cambridge

ix

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Edited by Shadi Bartsch and Alessandro Schiesaro
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C on t r i b u to rs

CAR E Y SEAL , University of California, Davis

AL D O SETAIO LI , University of Perugia

PETER S TAC EY, University of California, Los Angeles

C HIAR A TO R R E , State University of Milan

C HR IS TO P HER TR I NAC T Y, Oberlin College

G AR E TH WILLIAMS , Columbia University

DAVID WR AY, University of Chicago

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