Humor and Myth

Background on Seneca
 Lucius Annaeus Seneca (often known simply as
Seneca, or Seneca the Younger) (c. 3 BC – 65 AD)
was a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, dramatist,
and humorist, of the Silver Age of Latin literature. He
was exiled by Caligula and recalled by Claudius to
tutor Nero. He later became advisor to emperor Nero.
He was later forced to commit suicide for complicity in
the Pisonian conspiracy to assassinate this last of the
Julio-Claudian emperors; however, he may have been
innocent. His father was Seneca the Elder and his
older brother was Gallio who dismissed charges
against the apostle Paul.
 Seneca’s Works
 Several tragedies in Latin following Greek
style
 Philosophical dialogues and essays on
various topics
 Naturales Questiones
 Epistulae Morales
 Apocolocyntosis Divi Claudii
 Lucian
 Lucian of Samosata (Greek: Λουκιανὸς ὁ
Σαμοσατεύς, Latin: Lucianus
Samosatensis; c. A.D. 125 – after A.D.
180) was an Assyrian rhetorician and
satirist who wrote in the Greek language.
He seems to have been Semitic in
ethnicity, though he wrote in Greek. He is
noted for his witty and scoffing nature.
 Outline of Lucian’s Works
 Dialogues (of the Dead, of the Gods, etc.)
 True History (Parody of Homer, Herodotus, etc.)
 Numerous essays, some more humorous, some
more serious
 Menippus or The Descent Into Hades (Lucian’s
tribute has Menippus fly into Hades to ask
Teiresias about the best philosophy)
 Lucius or the Ass (source of Apuleius’ novel?)
 Menippean Satire
 Menippean satire is named after the Cynic
philosopher Menippus of Gadara (3rd BC) who
seems to have first practiced it. It combines
various genres of prose and poetry and often
incorporates dialogue; the genre is often
connected with some ancient forms of novels. It
is often episodic in nature and mocks a broad
range of societal details—equal opportunity
satire. Points of view may change and it is often
hard to locate the author’s true sentiment. It is
often associated with more or less bitter
sarcasm and sometimes dark humor.
 Discussion Questions
1. Pick out a couple of "jokes" in each author.
a. What are they making fun of?
b. Why was it funny to its original audience?
c. Is it funny to you?

2. How would you describe the humor of each author? You

might think in terms of modern authors or film/tv directors
whose humor is similar.

3. What modern treatments of myth come closest to the

humorous tone in Seneca and Lucian?

4. What genre of modern humor (even if not about Greek myth)

seems closest in tone to Seneca's Apocolocyntosis? to
Lucian's Dialogues?