Latin4/530November23,2016

LuciusAnnaeusSeneca/SenecatheYounger:bornatCordoba(ca.4BCE-1CE);sentencedtodeathunderCaligula(37-41CE);exiledtoCorsicaunderClaudius(41-54CE);Nero’s(54-68CE)tutorandpoliticaladvisor;isolatedfromemperor(ca.62-65CE);suicidedescribedatTac.Ann.15.62-4("ConspiracyofPiso")

• Senecathetragedian:themesofanger/theirrational(desire,lust,domination,self-destruction,madness);looselybasedonGreektragedies/plots,buthighlyRomanizedandidiosyncraticallySenecancompositions/spectacles

• Thyestes:cf.Accius’Atreus(Boyle,ch.4),Varius’Thyestes(Boyle,ch.6)

• questionofperformance(publictheater?recitation?privatecourtperformances?)

• anxietyofinfluence:Augustanpoetry(Tarrant,p.17n.83,“ThelinksbetweenSenecantragedyandAugustanpoetryhaveneverbeensystematicallyexplored…”;seenowTrinacty,C.2014.SenecanTragedyandtheReceptionofAugustanPoetry.Oxford)

• influenceofrhetoric/declamation(controuersia/suasoria;sententia,e.g.,Thy.470immaneregnumestpossesineregnopati)

• Stoicphilosophy

• mythicalbackgroundofThyestes

1. Tantalus(KingofPhrygia,sonofZeus)&Pelops(Hippodamia,Myrtilus)

2. Pelopidae:Atreus&Thyestes3. Aerope;thethroneofMycenae(goldenram:Thy.220ff.)4. Atreidae(Agamemnon,Menelaus)5. Thyestes’return(Seneca)6. Thyestes’revengeonAtreus(post-Seneca:theoracleandAegisthus)

IsthmusCanalToday(cf.Thy.101ff.)