Philosophical works and tragedies The Apocolocyntosis divi Claudii (Pumpkinification of the Divine Claudius) stands apart from the rest of Senecas surviving works. A political skit, witty and unscrupulous, it has as its theme the deificationor pumpkinificationof the emperor. The rest divide into philosophical works and the tragedies. The former expound an eclectic version of middle Stoicism, adapted for the Roman market by Panaetius of Rhodes (2nd century BCE) and developed by his compatriot Poseidonius in the 1st century BCE. Poseidonius lies behind the books on natural science, Naturales quaestiones (Natural Questions), where lofty generalities on the investigation of nature are offset by a jejune exposition of the facts. Of the Consolationes, Ad Marciam (To Marcia) consoles a lady on the loss of a son; Ad Helviam matrem (To Mother Helvia), Senecas mother on his exile; and Ad Polybium (To Polybius), a powerful freedman on the loss of a son but with a sycophantic plea for recall from

Corsica. The De ira (On Anger) deals at length with the passion, its consequences, and control. The De clementia (On Mercy), an exhortatory address to Nero, commends mercy as the sovereign quality for a Roman emperor. De tranquillitate animi (On Mental Tranquility), De constantia sapientis (On the Steadfastness of the Wise Man), De vita beata (On the Happy Life), and De otio (On Leisure) consider various aspects of the life and qualities of the Stoic philosopher. De beneficiis (On Favours) is a diffuse treatment of benefits as seen by giver and recipient. De brevitate vitae (On the Brevity of Life) demonstrates that the human span is long enough if time is properly employedwhich it seldom is. Best written and most compelling are the Ad Lucilium epistulae morales (Moral Letters to Lucilius). Those 124 brilliant essays treat a range of moral problems not easily reduced to a single formula. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content.

Subscribe Now Of the 10 Senecan tragedies, Octavia is certainly, and Hercules Oetaeus is probably, spurious. The others handle familiar Greek tragic themes, with some originality of detail. Attempts to arrange them as a schematic treatment of Stoic vices seem too subtle. Intended for play readings rather than public presentation, the pitch is a high monotone, emphasizing the lurid and the supernatural. There are impressive set speeches and choral passages, but the characters are static, and they rant. The principal representatives of classical tragedy known to the Renaissance world, these plays had a great influence, notably in England. William Shakespeares Titus Andronicus, John Websters The Duchess of Malfi, and Cyril Tourneurs Revengers Tragaedie, with their ghosts, witches, cruel tyrants, and dominant theme of vengeance, are the progeny of Senecas tragedies.

Stature and inuence of Seneca Hostile propaganda pursued Senecas memory. Quintilian, the 1st-centuryCE rhetorician, criticized his educational influence; Tacitus was ambivalent on Senecas place in history. But his views on monarchy and its duties contributed to the humane and liberal temper of the age of the first two Antonines (Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius; 138180 CE). Meanwhile, the spread of Stoicism kept his philosophy alive, and new horizons opened when it was found to have Christian affinities. There was a belief that he knew St. Paul, and a spurious collection of letters substantiated it. Studied by St. Augustine and St. Jerome, Senecas works consoled the Christian philosopher Boethius in prison. His thought was a component of the Latin culture of the Middle Ages, often filtered through anthologies. Known to Dante, Chaucer, and Petrarch, his moral treatises were edited by Erasmus; the first complete English translation appeared in 1614. In the 16th to 18th century, Senec