Tragedias I

Seneca - Complete Roman Drama in Translation

by Seneca, Jesús Luque Moreno (Translator), Carmen Codoner Merino (Translator)

Las tragedias senequistas abordan la experiencia humana universal del mal, ejemplarizada en ciertos mitos conocidos y manifestada en horrores y exageraciones grotescas.
Nacido en Córdoba c. 4 a.C. y educado en Roma en retórica y filosofía, Lucio Anneo Séneca el Joven o el Filósofo fue abogado, cuestor y senador, orador y escritor, preceptor del joven Nerón y consejero político de éste cuando llegó a ser emperador, hasta que el espíritu alocado del discípulo le llevó a retirarse y a participar en una conspiración, a raíz de cuyo fracaso fue obligado a suicidarse (65 d.C.). En su vida privada no aplicó los principios morales estoicos que predicaba, pero su tarea como consejero del emperador, junto con Burro, fue muy útil para el imperio durante varios años.
Además de la diversa obra en prosa (que ocupa varios volúmenes de la Biblioteca Clásica Gredos), su producción consiste en nueve tragedias adaptadas del griego, y que son las únicas muestras de este género que nos ha legado Roma. Todas las de este volumen (primero de dos dedicados a la tragedia senequista) se inspiran en Eurípides. En Hércules furioso la diosa Hera hace enloquecer a Heracles, quien asesina a sus propios hijos, confundiéndolos con otros, y a su esposa; recuperada la cordura, Heracles trata de suicidarse por desesperación, pero Teseo le convence de que acuda a Atenas para purificarse y le insta a superar el horror. Las troyanas escenifica el último día de la destrucción de Troya y el sufrimiento de las mujeres troyanas, que son el botín de los vencedores; es una de las mejores tragedias de Séneca, e incluye una emotiva confrontación entre Andrómaca y Ulises. Las fenicias nos ha llegado muy fragmentada, y hasta es posible que la versión que conocemos proceda de dos obras distintas. En Medea la protagonista despechada se sume en la desesperación más violenta a raíz del abandono de su esposo Jasón, y urde la más cruel venganza; Séneca intensifica los aspectos más pasionales de la historia para poner aún más de relieve la dimensión trágica: la infidelidad y los celos desencadenan las pulsiones más irracionales que anidan en el corazón humano, y una cadena de destrucción ajena y propia que precipita al nihilismo más absoluto.
Puesto que carecemos de cualquier noticia acerca de la representación de estas tragedias, es posible que fueran compuestas no para la escena, sino para la recitación ante un auditorio o bien para la lectura en solitario.

Genres: Classics, Poetry, Plays, Fiction, Drama, Ancient, Philosophy

334 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 64

About the author

Lucius Annaeus Seneca (often known simply as Seneca or Seneca the Younger); ca. 4 BC – 65 AD) was a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, and dramatist of the Silver Age of Latin literature. He was tutor and later advisor to emperor Nero, who later forced him to commit suicide for alleged complicity in the Pisonian conspiracy to have him assassinated.

Reviews

[sologdin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much concern here with natalist biopolitical management, evident in the choice of subject matter: person kills his own children while crazed, person kills others' children because of fear, person kills her own children while jealous, person kills own child as judgment, person causes own children's uttermost loss through intentional acts based on faultless ignorance. Good stuff. I've commented on specifics in the notes, and in reviews of the Greek originals, with which Seneca was in close colloquy.

These Loeb editions are of course kickass: small, durable, facing page. Seneca is as expected--the unlikely mix of irredeemable gore & violence with irreproachable stoic sententiae and wit.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

As they did with much of Greek culture, the Romans appropriated and transformed Athenian tragedy beginning in the third century BCE. When the originals were lost to Western Europe during the Middle Ages, these Latin adaptations would go on to heavily influence playwrights in England, most notably Shakespeare.

Enduring to our time is the hugely impactful work of Lucius Annaeus Seneca, a Stoic philosopher born in what is now Cordoba, Spain. Tutor and later advisor to the Emperor Nero, he was implicated in the conspiracy to assassinate that tyrant and forced to commit suicide.

Nine tragedies written by Seneca survive, all of them reworkings of Greek originals. Beautifully written, full of bizarre supernatural entities and dripping with gore, Senecan plays spat on norms of staging and pacing and indulged themselves in long soliloquies rather than the rapid-fire exchanges more common in ancient Athens. As a result, many scholars believe the plays were meant to be read or recited rather than acted out.

To my mind, the most brutally effective of these tragedies is “The Madness of Hercules” (called simply Hercules or Hercules Furens — “mad Hercules” — in the original Latin).

Nearly all my readers will be familiar with the story of Hercules (though hopefully not just from the Disney animated feature): Zeus (Jupiter or Jove in Latin) has a penchant for mortal women and he engages in a dalliance with Alcmene, disguised as her husband, Amphitryon. Hercules is born from this union. Fed up with her husband’s philandering, the goddess Hera (Juno) determines to destroy Hercules, hence the many trials and labors the demi-god has to go through.

As “The Madness of Hercules” opens, Juno is seething with rage and swears to find the means to finally undo the hero, who is in Hades, performing the 12th labor assigned by his nemesis, King Eurystheus — bring back the three-headed hound of hell, Cerberus.

Meanwhile, the father-in-law of Hercules, King Creon of Thebes, has been slain by Lycus, who has taken control of the city and sequestered away the hero’s wife, Megara, along with their children and Amphitryon, the man who raised Hercules. Lycus demands that Megara marry him and legitimize his rule; she refuses, preferring death for herself and her sons.

It is at this point that Hercules returns, having mastered Cerberus and accompanied by Theseus, whom he freed from the bowels of hell. Reunited with his family, he learns of the plans Lycus has for them and he sets out to slay the usurper. Now Juno springs her trap, through one of the Furies and Isis (an Egyptian goddess whose worship was sponsored by the Emperor Caligula). The two blind Hercules with mad rage, and he slaughters his wife and sons, as well, before falling into a deep sleep.

Upon awakening, the demigod realizes what he has done. Overcome with grief, Hercules longs to kill himself, but Amphitryon and Theseus persuade him to stay his hand and seek atonement for his sins in Athens. His reluctant agreement is inexpressibly moving: “To the Herculean labors let one more be added: to live.”

There are several translations of the play available; I read that of John G. Fitch, part of the bilingual Loeb Classical Library (a collection I highly recommend). Faithful to the Latin and powerful in its own right, Fitch’s rendering is top-notch.

A source of stunning dark imagery, meditations on suffering and revenge, and a wealth of epigrams (“Successful and fortunate crime is called valor,” for example), “The Madness of Hercules” is most certainly timeless and powerful.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I re-read Seneca's Phaedra for the first time in almost forty years. There is a lot of set-piece rhetorical declamation, but the actual dramatic dialog is amazing. I can easily understand Seneca's enormous influence on subsequent drama. The confrontation between the prig Hippolytus and his possessed step-mother Phaedra is astounding. Latin tragedy is generally discounted among classicists let alone comparatistes, but "connais donc Phedre et toute sa fureur" is fully foreshadowed here.

[Kiara]

I am reading these plays to look for a classical monologue, and I am loving the beautiful lyrical language in these plays.

[Deni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excelente. Los dos puntos más altos me parecieron el parlamento de Teseo sobre el infierno, clara referencia para el infierno dantesco, y esa Medea alucinante, tres veces peor que la de Eurípides.

[Birch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it :D

[Ibis3]

Bilingual edition preferred.

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved Medea and Hercules, I found the others a bit boring and tedious

[Ele · Rating 3 out of 5]

no entiendo xq se empeñaban estos niños en hacer diferentes versiones de una misma historia, a mi personalmente me lia mucho y luego no recuerdo exactamente que ewcritor escribio que version, todo esto hablando de mitologia x supuesto

[Alec Zhang · Rating 3 out of 5]

hercules furens: nothing like the disney movie. interesting to see the shakespeare tragedy influence.
trojan women: i want to reread this after the iliad + song of achilles.
medea: she just like me fr

[NereB · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is really hard to understand if you don't know anything about mitology. But it is not too bad.

[malina rusu · Rating 4 out of 5]

took what i needed out of this (Trojan women, Medea)

translation was mid (i say as an insufferable latinist with a DIY attitude)