Tragedies, Volume I: Hercules. Trojan Women. Phoenician Women. Medea. Phaedra

Seneca - Complete Roman Drama in Translation

by Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger, John G. Fitch (Translator)

Seneca is a figure of first importance in both Roman politics and literature: a leading adviser to Nero who attempted to restrain the emperor's megalomania; a prolific moral philosopher; and the author of verse tragedies that strongly influenced Shakespeare and other Renaissance dramatists. Here is the first of a new two-volume edition of Seneca's tragedies, with a fully annotated translation facing the Latin text.

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

560 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 64

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)