What Makes Seneca
Although not the most popular stoic philosopher of the Silver Age (14-177 C.E.), Lucius Annaeus Seneca’s works later received their well-deserved praise through rigorous translations and artistic renditions, including William Shakespeare’s tragic comedy, “All’s Well That Ends Well”. Born the second son to a nobleman in Cordoba, Seneca the young grew up with some of the best minds and was educated by the first philosophy school in Rome, the School of Sexii. Seneca is seen by many as a significant player in late stoicism, influencing Rome by criticising their values and belief system, like rejecting the ideas that being wealthy makes you happy, and that anger is sensible. “It is not the man who has too little that is poor, but the one who hankers after more.” - Seneca, Letters from a Stoic. Seneca was also a great influence on tragedy as an art-form in Rome, and still is a great influence to this day.
…show more content…
Traditionally Romans were seen as quick-tempered, easily angered, and war-driven.
Stoics of the Silver Age, like Seneca, sought to curb this impulsive and dangerous behavior by arguing that anger was not inherent or justified, but the result of being unintelligent. In 54 C.E. one of Seneca’s pupils, Nero, gained the title Emperor, and Seneca found himself in a position of great power as a magistrate. This enabled Seneca to further push his stoic ideals, starting with the humane treatment of slaves and the reduction of unnecessary violence. Seneca continued on with this kind of work until 64 C.E., where unfortunately Nero ordered Seneca to commit suicide, which Seneca did with a stoic
peace. On top of being a stoic philosopher, Seneca was also a dramatist, writing tragedies that he may or may not have had the intention of performing. His nine tragedies (unfortunately not gaining popularity until the 1600’s) went on to significantly influence other great dramatists and their dramatic tragedies, such as Pierre Corneille (a french tragedy writer), Jean Racine (a french dramatist), and even William Shakespeare. Tragedy, as Seneca was writing it, was not thought to be a drama, or something able to be performed and be well received. Now we see his work was just a bit (quite a bit) before his time.
Seneca’s works have obviously gained some popularity, and his style has influenced and will continue to influence writers and philosophers for decades, or even centuries more. But there are some of his writings that have very little in-depth analysis, and some of his dramas have not yet been performed. There’s also a surprising lack of information on Seneca as a person, and his writings on stoicism have seemed to lose their influence. Stoicism is generally practiced in some parts of Africa, Singapore, Madagascar, Lithuania, Russia, and a few other countries. Does this mean Stoicism is on the rise, or is it on it’s way out?
Traditionally Romans were seen as quick-tempered, easily angered, and war-driven.
Stoics of the Silver Age, like Seneca, sought to curb this impulsive and dangerous behavior by arguing that anger was not inherent or justified, but the result of being unintelligent. In 54 C.E. one of Seneca’s pupils, Nero, gained the title Emperor, and Seneca found himself in a position of great power as a magistrate. This enabled Seneca to further push his stoic ideals, starting with the humane treatment of slaves and the reduction of unnecessary violence. Seneca continued on with this kind of work until 64 C.E., where unfortunately Nero ordered Seneca to commit suicide, which Seneca did with a stoic
peace. On top of being a stoic philosopher, Seneca was also a dramatist, writing tragedies that he may or may not have had the intention of performing. His nine tragedies (unfortunately not gaining popularity until the 1600’s) went on to significantly influence other great dramatists and their dramatic tragedies, such as Pierre Corneille (a french tragedy writer), Jean Racine (a french dramatist), and even William Shakespeare. Tragedy, as Seneca was writing it, was not thought to be a drama, or something able to be performed and be well received. Now we see his work was just a bit (quite a bit) before his time.
Seneca’s works have obviously gained some popularity, and his style has influenced and will continue to influence writers and philosophers for decades, or even centuries more. But there are some of his writings that have very little in-depth analysis, and some of his dramas have not yet been performed. There’s also a surprising lack of information on Seneca as a person, and his writings on stoicism have seemed to lose their influence. Stoicism is generally practiced in some parts of Africa, Singapore, Madagascar, Lithuania, Russia, and a few other countries. Does this mean Stoicism is on the rise, or is it on it’s way out?