This thesis explores the theme of evil in Senecan tragedy through the prism of his Stoic principles, as they are illustrated in his philosophic treatises, with special reference to de ira, de clementia, and naturales quaestiones. The introduction defines evil and situates this study in the historical context of Julio-Claudian rule at Rome. In addition, I sketch the relative chronology of Seneca’s works and chart Seneca’s interest in the myths on display in Greek and Roman tragedy.
Chapter One, “The Beast Within,” investigates the contrast of the civilized and uncivilized behaviour of Seneca’s characters in the Phaedra, Thyestes and Hercules Furens. I argue that although Seneca’s characters represent themselves as creatures of civilization and the city in their rejection of wild nature and their embrace of the values of civilization, in their words and actions they repeatedly revert to the wild landscape and bestial appetites that lurk outside the safety of the city walls.
In Chapter Two, “Anger,” I examine the emotion of anger as represented in the Medea and compare that tragic exploration with Seneca’s discussion of the emotion in the de ira, where it is called the greatest vice. I conduct an extensive comparative investigation of the language of Seneca’s treatise de ira and his tragedy Medea. Fitch contends that “the dramas do not read like
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negative exemplars designed to warn of the dangers of passion,”1 but I argue that here and elsewhere they do indeed.
In Chapter Three on “Cruelty,” I discuss the theme of cruelty in the Troades with reference to the de clementia where Seneca develops the theme of cruelty as the opposite of mercy, in an effort to guide the eighteen-year-old emperor Nero to compassionate rule. However, Seneca takes up the question of cruelty not only in the treatise, but also in his moral epistles and in his tragedies, especially the Troades. There I show that Seneca employs tragedy to hold up a mirror to his audience so that they can see their own behaviour reflected in it.
Chapter Four, on “Ghosts and Curses,” takes its starting point from Seneca’s well-known use of ghosts in his tragedies, a feature which had a great influence on Tudor and Jacobean drama. In Senecan tragedy, the presence of ghosts often threatens the safety of the living. I contend that there are four types of ghost in Senecan drama.
In the conclusion, I show that Seneca’s tragedies can be read as a criticism of the powerful, and that his Stoic interpretation of human behaviour can be seen throughout his tragedies.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TORONTO/oai:tspace.library.utoronto.ca:1807/44087 |
| Date | 20 March 2014 |
| Creators | Lynd, James Munroe |
| Contributors | Keith, Alison |
| Source Sets | University of Toronto |
| Language | en_ca |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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