Seneca, Lucius Annaeus. Oedipus ; Agamemnon ; Thyestes ; Hercules on Oeta ; Octavia

Folger bibliographic ID: 354787
Folger call number: PA6156.S4 O33 2018
Folger holdings ID: 502897
Accession Number: 202597

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. Seneca's plays depict intense passions and interactions in rhetoric that is equally strong. Their perspective is much bleaker than that adopted in his prose writings. His plots are based on mythical episodes, in keeping with classical tradition. But the political realities of imperial Rome are also reflected in an obsessive concern with power and dominion over others. The Octavia is our sole surviving example of a Roman historical play; set at Nero's court, it was probably written by an admirer of Seneca as statesman and dramatist. John G. Fitch has thoroughly revised his two-volume edition of Seneca's Tragedies to take account of the textual and interpretive scholarship that has appeared since its initial publication. His translation conveys the force of Seneca's dramatic language and the lyric quality of his choral odes -- Provided by the publisher

Edition

Revised 2018

General notes

Includes bibliographical references and index Latin text and English translation on opposite pages

Extended title: Oedipus ; Agamemnon ; Thyestes ; Hercules on Oeta ; Octavia / Seneca ; edited and translated by John G. Fitch
Alternate titles: Hercules on Oeta ; Octavia, Oedipus ; Agamemnon ; Thyestes

Seneca, Lucius Annaeus, approximately 4 B.C.-65 A.D Octavia, Empress, consort of Nero, Emperor of Rome, approximately 42-62 Agamemnon, King of Mycenae (Mythological character) Thyestes, King of Olympia and Mycenae (Mythological character) Oedipus (Greek mythological figure) Hercules (Roman mythological character)

author: Seneca, Lucius Annaeus, approximately 4 B.C.-65 A.D.
subject: Seneca, Lucius Annaeus, approximately 4 B.C.-65 A.D
subject: Octavia, Empress, consort of Nero, Emperor of Rome, approximately 42-62
subject: Agamemnon, King of Mycenae (Mythological character)
subject: Thyestes, King of Olympia and Mycenae (Mythological character)
subject: Oedipus (Greek mythological figure)
subject: Hercules (Roman mythological character)
editor: Fitch, John G.