
Four Tragedies and Octavia
$22.89
- Paperback
320 pages
- Release Date
30 November 1976
Summary
Seneca’s Stage: Four Tragedies and Octavia
Based on legends from Greek drama, Seneca’s plays are renowned for their unrestrained and ruthless exploration of disastrous events, relentlessly pursued to their tragic and often bloodthirsty conclusions.
- Thyestes explores the looming threat of an ancestral curse that shadows two warring brothers.
- Phaedra delves into the torment of a woman consumed by a deadly desire for her stepson.…
Book Details
ISBN-13: | 9780140441741 |
---|---|
ISBN-10: | 0140441743 |
Series: | Penguin Classics |
Author: | Lucius Annaeus Seneca |
Publisher: | Penguin Books |
Imprint: | Penguin Classics |
Format: | Paperback |
Number of Pages: | 320 |
Edition: | 1st |
Release Date: | 30 November 1976 |
Weight: | 236g |
Dimensions: | 15mm x 130mm x 197mm |
You Can Find This Book In
About The Author
Lucius Annaeus Seneca
Lucius Annaeus Seneca, statesman, philosopher, advocate and man of letters, was born at Cordoba in Spain around 4 BC. He rose to prominence in Rome, pursuing a career in the courts and political life, for which he had been trained, while also acquiring celebrity as an author of tragedies and essays. Falling foul of successive emperors (Caligula in AD 39 and Claudius in AD 41), he spent eight years in exile, allegedly for an affair with Caligula’s sister. Recalled in AD 49, he was made praetor and was appointed tutor to the boy who was to become, in AD 54, the emperor Nero. On Nero’s succession, Seneca acted for some eight years as an unofficial chief minister.
The early part of this reign was remembered as a period of sound government, for which the main credit seems due to Seneca. His control over Nero declined as enemies turned the emperor against him with representations that his popularity made him a danger, or with accusations of immorality or excessive wealth. Retiring from public life he devoted his last three years to philosophy and writing, particularly the Letters to Lucilius. In AD 65 following the discovery of a plot against the emperor, in which he was thought to be implicated, he and many others were compelled by Nero to commit suicide. His fame as an essayist and dramatist lasted until two or three centuries ago, when he passed into literary oblivion.
Returns
This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.