Seneca
by Anna Lydia Motto
Seneca
by
Anna Lydia Motto
|
|
| published
|
June 1973
by Twayne Pub
|
| binding
| Textbook Binding |
| isbn
|
0805728163
(isbn13: 9780805728163)
|
| ebook |
|
| date added
|
02-01-08
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|
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bookshelves:
history,
philosophy
Read in April, 2008
I was intrigued by Seneca because (a) I knew nothing about him and (b) I noticed his life span overlapped that of Jesus. This short volume was meant as a quick summary of his life and ideas, and it does a decent job of both, although the chapter on Art and Form is better suited to someone who can really revel in Latin rhymes, paradoxes and puns.
In this classicist's opinion, the arts peaked in the imperial age during the reign of Augustus and declined thereafter, so that Seneca was possibly t...more
I was intrigued by Seneca because (a) I knew nothing about him and (b) I noticed his life span overlapped that of Jesus. This short volume was meant as a quick summary of his life and ideas, and it does a decent job of both, although the chapter on Art and Form is better suited to someone who can really revel in Latin rhymes, paradoxes and puns.
In this classicist's opinion, the arts peaked in the imperial age during the reign of Augustus and declined thereafter, so that Seneca was possibly the only superlative philosopher and dramatist in his era. More amazing, though, was is ability to survive the mentally disturbed reigns of Claudius, Caligula and Nero. As Nero's tutor, he helped rule Rome for a period of years, and was thought to have done so wisely. In the end, though, not being able to withstand the paranoia of so many successive emperors, he was exiled and ordered to commit suicide, which he did, apparently all the while declaiming to and conversing with his friends.
As a philosopher, he was a Stoic at heart, but incorporated many other of the Greek philosophical schools, including Epicureanism and Cynicism. I don't pretend to know much about these, but what struck me was his insistence on a God (the Roman and Greek deities were manifestations of the one God, he felt) who inhabited human beings and gave them the spark of reason that ordered the universe. Stoicism called for struggle toward becoming a sapiens, or completely wise man, without in the least rejecting the world or its vicissitudes, but striving to recognize which things -- wealth, fame, power -- a person should become indifferent to, as not having real value.
A fascinating life, and so interesting to reflect on the fact that an obscure prophet from Palestine should today be so well known, but a truly famous philosopher, writer and leader from the same time should have fallen into the general abyss of obscurity....less
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