Another of Seneca’s consolations is addressed to Helvia, Seneca’s mother. Whereas Polybius had been grieving the death of a loved one, Helvia was grieving the exile of Seneca. In his advice to Helvia, Seneca takes the argument he offered Polybius—that the person whose death Polybius is grieving wouldn’t want him to grieve—one step further: Because it is Seneca’s circumstances that Helvia is grieving, he argues that inasmuch as he, being a Stoic, doesn’t grieve his circumstances, Helvia shouldn’t either. (His consolation to Helvia, he observes, is unique: Although he read every consolation he
...more
