Transcript Seneca*s Phaedra, or. . .

Seneca’s
Phaedra, or. . .
“The Explosion
of Evil”
Brill’s on Roman Tragedy
“The content of Roman tragedy is
not ‘tragic.’ ”
Agenda
•
Is It Tragedy?
•
City and Empire
•
Roman Theater, Roman Drama
•
Introduction to Seneca
•
Tragedy in Performance
• Is It Relatable?
• The Briefest of Surveys of the Roman World
• Continuities, Developments
• “The Explosion of Evil”
• Seneca’s Phaedra, pp. 120–122
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Seneca Phaedra
3
Is It Tragedy?
Is It Relatable?
Discussion Questions
• Do we identify/sympathize/empathize with
•
the trials and tribulations of the characters?
Are there ways that Seneca seems to create
distance between us and them?
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Seneca Phaedra
5
City and Empire
The Briefest of Surveys of the Roman World
Forum Romanum (reconstruction)
Capitoline Wolf
Augustus
Ancient Italy
Roman Empire
Timeline
753-510 BCE
Regal period
Ruled by kings.
510-27 BCE
Republic
Mixed constitution: oligarchic, quasi-democratic.
27 BCE-293 CE
Principate (Early Empire)
De facto monarchy (imperātor, Caesar, princeps)
Roman Theater, Roman Drama
Continuities, Developments
Theater at Sabratha,
N. Africa, 200s CE
Satyr Play Rehearsal,
Pompeii, ca. 50 CE
Roman Drama: Fabula. . .
Comedy
Tragedy
• Palliata
•
•
• “buskin” – i.e., Greek
himation – i.e., Greek –
comedy
tragedy
• Togata
•
“toga” – i.e., Italian comedy
•
Roman history play
upper-class comedy
• Mimus
•
popular farce
20-Apr-15
Praetexta
• “fringed toga” – i.e.,
• Trabeata
•
Crepidata
•
Pantomime
• narrative dance with
chorus accompaniment
ca. 240 BCE-early 100s CE
Seneca Phaedra
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Roman Drama: Fabula. . .
Comedy
Tragedy
• Palliata
•
•
• “buskin” – i.e., Greek
himation – i.e., Greek –
comedy
tragedy
• Togata
•
“toga” – i.e., Italian comedy
•
Roman history play
upper-class comedy
• Mimus
•
popular farce
20-Apr-15
Praetexta
• “fringed toga” – i.e.,
• Trabeata
•
Crepidata
•
Pantomime
• narrative dance with
chorus accompaniment
ca. 240 BCE-early 100s CE
Seneca Phaedra
13
Introduction to Seneca
“The Explosion of Evil”
Seneca (10-65 CE)
•
Historical background
•
Biographical notes
•
Philosophical interests
•
Rhetorical dimension
• Claudius (r. 41-54)
• Nero (r. 54-68)
• Claudius, Agrippina, Nero
• Stoicism
• Epicureanism
• declamation
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Seneca Phaedra
15
Senecan Rhetoric
Sententia
Perverse exaggeration
•
•
•
quod non potest vult
posse qui nimium
potest (Nurse, line 215)
“A man who can do
much would like to do /
More than he can.
(Penguin, p. 106)
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“I hate them all; I dread,
I shun, I loath them. / I
choose – whether by
reason, rage, or instinct
– I choose to hate
them” (Hippolytus, p.
120)
Seneca Phaedra
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“Senecan Formula” (cf. Herington)
Thematic Structure
Dramatic Structure
CLOUD OF EVIL
ACT 1. Hippolytus’ chaste joy, Phaedra’s
love agony.
DEFEAT OF REASON BY PASSION
ACT 1 cont. Phaedra’s and nurse’s
debate.
EXPLOSION OF EVIL
ACT 2. Attempted seduction, shocked
rejection. Criminal plot – “crime must
cover crime” (Nurse, p. 127)
ACT 3. Phaedra executes plan.
ACT 4. Messenger speech, Hippolytus’
death.
ACT 5. Phaedra’s suicide, Theseus’ grief.
Tragedy in Performance
Seneca’s Phaedra, pp. 120–122