Elaine Fantham provides here a fresh Latin text of Seneca's Traodes and
an English version, with an extensive introduction and critical
commentary--the first separate treatment of the play in English since
Kingery's 1908 edition. Arguing that the Troades was not intended for
stage production, the author also discusses the atmosphere of Rome at
the time the play was written, when both political and poetic life were
felt to be in decline. Although Seneca's plays reflect his experience of
tyranny, corruption, and compromise, they are enriched by his contract
with the nobler world of poetry. Demonstrating how Seneca loved and
imitated the Augustan poets, Professor Fantham reveals the originality
that is part of his imitation.
Professor Fantham discusses not only the particular characteristics of
Seneca's generation but the interplay of his moral and poetic concerns
in relationship to his subject--the Trojan captivity.By analyzing his
reactions to accounts of this theme in Homer, Euripides, and Augustan
epic, she explains his methods and motives in composition.
Comparison of the play with Seneca's other works and with other drama
exposes some inconsistency, formulaic writing, and excess of ingenuity.
It also reveals the influence of epic in loosening his dramtic form and
makes apparent his immense vitality.
Elaine Fantham is Professor of Classics at the University of Toronto and
author of Comparative Studies in the Republican Latin Imagery (Toronto).
Originally published in 1983.
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