74-400: A monster is a type of fictional creature found in horror, fantasy, science fiction, folklore, mythology and religion. Monster , The Monster or Monsters may also refer to: Monster A monster is a type of fictional creature found in horror , fantasy , science fiction , folklore , mythology and religion . They are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive , with
148-520: A 13th-century hagiographical account of famous saints that was widely read, included an account of Seneca's death scene, and erroneously presented Nero as a witness to Seneca's suicide. Dante placed Seneca (alongside Cicero ) among the "great spirits" in the First Circle of Hell , or Limbo . Boccaccio , who in 1370 came across the works of Tacitus whilst browsing the library at Montecassino , wrote an account of Seneca's suicide hinting that it
222-539: A basis for reform-minded education in Seneca's ideas she used to propose a mode of modern education that avoids both narrow traditionalism and total rejection of tradition. Elsewhere Seneca has been noted as the first great Western thinker on the complex nature and role of gratitude in human relationships. Seneca is a character in Monteverdi 's 1642 opera L'incoronazione di Poppea ( The Coronation of Poppea ), which
296-626: A carnival side-show worker who is turned into an electrically charged killer, able to dispatch victims merely by touching them, causing death by electrocution. There was also a variant of Dr. Frankenstein, the mad surgeon Dr. Gogol (played by Peter Lorre ), who transplanted hands that were reanimated with malevolent temperaments, in the film Mad Love . Werewolves were introduced in films during this period, and similar creatures were presented in Cat People . Mummies were cinematically depicted as fearsome monsters as well. As for giant creatures,
370-483: A codicil of his will, even when in the height of his wealth and power he was thinking of life's close." This may give the impression of a favorable portrait of Seneca, but Tacitus's treatment of him is at best ambivalent. Alongside Seneca's apparent fortitude in the face of death, for example, one can also view his actions as rather histrionic and performative; and when Tacitus tells us that he left his family an imago suae vitae ( Annales 15.62), "an image of his life", he
444-693: A comedic turn in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948). In the post–World War II era, however, giant monsters returned to the screen with a vigor that has been causally linked to the development of nuclear weapons . One early example occurred in the American film The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms , which was about a dinosaur that attacked a lighthouse. Subsequently, there were Japanese film depictions, ( Godzilla , Gamera ), British depictions ( Gorgo ), and even Danish depictions ( Reptilicus ), of giant monsters attacking cities. A recent depiction of
518-406: A cultural void; they have a literary and cultural heritage". In the religious context of ancient Greeks and Romans, monsters were seen as signs of "divine displeasure", and it was thought that birth defects were especially ominous, being "an unnatural event" or "a malfunctioning of nature". Monsters are not necessarily abominations however. The Roman historian Suetonius , for instance, describes
592-445: A fairly orthodox Stoic, albeit a free-minded one. His works discuss both ethical theory and practical advice, and Seneca stresses that both parts are distinct but interdependent. His Letters to Lucilius showcase Seneca's search for ethical perfection. Seneca regards philosophy as a balm for the wounds of life. The destructive passions, especially anger and grief, must be uprooted, or moderated according to reason. He discusses
666-408: A giant monster is depicted in J. J. Abrams 's Cloverfield , which was released in theaters 18 January 2008. The intriguing proximity of other planets brought the notion of extraterrestrial monsters to the big screen, some of which were huge in size (such as King Ghidorah and Gigan ), while others were of a more human scale. During this period, the fish -human monster Gill-man was developed in
740-411: A highly distorted, misconstrued view. Such is the view left to us of Seneca, if we were to rely upon Suillius alone." More recent work is changing the dominant perception of Seneca as a mere conduit for pre-existing ideas, showing originality in Seneca's contribution to the history of ideas . Examination of Seneca's life and thought in relation to contemporary education and to the psychology of emotions
814-455: A holdover from Proto-Indo-European religion and other belief systems, in which the divisions between "spirit," "monster," and "god" were less evident. The history of monsters in fiction is long. For instance, Grendel in the epic poem Beowulf is an archetypal monster: deformed, brutal, and with enormous strength, he raids a human settlement nightly to slay and feed on his victims. The modern literary monster has its roots in examples such as
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#1732780400204888-523: A less than "Stoic" lifestyle. While banished to Corsica, he wrote a plea for restoration rather incompatible with his advocacy of a simple life and the acceptance of fate. In his Apocolocyntosis he ridiculed the behaviors and policies of Claudius, and flattered Nero—such as proclaiming that Nero would live longer and be wiser than the legendary Nestor . The claims of Publius Suillius Rufus that Seneca acquired some "three hundred million sesterces " through Nero's favor are highly partisan, but they reflect
962-526: A letter justifying the murder to the Senate. In AD 58 the senator Publius Suillius Rufus made a series of public attacks on Seneca. These attacks, reported by Tacitus and Cassius Dio , included charges that, in a mere four years of service to Nero, Seneca had acquired a vast personal fortune of three hundred million sestertii by charging high interest on loans throughout Italy and the provinces. Suillius' attacks included claims of sexual corruption, with
1036-500: A mock encomium , inverting the portrayal of Nero and Seneca that appears in Tacitus. In this work Cardano portrayed Seneca as a crook of the worst kind, an empty rhetorician who was only thinking to grab money and power, after having poisoned the mind of the young emperor. Cardano stated that Seneca well deserved death. Among the historians who have sought to reappraise Seneca is the scholar Anna Lydia Motto , who in 1966 argued that
1110-417: A monster. Cassius Dio relates a story that Caligula was so offended by Seneca's oratorical success in the Senate that he ordered him to commit suicide. Seneca survived only because he was seriously ill and Caligula was told that he would soon die anyway. Seneca explains his own survival as due to his patience and his devotion to his friends: "I wanted to avoid the impression that all I could do for loyalty
1184-539: A period of ill health that lasted up to ten years. In 31 AD he returned to Rome with his aunt, his uncle dying en route in a shipwreck. His aunt's influence helped Seneca be elected quaestor (probably after AD 37 ), which also earned him the right to sit in the Roman Senate . Seneca's early career as a senator seems to have been successful and he was praised for his oratory. In his writings Seneca has nothing good to say about Caligula and frequently depicts him as
1258-427: A quick death. He also took poison, which was not fatal. After dictating his last words to a scribe, and with a circle of friends attending him in his home, he immersed himself in a warm bath, which he expected would speed blood flow and ease his pain. Tacitus wrote, "He was then carried into a bath, with the steam of which he was suffocated, and he was burnt without any of the usual funeral rites. So he had directed in
1332-608: A sly goblin ), while others may be docile but prone to becoming angry or hungry, thus needing to be tamed and taught to resist savage urges, or killed if they cannot be handled or controlled successfully. Monsters pre-date written history , and the academic study of the particular cultural notions expressed in a society's ideas of monsters is known as monstrophy . Monsters have appeared in literature and in feature-length films. Well-known monsters in fiction include Count Dracula , Frankenstein's monster , werewolves , vampires , demons , mummies , and zombies . Monster derives from
1406-527: A snake's absence of legs or a bird's ability to fly as monstrous, as both are "against nature". Nonetheless, the negative connotations of the word quickly established themselves, and by the playwright and philosopher Seneca 's time, the word had extended into its philosophical meaning, "a visual and horrific revelation of the truth". In spite of this, mythological monsters such as the Hydra and Medusa are not natural beings, but divine entities. This seems to be
1480-466: A strange or grotesque appearance that causes terror and fear , often in humans. Monsters usually resemble bizarre , deformed, otherworldly and/or mutated animals or entirely unique creatures of varying sizes , but may also take a human form, such as mutants , ghosts , spirits , zombies , or cannibals , among other things. They may or may not have supernatural powers, but are usually capable of killing or causing some form of destruction, threatening
1554-410: A suggestion that Seneca had slept with Agrippina. Tacitus, though, reports that Suillius was highly prejudiced: he had been a favorite of Claudius, and had been an embezzler and informant. In response, Seneca brought a series of prosecutions for corruption against Suillius: half of his estate was confiscated and he was sent into exile. However, the attacks reflect a criticism of Seneca that was made at
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#17327804002041628-638: A tragedian, he is best known for plays such as his Medea , Thyestes , and Phaedra . Seneca had an immense influence on later generations—during the Renaissance he was "a sage admired and venerated as an oracle of moral, even of Christian edification; a master of literary style and a model [for] dramatic art." Seneca was born in Córdoba in the Roman province of Baetica in Hispania . His branch of
1702-484: A year before his father urged him to desist because the practice was associated with "some foreign rites". Seneca often had breathing difficulties throughout his life, probably asthma , and at some point in his mid-twenties ( c. AD 20 ) he appears to have been struck down with tuberculosis . He was sent to Egypt to live with his aunt (the same aunt who had brought him to Rome), whose husband Gaius Galerius had become Prefect of Egypt . She nursed him through
1776-594: Is Dungeons & Dragons . In some other games, such as Undertale and Deltarune , "Monsters" (which are usually NPCs) refer to strange beings that are either undead , robots , humanoids or mythical creatures that share similarities with human beings. Seneca the Younger Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger ( / ˈ s ɛ n ɪ k ə / SEN -ik-ə ; c. 4 BC – AD 65), usually known mononymously as Seneca ,
1850-548: Is a catch-all term for hostile characters that are fought by the player. Sentient fictional races are usually not referred to as monsters. At other times, the term can carry a neutral connotation, such as in the Pokémon franchise, where it is used to refer to cute fictional creatures that resemble real-world animals. Characters in games may refer to all of such creatures as "monsters". Another role playing game that has many different fantasy creatures (monsters and dragons alike),
1924-521: Is a powerful, albeit rather oppressive, force. Many scholars have thought, following the ideas of the 19th-century German scholar Friedrich Leo , that Seneca's tragedies were written for recitation only. Other scholars think that they were written for performance and that it is possible that actual performance took place in Seneca's lifetime. Ultimately, this issue cannot be resolved on the basis of our existing knowledge. The tragedies of Seneca have been successfully staged in modern times. The dating of
1998-458: Is also highly regarded, and was praised along with Phaedra by T. S. Eliot . Works attributed to Seneca include 12 philosophical essays, 124 letters dealing with moral issues, nine tragedies , and a satire , the attribution of which is disputed. His authorship of Hercules on Oeta has also been questioned. Fabulae crepidatae (tragedies with Greek subjects): Fabula praetexta (tragedy in Roman setting): Traditionally given in
2072-531: Is mainly limited to using him as a source of ethical maxims. Likewise Seneca shows some interest in Platonist metaphysics, but never with any clear commitment. His moral essays are based on Stoic doctrines. Stoicism was a popular philosophy in this period, and many upper-class Romans found in it a guiding ethical framework for political involvement. It was once popular to regard Seneca as being very eclectic in his Stoicism, but modern scholarship views him as
2146-482: Is possibly being ambiguous: in Roman culture, the imago was a kind of mask that commemorated the great ancestors of noble families, but at the same time, it may also suggest duplicity, superficiality, and pretense. As "a major philosophical figure of the Roman Imperial Period ", Seneca's lasting contribution to philosophy has been to the school of Stoicism . His writing is highly accessible and
2220-701: Is revealing the relevance of his thought. For example, Martha Nussbaum in her discussion of desire and emotion includes Seneca among the Stoics who offered important insights and perspectives on emotions and their role in our lives. Specifically devoting a chapter to his treatment of anger and its management, she shows Seneca's appreciation of the damaging role of uncontrolled anger, and its pathological connections. Nussbaum later extended her examination to Seneca's contribution to political philosophy showing considerable subtlety and richness in his thoughts about politics, education, and notions of global citizenship—and finding
2294-582: The Annaea gens consisted of Italic colonists, of Umbrian or Paelignian origins. His father was Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Elder , a Spanish-born Roman knight who had gained fame as a writer and teacher of rhetoric in Rome. Seneca's mother, Helvia, was from a prominent Baetician family. Seneca was the second of three brothers; the others were Lucius Annaeus Novatus (later known as Junius Gallio), and Annaeus Mela,
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2368-569: The Golem , werewolves and vampires . The film Siegfried featured a dragon that consisted of stop-motion animated models, as in RKO 's King Kong , the first giant monster film of the sound era. Universal Studios specialized in monsters, with Bela Lugosi 's reprisal of his stage role, Dracula , and Boris Karloff playing Frankenstein's monster . The studio also made several lesser films, such as Man-Made Monster , starring Lon Chaney Jr. as
2442-559: The Latin monstrum , itself derived ultimately from the verb moneo ("to remind, warn, instruct, or foretell"), and denotes anything "strange or singular, contrary to the usual course of nature, by which the gods give notice of evil," "a strange, unnatural, hideous person, animal, or thing," or any "monstrous or unusual thing, circumstance, or adventure." In the words of Tina Marie Boyer, assistant professor of medieval German literature at Wake Forest University , "monsters do not emerge out of
2516-508: The Pisonian conspiracy to assassinate Nero, of which he was probably innocent. His stoic and calm suicide has become the subject of numerous paintings. As a writer, Seneca is known for his philosophical works, and for his plays , which are all tragedies . His prose works include 12 essays and 124 letters dealing with moral issues. These writings constitute one of the most important bodies of primary material for ancient Stoicism . As
2590-578: The Renaissance , printed editions and translations of his works became common, including an edition by Erasmus and a commentary by John Calvin . John of Salisbury , Erasmus and others celebrated his works. French essayist Montaigne , who gave a spirited defense of Seneca and Plutarch in his Essays , was himself considered by Pasquier a "French Seneca". Similarly, Thomas Fuller praised Joseph Hall as "our English Seneca". Many who considered his ideas not particularly original still argued that he
2664-562: The "Friendly Monster" is pervasive in pop-culture. Chewbacca , Elmo , and Shrek are notable examples of friendly "monsters". In the Monsters, Inc. franchise by Pixar , the monster characters scare (and later entertain) children in order to create energy for running machinery in their home world, while the furry monsters of The Muppets and Sesame Street live in harmony with animals and humans alike. Japanese culture also commonly features monsters which are benevolent or likable, with
2738-574: The 6th century Martin of Braga synthesized Seneca's thought into a couple of treatises that became popular in their own right. Otherwise, Seneca was mainly known through a large number of quotes and extracts in the florilegia , which were popular throughout the medieval period. When his writings were read in the later Middle Ages, it was mostly his Letters to Lucilius —the longer essays and plays being relatively unknown. Medieval writers and works continued to link him to Christianity because of his alleged association with Paul. The Golden Legend ,
2812-728: The Four Cardinal Virtues"). Early manuscripts preserve Martin's preface, where he makes it clear that this was his adaptation, but in later copies this was omitted, and the work was later thought fully Seneca's work. Seneca remains one of the few popular Roman philosophers from the period. He appears not only in Dante , but also in Chaucer and to a large degree in Petrarch , who adopted his style in his own essays and who quotes him more than any other authority except Virgil . In
2886-451: The aftermath of the Pisonian conspiracy , a plot to kill Nero. Although it is unlikely that Seneca was part of the conspiracy, Nero ordered him to kill himself. Seneca followed tradition by severing several veins in order to bleed to death , and his wife Pompeia Paulina attempted to share his fate. Cassius Dio, who wished to emphasize the relentlessness of Nero, focused on how Seneca had attended to his last-minute letters, and how his death
2960-408: The big screen as they did in the late 1940s. Occasionally, monsters are depicted as friendly or misunderstood creatures. King Kong and Frankenstein's monster are two examples of misunderstood creatures. Frankenstein's monster is frequently depicted in this manner, in series and films such as Monster Squad and Van Helsing . The Hulk is an example of the "Monster as Hero" archetype. The theme of
3034-405: The cause of irresponsibility of the emperor. One by-product of his new position was that Seneca was appointed suffect consul in 56. Seneca's influence was said to have been especially strong in the first year. Seneca composed Nero's accession speeches in which he promised to restore proper legal procedure and authority to the Senate. He also composed the eulogy for Claudius that Nero delivered at
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3108-492: The cliffhanger of the first episode of the 1936 Flash Gordon serial did not use a costumed actor, instead using real-life lizards to depict a pair of battling dragons via use of camera perspective. However, the cliffhanger of the ninth episode of the same serial had a man in a rubber suit play the Fire Dragon, which picks up a doll representing Flash in its claws. The cinematic monster cycle eventually wore thin, having
3182-410: The father of the poet Lucan . Miriam Griffin says in her biography of Seneca that "the evidence for Seneca's life before his exile in 41 is so slight, and the potential interest of these years, for social history, as well as for biography, is so great that few writers on Seneca have resisted the temptation to eke out knowledge with imagination." Griffin also infers from the ancient sources that Seneca
3256-521: The film series Creature from the Black Lagoon . Britain's Hammer Film Productions brought color to the monster movies in the late 1950s. Around this time, the earlier Universal films were usually shown on American television by independent stations (rather than network stations) by using announcers with strange personas, who gained legions of young fans. Although they have since changed considerably, movie monsters did not entirely disappear from
3330-420: The following order: Seneca's writings were well known in the later Roman period, and Quintilian , writing thirty years after Seneca's death, remarked on the popularity of his works amongst the youth. While he found much to admire, Quintillian criticized Seneca for what he regarded as a degenerate literary style—a criticism echoed by Aulus Gellius in the middle of the 2nd century. The early Christian Church
3404-401: The funeral. Seneca's satirical skit Apocolocyntosis , which lampoons the deification of Claudius and praises Nero, dates from the earliest period of Nero's reign. In AD 55, Seneca wrote On Clemency following Nero's murder of Britannicus , perhaps to assure the citizenry that the murder was the end, not the beginning of bloodshed. On Clemency is a work which, although it flatters Nero,
3478-440: The infant son may have been from an earlier marriage, but the evidence is "tenuous". Seneca's other work of this period, his Consolation to Polybius , one of Claudius' freedmen, focused on consoling Polybius on the death of his brother. It is noted for its flattery of Claudius, and Seneca expresses his hope that the emperor will recall him from exile. In 49 AD Agrippina married her uncle Claudius, and through her influence Seneca
3552-541: The influence of Euripides on some of these works is considerable, so is the influence of Virgil and Ovid . Seneca's plays were widely read in medieval and Renaissance European universities and strongly influenced tragic drama in that time, such as Elizabethan England ( William Shakespeare and other playwrights), France ( Corneille and Racine ), and the Netherlands ( Joost van den Vondel ). English translations of Seneca's tragedies appeared in print in
3626-710: The man with a bull's head, the Minotaur ). Human monsters are those who by birth were never fully human ( Medusa and her Gorgon sisters) or who through some supernatural or unnatural act lost their humanity ( werewolves , Frankenstein's monster ), and so who can no longer, or who never could, follow the moral law of human society. Monsters may also be depicted as misunderstood and friendly creatures who frighten individuals away without wanting to, or may be so large, strong and clumsy that they cause unintentional damage or death. Some monsters in fiction are depicted as mischievous and boisterous but not necessarily threatening (such as
3700-464: The mid-16th century, with all ten published collectively in 1581. He is regarded as the source and inspiration for what is known as "Revenge Tragedy", starting with Thomas Kyd 's The Spanish Tragedy and continuing well into the Jacobean era . Thyestes is considered Seneca's masterpiece, and has been described by scholar Dana Gioia as "one of the most influential plays ever written". Medea
3774-558: The monster in Mary Shelley 's Frankenstein and the vampire in Bram Stoker 's Dracula . Monsters are a staple of fantasy fiction , horror fiction , and science fiction (where the monsters are often extraterrestrial in nature ). There also exists monster erotica , a subgenre of erotic fiction that involves monsters. During the age of silent films , monsters tended to be human-sized, e.g. Frankenstein's monster ,
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#17327804002043848-478: The most famous examples being the Pokémon franchise and the pioneering anime My Neighbor Totoro . The book series/webisodes/toy line of Monster High is another example. Monsters are commonly encountered in fantasy or role-playing games, as well as video games, as enemies for players to fight against. They may include aliens , legendary creatures , extra-dimensional entities or mutated versions of regular animals. Especially in role-playing games, "monster"
3922-491: The negative image has been based almost entirely on Suillius's account, while many others who might have lauded him have been lost. "We are therefore left with no contemporary record of Seneca's life, save for the desperate opinion of Publius Suillius. Think of the barren image we should have of Socrates , had the works of Plato and Xenophon not come down to us and were we wholly dependent upon Aristophanes ' description of this Athenian philosopher. To be sure, we should have
3996-459: The next eight years on the island of Corsica . Two of Seneca's earliest surviving works date from the period of his exile—both consolations . In his Consolation to Helvia , his mother, Seneca comforts her as a bereaved mother for losing her son to exile. Seneca incidentally mentions the death of his only son, a few weeks before his exile. Later in life Seneca was married to a woman younger than himself, Pompeia Paulina . It has been thought that
4070-457: The plays seem to represent the antithesis of Seneca's Stoic beliefs. Up to the 16th century it was normal to distinguish between Seneca the moral philosopher and Seneca the dramatist as two separate people. Scholars have tried to spot certain Stoic themes: it is the uncontrolled passions that generate madness, ruination, and self-destruction. This has a cosmic as well as an ethical aspect, and fate
4144-508: The reality that Seneca was both powerful and wealthy. Robin Campbell, a translator of Seneca's letters, writes that the "stock criticism of Seneca right down the centuries [has been]...the apparent contrast between his philosophical teachings and his practice." In 1562 Gerolamo Cardano wrote an apology praising Nero in his Encomium Neronis , printed in Basel. This was likely intended as
4218-655: The relative merits of the contemplative life and the active life, and he considers it important to confront one's own mortality and be able to face death. One must be willing to practice poverty and use wealth properly, and he writes about favours, clemency, the importance of friendship, and the need to benefit others. The universe is governed for the best by a rational providence, and this must be reconciled with acceptance of adversity. Ten plays are attributed to Seneca, of which most likely eight were written by him. The plays stand in stark contrast to his philosophical works. With their intense emotions, and grim overall tone,
4292-475: The social or moral order of the human world in the process. Animal monsters are outside the moral order, but sometimes have their origin in some human violation of the moral law (e.g. in the Greek myth , Minos does not sacrifice to Poseidon the white bull which the god sent him, so as punishment Poseidon makes Minos' wife, Pasiphaë , fall in love with the bull. She copulates with the beast, and gives birth to
4366-513: The standard education of high-born Romans. While still young he received philosophical training from Attalus the Stoic , and from Sotion and Papirius Fabianus , both of whom belonged to the short-lived School of the Sextii , which combined Stoicism with Pythagoreanism . Sotion persuaded Seneca when he was a young man (in his early twenties) to become a vegetarian , which he practiced for around
4440-539: The time and continued through later ages. Seneca was undoubtedly extremely rich: he had properties at Baiae and Nomentum , an Alban villa, and Egyptian estates. Cassius Dio even reports that the Boudica uprising in Britannia was caused by Seneca forcing large loans on the indigenous British aristocracy in the aftermath of Claudius's conquest of Britain , and then calling them in suddenly and aggressively. Seneca
4514-476: The tragedies is highly problematic in the absence of any ancient references. A parody of a lament from Hercules Furens appears in the Apocolocyntosis , which implies a date before AD 54 for that play. A relative chronology has been proposed on metrical grounds. The plays are not all based on the Greek pattern; they have a five-act form and differ in many respects from extant Attic drama , and while
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#17327804002044588-541: Was a Stoic philosopher of Ancient Rome , a statesman, dramatist , and in one work, satirist , from the post-Augustan age of Latin literature . Seneca was born in Colonia Patricia Corduba in Hispania , and was trained in rhetoric and philosophy in Rome . His father was Seneca the Elder , his elder brother was Lucius Junius Gallio Annaeanus , and his nephew was the poet Lucan . In AD 41, Seneca
4662-643: Was a kind of disguised baptism, or a de facto baptism in spirit. Some, such as Albertino Mussato and Giovanni Colonna , went even further and concluded that Seneca must have been a Christian convert. Various other antique and medieval texts purport to be by Seneca, e.g. , De remediis fortuitorum , but with unconfirmed authorship, they have sometimes been referred-to as "Pseudo-Seneca". At least some of these seem to preserve and adapt genuine Senecan content, for example, Saint Martin of Braga 's (d. c. 580) Formula vitae honestae , or De differentiis quatuor virtutum vitae honestae ("Rules for an Honest Life", or "On
4736-408: Was born in either 8, 4, or 1 BC. She thinks he was born between 4 and 1 BC and was resident in Rome by AD 5. Seneca is said to have been taken to Rome in the "arms" of his aunt (his mother's stepsister) at a young age, probably when he was about five years old. His father resided for much of his life in the city. Seneca was taught the usual subjects of literature, grammar, and rhetoric, as part of
4810-422: Was die." In AD 41, Claudius became emperor, and Seneca was accused by the new empress Messalina of adultery with Julia Livilla , sister to Caligula and Agrippina . The affair has been doubted by some historians, since Messalina had clear political motives for getting rid of Julia Livilla and her supporters. The Senate pronounced a death sentence on Seneca, which Claudius commuted to exile, and Seneca spent
4884-449: Was exiled to the island of Corsica under emperor Claudius , but was allowed to return in 49 to become a tutor to Nero . When Nero became emperor in 54, Seneca became his advisor and, together with the praetorian prefect Sextus Afranius Burrus , provided competent government for the first five years of Nero's reign. Seneca's influence over Nero declined with time, and in 65 Seneca was forced to take his own life for alleged complicity in
4958-502: Was hastened by soldiers. A generation after the Julio-Claudian emperors, Tacitus wrote an account of the suicide, which, in view of his republican sympathies, is perhaps somewhat romanticized. According to this account, Nero ordered Seneca's wife saved. Her wounds were bound up and she made no further attempt to kill herself. As for Seneca himself, his age and diet were blamed for slow loss of blood and extended pain rather than
5032-407: Was important in making the Greek philosophers presentable and intelligible. His suicide has also been a popular subject in art, from Jacques-Louis David 's 1773 painting The Death of Seneca to the 1951 film Quo Vadis . Even with the admiration of an earlier group of intellectual stalwarts, Seneca has never been without his detractors. In his own time, he was accused of hypocrisy or, at least,
5106-404: Was increasingly absent from the court. He adopted a quiet lifestyle on his country estates, concentrating on his studies and seldom visiting Rome. It was during these final few years that he composed two of his greatest works: Naturales quaestiones —an encyclopedia of the natural world; and his Letters to Lucilius —which document his philosophical thoughts. In AD 65, Seneca was caught up in
5180-410: Was intended to show the correct (Stoic) path of virtue for a ruler. Tacitus and Dio suggest that Nero's early rule, during which he listened to Seneca and Burrus, was quite competent. However, the ancient sources suggest that, over time, Seneca and Burrus lost their influence over the emperor. In 59 they had reluctantly agreed to Agrippina's murder, and afterward Tacitus reports that Seneca had to write
5254-460: Was recalled to Rome. Agrippina gained the praetorship for Seneca and appointed him tutor to her son, the future emperor Nero . From AD 54 to 62, Seneca acted as Nero's advisor, together with the praetorian prefect Sextus Afranius Burrus . Early in Nero's reign, his mother Agrippina exercised his authority to make decisions. Seneca and Burrus opposed this authoritarian matriarchy which had become
5328-630: Was sensitive to such accusations: his De Vita Beata ("On the Happy Life") dates from around this time and includes a defense of wealth along Stoic lines, arguing that properly gaining and spending wealth is appropriate behavior for a philosopher. After Burrus's death in 62, Seneca's influence declined rapidly; as Tacitus puts it (Ann. 14.52.1), mors Burri infregit Senecae potentiam ("the death of Burrus broke Seneca's power"). Tacitus reports that Seneca tried to retire twice, in 62 and AD 64, but Nero refused him on both occasions. Nevertheless, Seneca
5402-591: Was the subject of attention from the Renaissance onwards by writers such as Michel de Montaigne . Seneca wrote a number of books on Stoicism, mostly on ethics, with one work ( Naturales Quaestiones ) on the physical world. Seneca built on the writings of many of the earlier Stoics: he often mentions Zeno , Cleanthes , and Chrysippus ; and frequently cites Posidonius , with whom Seneca shared an interest in natural phenomena. He frequently quotes Epicurus , especially in his Letters . His interest in Epicurus
5476-544: Was very favourably disposed towards Seneca and his writings, and the church leader Tertullian possessively referred to him as "our Seneca". By the 4th century an apocryphal correspondence with Paul the Apostle had been created linking Seneca into the Christian tradition. The letters are mentioned by Jerome who also included Seneca among a list of Christian writers, and Seneca is similarly mentioned by Augustine . In
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