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Description of  Intertextuality in Seneca s Philosophical Writings (Routledge Monographs in Classical Studies)

This volume is the first systematic study of Senecas interaction with earlier literature of a variety of genres and traditions. It examines this interaction and engagement in his prose works, offering interpretative readings that are at once groundbreaking and stimulating to further study. Focusing on the Dialogues, the Naturales quaestiones, and the Moral Epistles, the volume includes multi- perspectival studies of Senecas interaction with all the great Latin epics (Lucretius, Vergil and Ovid), and discussions of how Senecas philosophical thought is informed by Hellenistic doxography, forensic rhetoric and declamation, the Homeric tradition, Euripidean tragedy and Greco-Roman mythology. The studies analyzes the philosophy behind Senecas incorporating exact quotations from earlier tradition (including his criteria of selectivity) and Senecas interaction with ideas, trends and techniques from different sources, in order to elucidate his philosophical ideas and underscore his original contribution to the discussion of established philosophical traditions. They also provide a fresh interpretation of moral issues with particular application to the Roman worldview as fashioned by the Read more