INTRODUCTION xxix 



together with some verses, attributed to him. The titles, 

 Medea, Hercules Furens, Hippolytus, Agamemnon, etc., 

 suggest the Greek subjects as well as the plays of the 

 same names by Euripides and Aeschylus. The treatment \ 

 of the themes is all Seneca s own. Moral maxims \ 

 abound ; the plays are homiletic and were never designed 

 to be acted. 



One of the plays is of special interest as dealing with 

 current topics. This is the Octavia, whose chief character 

 is Nero s wife of that name, exiled by him in order to 

 make room for the licentious Poppaea Sabina. Seneca 

 himself is introduced as one of the characters, deploring 

 the vices of the age and the unhappiness of those set in 

 high position. If the play is genuine, which has been 

 doubted on the ground of references in it that seem to 

 apply to Nero s death, it goes to prove that Seneca used 

 very plain language toward his master and pupil. In 

 any case, it shows what the relation of Seneca to Nero 

 was generally supposed to be. Tacitus (xv. 61) repre 

 sents Seneca as telling Nero by messenger that the latter 

 has had more frequent experience of his independence 

 than of his servility, and the Octavia is fair comment upon 

 his statement. 



Here is a specimen of the dialogue : 



Nero. Fortune has put everything in my power. 



Seneca. Distrust her favours : she is a fickle goddess. 



N. To fail to see all that one may do, betrays the coward. 



S. The credit lies in doing not what one may, but what one ought. 



N. The crowd tramples on a feeble prince. 



S. They will crush a hated one : 



and so forth. Seneca s last remark may be a prophecy 

 some would say after the event. The play contains other 

 allusions which suggest some of the actual details of 

 Nero s end. 



The prose works include : 



(a) Philosophical Essays such as Anger, Clemency, 

 Benefits, Calmness of Mind, A Happy Life, The Shortness 

 of Life, Providence, or Why Providence allows troubles to 



