Synopses & Reviews
Are there no limits to human cruelty? Is there any divine justice? Do the gods even matter if they do not occupy themselves with rewarding virtue and punishing wickedness? Seneca's plays might be dismissed as bombastic and extravagant answers to such questions--if so much of human history were not Senecan in its absurdity, melodrama, and terror. Here is an honest artist confronting the irrationality and cruelty of his world--the Rome of Caligula, Claudius, and Nero--and his art reflects the stress of the encounter. The surprise, perhaps, is that Seneca's world is so like our own.
Review
" This excellent new translation (with an introduction and notes) of On Anger, On Mercy, On the Private Life, and On Favours will be extremely helpful to those interested in Stoic ethics and also to those whose interest is in ancient political thought, the Roman use of Greek ideas, or the thought of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century European writers like Clavin, Montaigne, and Lipsius, whom Seneca influenced." Ethics
Review
"Cooper and Procopé in this volume have presented students with a very useful and valuable aide for the study of Stoic political philosophy." International Studies in Philosophy
Synopsis
This volume offers new translations of the most important of Seneca's "Moral Essays": On Anger, On Mercy, On the Private Life, and the first four books of On Favours. They give a full picture of the social and moral outlook of an ancient Stoic thinker. A General Introduction describes Seneca's life and career and explains the fundamental ideas underlying the Stoic moral, social and political philosophy in the essays. Individual introductions, footnotes and biographical notes explain their historical and philosophical contexts.
Synopsis
New translations of the most important of Seneca's "Moral Essays": On Anger, On Mercy, On the Private Life, and the first four books of On Favours reveal the social and moral outlook of an ancient Stoic thinker. A General Introduction provides information on the philosopher's life.
Table of Contents
Editors' notes; General introduction; Abbreviations; On Anger; On Mercy; On the Private Life; On Favours; Biographical notes; Index.