Seneca Lucius Annaeus
Roman statesman, Stoic philosopher, and tragedian, Seneca wrote closet dramas of extreme passion and moral darkness. His plays, never intended for performance, profoundly shaped Renaissance tragedy through their rhetoric and violence. He was also Nero's tutor before being forced to commit suicide.
Works
- MedeaTragedy of a sorceress's murderous revenge on her unfaithful husband
- ThyestesTragedy depicting a king's cannibalistic revenge on his brother
- PhaedraTragedy of a queen's ill-fated passion and violent consequence
- Hercules FurensTragedy of a hero driven mad by divine vengeance and self-destruction
- TroadesTragedy depicting the fall of Troy through the eyes of captive women
- OedipusTragedy of a man discovering his own terrible crimes and fate