Seneca and the Stoics on the Equality of the Sexes By
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SENECA AND THE STOICS ON THE EQUALITY OF THE SEXES BY C. E. MANNING In ion, E.V. Arnold, in his fundamental work on Roman Stoicism writes: "There seems every reason to believe that the equality of men and women, though at the time seemingly paradox- ical, was generally accepted by the earlier Stoics and adopted as a practical principle in Stoic homes. The whole treatment of human nature by the Stoics applies equally to man and woman, and points to the conclusion that as moral agents they have the same capacities and responsibilities. Seneca in writing to a great lady of philosoph- ical sympathies, states this as his firm conviction .... We need attach no importance to the more distinctively masculine views which Seneca occasionally expresses to the effect that woman is hot-tempered, thoughtless, and lacking in self-control, or to the Peripatetic doctrine that man is born to rule, woman to obey; for these sentiments, however welcome to individual correspondents, were not rooted in Stoic theory" 1). Yet we know that as one of Nero's chief advisers, Seneca combi- 1) E. V. Arnold, Roman Stoicism (Cambridge 1911). - A. J. Voelke, Les rapports avec autrui dans la philosophie grecque d'Aristote à Panétius (Paris 1961) follows much the same line. P. 118, "Au point de vue social toutes les barrières entre l'homme et la femme, le Grec et le barbare, l'esclave et l'homme libre perdent leur signification aux yeux des Stoiciens. La femme n'est pas par essence différente de l'homme - elle peut aspirer à la même vertu que lui et se vouer tout à la philosphie". In fact he suggests that this tendency achieved its full fruition under the Roman Empire, loc. cit. n. 64, "Ce n'est cependant qu'à l'époque impériale chez Séneque et Musonius que le Stoicisme semble avoir envisagé autrement qu'une façon théorique cette égalité entre les sexes". For a discussion of the rôle of women within marriage see Voelke, op. cit., 149-152, and E. Elorduy, Die Sozialphilosophie der Stoa (Philologus, Suppl. 28, Heft 3, Leipzig 1936), 194 ff. Elorduy regards Seneca as more liberal in his attitudes to marriage than some of his contemporaries and explains this by reference to Spanish custom. 171 ned with Burrus to resist the influence of Agrippina 1) and was foremost in preventing her attempt to hear legations sitting beside her son, for the thought of a woman on the imperial dais was frightening 2). Moreover, in his writings, Seneca imposes the adjec- tive muliebris on moral failings and viyilis on such philosophy and action that he approves 3). To give way to the passions was consider- ed particularly woman-like, and muliebris is always an adjective of contempt. It was women who were most inclined to rage and in this they were to be compared with an ignobilis bestia rather than one of the kings of the animal world 4). To be stirred by insult was the particular shortcoming of women and children 5) and characters so influenced were "weak by nature, womanlike and, through lack of real injury, petulant " 6) . Similarly grief and anxiety seemed to be particularly characteristic of women. Tears flowed readily and public parading of grief was common 7) . Helvia should banish such things, and Polybius should bear his grief viyiliter, for to do other- wise is humile ac muliebre. In the same way women are moved to pity by the tears, even of the guilty and, described by the contemptuous diminutive muLieyculae, they betray the hallmarks of a Pusillus animus 8). How are we to regard these actions and words of Seneca. Are we simply to say that "philosophers do not practise what they preach", a charge levelled against Seneca in his own lifetime 9) and that Seneca's use of language leaves much to be desired, that he was, in Quintilian's famous phrase in philosoPhia parum diligens ? 1°). 1) Tacitus, Annals XIII 2. 2) Tacitus, Annals XIII 5. 3) Seneca, Ad Helviam 12, 4 Zenoni a quo coepit rigida ac virilis sapientia. E. Elorduy, op. cit., 197, has noticed this same problem, and explains the subordination of woman to man by reference to the male-female elements in the Stoic cosmos. The present writer feels that a far more plausible explana- tion is provided by the development of the Stoic doctrine of Χαθ�Χoντα. 4) Seneca, De Clementia 15, 5. 5) Seneca, De Ira I 20, 3. 6) Seneca, De Constantia Sapientis 10, 3. 7) Seneca, N.Q. IV praef. 16; Ad Helviam 3, 2; Ad Polybium 6, 1-2. 8) Seneca, De Clementia II 5, 1. 9) Seneca, De Beata Vita 17-21 for the theme, and esp. 20, 1 Non prae- stant Philosophi quae loquuntur. 10) Quintilian, Inst. Or. X 1, 129. .