Preliminary Syllabus

Seneca the Stoic: Philosopher, Playwright, Politician CLA 65 Barbara Clayton

Course Goals: Our goal is to approach the Stoicism of Seneca through a sampling of a wide variety of his writings. Seneca was a master craftsman, so we will be reading his works through a double lens, one that is both philosophical and literary. Our focus will not just be on the tenets of Stoicism, but also on the strikingly different ways in which Seneca expresses these tenets. The well known scholar of Latin literature, Gian Biagio Conte, summarized Seneca’s “dramatic style” in this way: “This pointed and penetrating style . . . is employed by Seneca as a probe with which to explore the secrets of the human soul and the contradictions that torment it and also as a device through which to speak to the heart of men and exhort them to the good.”

Grade Options and Requirements: 1. No Grade Requested (NGR) This is the default option. No work or mandatory attendance is required. Students who have selected another option can change to NGR at any time until the last class session. 2. Credit/No Credit (CR/NCR) Students must attend at least 5 of the 7 classes and submit a short (one paragraph) weekly response to one or more of the readings for that week. This response is meant to be your personal reaction and can consist of questions as well as comments prompted by the reading. 3. Letter grade Students must attend at least 6 of the 7 classes, submit weekly reader responses (as above), and submit a final written work of 5-6 pages. There are many options for this final paper: Students can develop one of their weekly reader responses into a longer personal response to one of the texts; write a traditional interpretive essay on any of the texts we have read; summarize and critique a work of Seneca not covered in our readings; watch a Senecan tragedy and report on it. I am always open to other suggestions, provided the student get clearance from me beforehand.

Preliminary Syllabus

Tentative Weekly Outline:

Week 1: Introductory material: Seneca’s life including and especially his relationship with the Emperor Nero; a brief history of Stoicism and its basic principles.

Week 2: The genre of the consolatio (consolation): Consolation to Marcia (for the loss of her son) and Consolation to Helvia (Seneca’s mother, to reassure her of his well-being while in exile, imposed by Claudius).

Week 3: From the Dialogues, readings will include: On Providence and On the Happy Life

Week 4: From the Dialogues, continued. Readings will include: On the Shortness of Life and On Mercy

Week 5: The Stoic turns inward: readings from Seneca’s letters to Lucilius

Week 6: Seneca’s tragedies: Medea and Oedipus

Week 7: Stoicism and science: “On Earthquakes” from Natural Questions Stoicism and satire: Apocolocyntosis (“The Pumpkinification [of the Emperor Claudius]”)