Seneca

Question 1

Seneca’s dates

Answer 1

4 BC to 65 AD.

Question 2

what emperor’s did he live through?

Answer 2

Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudia and Nero.

Question 3

why did Caligula order Seneca’s suicide.

Answer 3

he was jealous of Seneca’s ability as ab orator.

Question 4

when was Seneca exiled?

Answer 4

41 AD

Question 5

why did Claudius exile Seneca?

Answer 5

accused him of having an adulterous relationship with his sister.

Question 6

when was Seneca allowed to return from exile?

Answer 6

49 AD.

Question 7

why was Seneca allowed to return from exile?

Answer 7

to become Nero’s tutor.

Question 8

why was Seneca ordered to commit suicide by Nero?

Answer 8

accused of plotting to kill Nero.

Question 9

what plays did Seneca write?

Answer 9

Medea and Phaedra.

Question 10

what happens in Medea?

Answer 10

Medea plots to kill her unfaithful husband, Jason, and her children, as he tries to remarry.

Question 11

what happens in Phaedra?

Answer 11

Phaedra, in love with and rejected by her step-son, Hippolytus, accuses him of rape. He is hunted down and killed.

Question 12

what do Seneca’s plays demonstrate?

Answer 12

the movement from rational love to irrational desire; desire destroys the ability to achieve virtue.

Question 13

who was the founder of Stoicism?

Answer 13

Xeno; Greek.

Question 14

what was the ideology of early Stoicism?

Answer 14

through the complete detachment of emotion you can govern your body with reason; reason is the key to achieving virtue.

Question 15

how did Seneca adapt Stoicism?

Answer 15

allowed human interactions and love if done virtuously.

Question 16

why did Seneca adapt Stoicism?

Answer 16

1) allowed Seneca to live the life he wanted, e.g. wealth and love, whilst still being under the umbrella of Stoicism.
2) Seneca needed to gain political alliances to survive under the Julio-Claudio dynasty.

Question 17

who criticised Senecan Stoicism?

Answer 17

Cassius Dio and Tactius; called Seneca a hypocrite for having money and tutoring a tyrant.

Question 17

the theory of indifferents?

Answer 17

the idea that only the pursuit of virtue is worth chasing; political power, wealth and love should be ignored.

Question 17

preferred indifferents?

Answer 17

life over death, love and amicitia.

Question 18

in accordance with nature

Answer 18

the idea that nature is closely aligned to virtue, so virtue is what nature tells us.

Question 19

the theory of rationality

Answer 19

irrational emotions must be rid.

Question 20

pathe

Answer 20

irrational emotions, e.g. appetite, pleasure, fear and distress.

Question 21

how are irrational emotions brought about?

Answer 21

by misguided beliefs about what we want and enjoy, leading to the loss of mental equilibrium.

Question 22

eupatheiai

Answer 22

rational emotions, e.g. caution, volition, moderation and joy.

Question 23

amor

Answer 23

wanting to make a friendship with someone who is virtuous.

Question 24

affectus

Answer 24

intense and mad love.

Question 25

example of affectus

Answer 25

Phaedra and Maecenas; wears his wife’s bindings.

Question 26

Seneca’s definition of love

Answer 26

we should fall for those who have the capacity for virtue.