Seneca Seneca

HarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics. No man can live a happy life, or even a supportable life, without the study of wisdomLucius Annaeus Seneca (4 BC-AD 65) is one of the most famous Roman philosophers. Instrumental in guiding the Roman Empire under emperor Nero, Seneca influenced him from a young age with his Stoic principles. Later in life, he wrote Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium, or Letters from a Stoic, detailing these principles in full.Seneca’s letters read like a diary or a handbook of philosophical meditations. Often beginning with observations on daily life, the letters focus on many traditional themes of Stoic philosophy, such as the contempt of death, the value of friendship, and virtue as the supreme good.Using Gummere’s translation from the early twentieth century, this selection of Seneca’s letters shows his belief in the austere, ethical ideals of Stoicism – teachings we can still learn from today.

"Com uma linguagem leve, lúcida e atraente, neste texto Sêneca ensina como examinar os temas práticos da vida, sobretudo um dos mais cruciais da atualidade: o tempo. Sua atenção concentra-se na velocidade com que a vida humana passa, enfatizando o fato de que o problema não é a falta, mas sim como nosso tempo é empregado. Devemos não só reservar tempo para nós mesmos, mas sobretudo evitar toda dispersão fútil e enganosa da vida, cuidando do tempo presente e vivendo o agora. Ao mesmo tempo, o filósofo destaca a importância da prática do bem e das virtudes, bem como o papel da filosofia, que nos ensina a viver de modo correto e nos fornece os elementos para uma análise crítica do mundo."

Here is a lively, readable, and accurate verse translation of the six best plays by one of the most influential of all classical Latin writers--the only tragic playwright from ancient Rome whose work survives. Tutor to the emperor Nero, Seneca lived through uncertain, oppressive, and violent times, and his dramas depict the extremes of human behavior. Rape, suicide, child-murder, incestuous love, madness, and mutilation afflict the characters, who are obsessed and destroyed by their feelings. Seneca forces us to think about the difference between compromise and hypocrisy, about what happens when emotions overwhelm judgment, and about how a person can be good, calm, or happy in a corrupt society and under constant threat of death. In addition to her superb translation, Emily Wilson provides an invaluable introduction which offers a succinct account of Seneca's life and times, his philosophical beliefs, the literary form of the plays, and their immense influence on European literature. The book also includes an up-to-date bibliography and explanatory notes which identify mythological allusions.

In The Stoic Philosophy of Seneca, representative selections from Seneca's writings offer the reader an excellent introduction to the range of his work. The selections are drawn from the essays, or dialogues, and the "Consolations;" from the treatises, of which "On Clemency," addressed to the young Nero, is included here; and from the Letters to Lucilius, which have to do not only with philosophical subjects but also with Seneca's personal experiences, such as journeys and visits. Moses Hadas has selected letters and essays which reveal Seneca's major philosophical themes—the relationship of the individual to society and to the gods; the meaning of pain and misfortune; man's attitudes to change, time, and death; and the nature of the highest good and of the happy life. In his Introduction, Professor Hadas discusses Seneca's life and work, tracing the history of his reputation; comments on Seneca's style; and outlines the origins and tenets of Stoicism. De Providentia, De Brevitate Vitæ, De Tranquillitate Animi, Ad Helviam matrem De consolatione, De Clementia, Epistulae morales ad Lucilium (selection))

Com data de escrita normalmente situada no ano 49, Sobre a Brevidade da Vida, do filósofo romano Séneca, versa sobre a natureza do tempo, sobre a forma como é desaproveitado com pensamentos e tarefas que se afastam de princípios éticos de verdadeiro significado. Ainda que anotado no dealbar da Era Cristã, este tratado reinventa a sua própria atualidade e parece aplicável com clareza aos tempos de hoje, vividos numa pressa informativa, no contacto exagerado, tantas vezes a respeito de nada que importe, proporcionado pelas redes sociais. Sobre a brevidade da vida está longe de ser um livro dentro dos conceitos atuais de autoajuda. É, talvez bem pelo contrário, um texto duro, arrojado, incomodativo, como se escrito por um amigo que nos diz o que não queremos ouvir, por o saber necessário. Chegar ao fim do nosso tempo e senti-lo desperdiçado, eis a grande tragédia, segundo Séneca.

Pocos males afectan tanto al ser humano como la ira, que daña al agredido y al colérico, y que es capaz de extenderse como una plaga. Este es uno de los mensajes que supo transmitirnos Séneca en sus diálogos. El filósofo expone, también, de forma clara cómo vivir con serenidad y calma ante circunstancias adversas, para lograr la tranquilidad del alma y apartar la ansiedad. Sus argumentos nos resultan hoy de tremenda actualidad cuando los vemos coincidir con los de quienes nos aconsejan sobre el bienestar personal. Sus palabras, a la vez, nos sumergen en el quehacer cotidiano de la Roma antigua.

El gran maestro estoico, nos legó sus enseñanzas sobre el arte del vivir en los tres tratados que recoge este volumen. Son diálogos en los que, con un estilo directo, se tratan temas como la felicidad, el retiro del mundanal ruido, el desarrollo del tiempo o la relación entre placer y virtud. Las siguientes páginas ofrecen un cúmulo de consejos para apartarnos del exceso y la negligencia, la ambición y la ligereza, la soberbia y el lucro… o recordarnos cómo es posible ser feliz sin deseo ni temor, tan solo gozando de la Naturaleza. Una guía vital conducida siempre por el gran motor del conocimiento y la curiosidad. The three treatises included in this volume are comprised of teachings on the art of living. They are dialogues in which topics such as happiness, withdrawal from the madding crowd, the development of time or the relationship between pleasure and virtue are discussed. The following pages offer a wealth of advice to keep us away from excess and negligence, ambition and frivolity, pride, and profit... and remind us how it is possible to be happy simply through nature.  

Ahl's translations of three Senecan tragedies will gratify and challenge readers and performers. With stage performance specifically in mind, Ahl renders Seneca's dramatic force in a modern idiom and style that move easily between formality and colloquialism as the text demands, and he strives to reproduce the richness of the original Latin, to retain the poetic form, images, wordplays, enigmas, paradoxes, and dark humor of Seneca's tragedies. In this powerful and imaginative translation of Medea, Frederick Ahl retains the compelling effects of the monologues, as well as the special feeling and pacing of Seneca's choruses.