LAT 120 Imperial Latin Literature
Katie Cruz
The ghost of a familial ancestor tormented by a violent Fury. Horrific murders conducted in creepy underground chambers. A father tricked into eating his own sons! In this class, we’ll explore Seneca’s Thyestes, a drama which offers all of this and more. As we read this dark, and yet surprisingly comic, take on one generation of the House of Atreus, we’ll also think about where the Thyestes and its author fit among the literary and political culture of Nero’s Rome in the mid-1st century CE.
Seneca’s dramas are also the only fully extant examples of Roman tragedy and will offer us the opportunity to appreciate a distinctly Roman take on this literary form. Alongside our study of how Seneca crafts his play and theatrical voice, we’ll also consider the immense influence his style has had on the history of theater, including on Shakespearean tragedy.