Bloomsbury (2016) p/b 163pp £16.99 (ISBN 9781474234788)
B. has produced a clear and comprehensive companion to Seneca’s Oedipus, with four chapters each devoted to a different aspect: the Oedipus myth, Seneca’s life and writings, analysis of the play itself and the influence of the play from antiquity to the present day. These are well supported by exhaustive notes, bibliography, a guide to further reading and a detailed index. Although Latin quotations and references are included, translations are given. This book will particularly appeal to those who are familiar with Seneca’s play, but there is also much of interest about the Theban cycle of myth, Seneca’s relationships with two emperors, the Roman theatre and more modern works on the Oedipus theme.
B. contends that: ‘Sophocles’ treatment [of the Theban myth] is much less important for Seneca than might be supposed. … prior to the seventeenth century when Aristotle became all the rage, Sophocles’ treatment was just one among many.’ She also points out that it is merely an accident of survival that the Trojan epics are more familiar to us than the Theban Cycle, which occupied an important place in the Greek epic cycle.
The apparent dichotomy between Seneca’s writings and actions as a follower of Stoic philosophy and his rather gory and immoral poetic and dramatic output is discussed. B. notes that: ‘during the Italian Renaissance, “Seneca Philosophus” and “Seneca Tragicus” were regarded as different people.’ Seneca’s play is placed firmly within the Roman tragic tradition, with a very clear explanation of the evolution of that genre and the later influence of the pantomimi, popular mime artists. In the following chapter on the play itself, B. focuses not only on a detailed analysis of the structure and language, but also on how Seneca’s treatment of the Oedipus myth reflects his own concerns and those of his Roman audience.
B. analyses the most striking innovations in the play: the introduction of Laius’ ghost as an important character, a long and bloody necromancy scene in which Tiresias’ daughter examines the misshapen entrails of a sacrifice, and Jocasta’s suicide on stage, stabbing herself in the womb. It is these elements of spectacle and monstrosity, in particular the ghost scene, which can be traced through into Elizabethan and early Jacobean tragedy as well as more modern works.
Seneca’s manuscript was rediscovered in the early 14th century, before that of Sophocles. B. discusses at length the French treatments of the Oedipus myth, in particular by Corneille and Voltaire, and the 17th century English version by Dryden and Lee. The latter claim inspiration from Sophocles, while disparaging Seneca, but include a necromancy scene and the ghost of Laius. B. ends her very thorough ‘reception’ chapter by discussing not only Ted Hughes’ 20th century Oedipus, but also the 2010 French film based on Wadji Mouawad’s Incendie.
This book will be of interest not just to those exploring Seneca, but also to those interested in drama through the ages and the treatment of the Oedipus myth.
Marion Gibbs