The myth of Medea was well-known to Romans of the first-century CE. One could read Euripides’ Medea and Apollonius’ Argonautica in Greek, as well as the Latin versions of Ennius and Varro Atacinus. But the recent, and very popular, works of Ovid dealing with Medea, including his own (now lost) tragedy [cf. Hinds (1993)] had a great impact on Seneca’s view of the myth. Seneca’s tragedy often reveals the influence of the previous literary tradition, and his highly allusive style speaks to the erudition of his audience. In the Medea this can be seen especially in the characterization of Medea herself. As Seneca’s Medea metapoetically seeks to outdo her previous representations, so Seneca himself strives to …
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Citation: Trinacty, Christopher . "Medea". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 20 July 2011 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=33480, accessed 22 November 2024.]
