Lucius Annaeus Seneca, Octavia

Joseph Smith (San Diego State University)

Ed. by William John Dominik, University of Otago
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.1.2: Ancient Roman Writing and Culture (Republic and Empire), -750-476.
Vol. editors: William John Dominik (University of Otago), Giacomo Fedeli (University of Exeter), Thomas Habinek (University of Southern California), Emily Kneebone (University of Nottingham), Elodie Paillard (University of Sydney), Sophia Papaioannou (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens), Jula Wildberger (The American University of Paris)

Dates

First circulation or publication c. 70

Places

Ancient Rome (Republic & Empire) (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Play
Tragedy

Resources

Octavia is the lone drama surviving from antiquity exemplifying the genre fabula praetexta, or Roman history play. Preserved along with nine other plays ascribed to Lucius Annaeus Seneca (in one family of medieval manuscripts labeled ‘A’ by scholars of the Senecan dramatic corpus), Octavia evokes and references Senecan tragedy, but cannot be the work of Seneca. The drama portrays the historic moment of the Roman Emperor Nero’s decision (made in early June of 62 CE) to divorce and expel his first wife, Octavia, from Rome’s imperial palace (and ultimately to execute her), and thereupon to replace her with a new wife, Poppaea Sabina. Seneca himself is portrayed in the drama as Nero’s disengaged and …

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2334 words

Citation: Smith, Joseph. "Octavia". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 13 January 2014 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=33497, accessed 22 November 2024.]

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