Category Archives: Roman Tragedy

Summing up our stoic tragedies Discussion Prompts Do these tragedies achieve their goal of teaching about stoic philosophy? Why or why not? If you were to use theatre to teach stoicism, what would you do? What do these plays have to say about being human today? What do these plays have to say about love,Continue reading “Roman Tragedy XII: Humanism in Roman Tragedy”

You know it’s not going to be good when Nero is your husband… Discussion Prompts Why do you think this play was attributed to Seneca? Who is the best stoic? Why? Discuss the character of the nurse. How would you portray her? Directing questions: Vision, Setting, Dream Cast, etc. What does this play (and family)Continue reading “Roman Tragedy XI: Pseudo-Seneca’s Octavia, or Definitely Not a Play by Seneca”

What Phoenician women? No. Really. Where are they? Discussion Prompts Who is the best stoic in this play? What does this play have to say about parenthood and the relationship between parents and children? Write the fifth act of this play. Why do you think this play is called Phoenissae? Add a chorus to thisContinue reading “Roman Tragedy IX: Seneca’s Phoenissae, or I Think I Missed Something”

And this is why the House of Atreus can’t have nice things… Discussion Prompts AP Credit: Discuss human sacrifice in the family of Tantalus. Who is the best stoic in this play? Why? What do you imagine Seneca’s source material might have looked like? How might it have told this story differently? Why do youContinue reading “Roman Tragedy VIII: Seneca’s Thyestes, or Well, That Explains the Curse”

Juno has plans for Hercules, and they aren’t good. But then, are they ever? Discussion Prompts How does immortality affect the relationship between Juno and Jupiter? How does it affect Juno’s reactions to Jupiter’s, shall we say, indiscretions? Would Amphitryon and Theseus have been able to stop Hercules from killing himself? Why or why not?Continue reading “Roman Tragedy VII: Seneca’s Hercules Furens, or the Only Man Who Can Beat Hercules”

Seneca merges two of Euripides’s plays about the end of the Trojan War with mixed results. Discussion Prompts Helen states that she finds herself “compelled to hurt the Trojans.” What do you think this means about how she originally came to Troy? Did she come willingly? Or not? What do you think of the portrayalContinue reading “Roman Tragedy VI: Seneca’s Troades, or Not Euripides’s Trojan Women”

Seneca gives us his take on Medea in today’s episode. Discussion Prompts AP Credit: How does this play teach us about stoicism? Which Medea do you prefer? That of Euripides or that of Seneca? What about Jason? What does the end of this play have to say about the gods? How would you stage thisContinue reading “Roman Tragedy V: Seneca’s Medea, or Every Day a Little Death”

Beth tries really hard not to sing that excellent Tom Lehrer song as she once again talks about that boy who loved his mother. Discussion Prompts How would you describe Oedipus’s character in this telling? Which version of the plot do you prefer? Sophocles or Seneca? Why? What does Seneca have to say about fate?Continue reading “Roman Tragedy IV: Seneca’s Oedipus, or Another Odd Complex”

Passions overwhelm Phaedra in Seneca’s version of her story. Discussion Prompts How old do you think the characters are? Why? How, if at all, might this change how we view Phaedra’s feelings towards Hippolytus? Do you think this play was meant to be performed? Why or why not? Directing questions: How would you stage this?Continue reading “Roman Tragedy III: Seneca’s Phaedra, or Passions”

We finally get around to covering Seneca’s Agamemnon in today’s episode. Discussion Prompts I know I’ve asked this before, but how old is Orestes?!? What is the purpose of Pylades entering with Stropius? Do you think this work was written for performance? Why or why not? The usual directing questions: Vision? Setting? Dream cast? Compare/contrast Cassandra andContinue reading “Roman Tragedy II: Seneca’s Agamemnon, or He’ll Enter Eventually”