Lucius Annaeus Seneca, Hercules

Download PDF Add to Bookshelf Report an Error

The Hercules of myth is an ambivalent figure. He can be viewed optimistically as an exemplar of courage and endurance, a benefactor of mankind by clearing the world of dangers. Alternatively he can be seen as the archetype of the flawed action-hero or extreme “Type A personality”, one who is obsessed with achievement and competitiveness, fuelled by aggression and megalomania – a danger to himself and his friends, as much as to his enemies. In his play

Hercules

, Seneca explores the destructive potential of such “heroism”.

Hercules is one of eight tragedies composed by Seneca, the Roman poet, philosopher and statesman, in the mid-first century A.D. Later two non-Senecan plays, Hercules Oetaeus and Octavia, were inserted in the corpus, and Furens (“Mad”) was added to the title

1401 words

Citation: Fitch, John. "Hercules". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 11 March 2013 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=13464, accessed 19 March 2024.]

13464 Hercules 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.