Lucius Annaeus Seneca, Agamemnon

Andreas Michalopoulos (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens)

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 (American University of Paris)

Dates

First circulation or publication c. 50

Places

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

Genres and Modes

Play

Resources

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The exact dating of Seneca’s plays is not possible to determine. There are no allusions to contemporary events in the

Agamemnon

. It possibly belongs to the first group of Seneca’s plays along with the

Phaedra

and the

Oedipus

, written in the later years (AD 50-54) of Claudius’ reign.

In the Agamemnon Seneca treats the well-known myth of king Agamemnon’s return from Troy and his murder by his wife, Clytemnestra, and her lover, Aegisthus, who is Agamemnon’s cousin. The place of the dramatic action is Argos (or Mycenae), the palace of Agamemnon. The time is the day of Agamemnon’s return from Troy after ten years of absence. The characters taking part in the play are: (1) The ghost of Thyestes, (2) Clytemnestra, wife of Agamemnon, (3) Clytemnestra’s nurse, (4) Aegisthus, son of

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1163 words

Citation: Michalopoulos, Andreas. "Agamemnon". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 06 October 2014 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=13468, accessed 24 April 2024.]

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