Lucius Annaeus Seneca, Phoenissae

Marica Frank
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The

Phoenissae

is likely to have been the last of Seneca’s dramas, probably written in or after 62AD. It is incomplete, consisting of only 664 lines of iambic trimeter. It also lacks a chorus and a final act (but see Tarrant 1978 for the view that the play is complete as it stands and was intended by Seneca as a dramatic experiment). The play can be divided into four acts (lines 1-319, 320-362, 363-442, 443-664), but the more obvious division is into two parts (so Hirschberg 1989). Lines 1-362 are set on a path in the wild countryside outside Thebes, possibly on Mt. Cithaeron itself. They deal with the anguish of the exiled and blind Oedipus who is anticipating the armed struggle for power between his sons, Eteocles and Polyneices, and who is restrained from suicide by his daughter,…

858 words

Citation: Frank, Marica. "Phoenissae". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 28 March 2013 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=34723, accessed 19 March 2024.]

34723 Phoenissae 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.

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