Lucius Annaeus Seneca, De Consolatione ad Marciam [Consolation to Marcia]

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Probably written several years before the

Consolatio ad Polybium

and the

Ad Helviam matrem

, Seneca’s

Ad Marciam

is addressed to the daughter of the famous historian Aulus Cremutius Cordus, in order to relieve the grief caused by the death of her son Metilius. To achieve this goal, Seneca makes use of rhetorical as well as philosophical arguments. Above all, he draws on the repertoire of Stoic paradoxes (

e.g.

, the idea of life as an indifferent external element which should be considered neither a good nor a bad thing

per se

).

At any rate, whereas the structure of the final section of the treatise that includes an artistic depiction of a life-after-death setting reminds of Cicero’s Somnium Scipionis (Armisen-Marchetti 2007, 71 ff.), at the same time the emphasis on the soul-body dualism

1714 words

Citation: Li Causi, Pietro. "De Consolatione ad Marciam". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 20 October 2015 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=35607, accessed 19 March 2024.]

35607 De Consolatione ad Marciam 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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