Lucius Annaeus Seneca, Hercules Oetaeus

Christine Walde (Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz)
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Pseudo-Seneca,

Hercules Oetaeus

, the longest dramatic play of classical antiquity (1996 lines), has been handed down in the corpus of Senecan tragedies. Among these ten plays, the

Hercules Oetaeus

and the

Octavia

are apparently not written by the same author as the other eight dramas. In one of the manuscript traditions, the genuine

Hercules Furens

and the

Hercules Oetaeus

are the first and the last play respectively of the collection. Indeed the

Hercules Oetaeus

seems to be a sequel and counterpart to the

Hercules Furens

, since the latter tragedy stages the last days of the hero in which he has to kill himself eventually in order to ascend to heaven, whereas in the

Hercules Furens

he returns from the underworld only to kill his family and to live on with the guilt and shame. Even if both…

1346 words

Citation: Walde, Christine. "Hercules Oetaeus". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 05 December 2013 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=13469, accessed 13 December 2024.]

13469 Hercules Oetaeus 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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