Visitors from the realm of death

• Authors: Pypłacz Joanna
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

Ghosts play a very important role in Seneca’s tragedies. They either appear on stage and deliver the prologue or influence events from backstage. Sometimes they suddenly come to haunt living relatives as phantoms or hallucinations. Their influence on the actions of the dramatis personae is considerable and, in most cases, negative or even destructive. Thanks to the fact that Seneca chose to unleash his imagination rather than cling to the technical requirements of the ancient theatre, he could permit himself the luxury of filling his plays with supernatural beings who contribute to the atmosphere of metaphysical awe that makes Seneca’s tragedies so unique and that has become their hallmark.

LA

Constat manes mortuorum in tragoediis antiquis saepe apparuisse. Poetis tragicis Graecis necessarii erant ut fabulam formarent spectatoresque exterrerent. Seneca manibus ad eadem aliaque peragenda utitur, nam quasi omnes eius tragoediae phantasmatibus abundant. Manes prologos dicentes, ut Thyestis umbra in Agamemnone Tantalique in Thyeste non solum historiam Tantalidarum in memoriam revocant, sed etiam, ante omnia, nequitiam suam ut pestilentiam in regia propagant. Non manes igitur, sed spectra infernalia apellandi sunt. Alii manes, ut Achillis umbra in Troadibus Laiique in Oedipo, ex Erebo ad terram adeunt, sed auditoribus invisibiles sunt. Crudeles, implacabiles poenaeque avidissimi, vitam dramatis personarum male influunt. Adventus eorum a nuntiis quasi epico modo narrantur. Nonnumquam dramatis personae in Senecae tragoediis visiones repentinas familiarium mortuorum habent, qui aliis personis invisibiles sunt, ut Laius, cuius spectrum horribile Oedipum in Phoenissis aggredit, Apsyrtusve, qui Medeae se ostendit. Haec malae conscientiae deliramenta sunt. Alii autem manes simpliciter familiares suos, quibus desunt, visitant, ut Deiphobi umbra quam Cassandra in Agamemnone vidit. Simili modo Hectoris umbra Andromachae uxori quasi somnium se ostendit in tragoedia quae Troades inscribitur. Ex his omnibus constat Senecam plus ingenium suum quam conditiones theatri antiqui secutum esse quam ob rem tragoedias suas spectris, phantasmatibus et prodigiis sine ullis obstaculis implevisse. Constat etiam manes mortuorum his in tragoediis magno munere fungi, nam eas unicas aliisque antiquis poematibus tam epicis quam dramaticis dissimiliores reddunt.

Keywords

EN

Seneca; tragedy; ghost; supernatural; spectre; dream; epic; hallucination; haunt; dead

• Publisher: Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu
• Journal: Symbolae Philologorum Posnaniensium Graecae et Latinae
• Year: 2012
• Volume: 22
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 61-73

Dates

published

2012-12-30

Contributors

author

Pypłacz Joanna

• Oddział Starych druków, Biblioteka Jagiellońska Uniwersytet Jagielloński, Al. Mickiewicza 22, 30-059 Kraków Polska – Poland