Oedipus of Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Frank Corsaro, Artistic Director, Juilliard Opera Center

It is astonishing to me that one could still be excited by so venerable a text as Seneca's Oedipus. Such was the case with my encounter with Michael Rutenberg's rendition of this masterwork. Highly imaginative, eminently actable, and obviously a work of fine scholarship and devotion. It is my hope that it will be performed in theatres worldwide.

Leon Golden, Florida State University

The translation itself is admirably fluent and contemporary in idiom. It should be very effective as a vehicle for performances and should be easily comprehensible to audiences whether they hear or read it. Rutenberg's translation and the discussion he provides on staging the play in his introduction facilitate the possibility of an exciting stage performance of Seneca's play.

Robert Emmet Meagher, Hampshire College

Michael Rutenberg's Oedipus is a skilled, shattering translation of one of the most haunting dramas of the Roman corpus. I have watched Rutenberg's text leap form page to stage and reclaim there in its native habitat a dark, elemental, utterly compelling energy. As an added bonus, his learned and illuminating introduction casts appreciated light into even the corners of this often overlooked masterpiece.

Book Description

Rutenberg's adaptation of Seneca's Oedipus is the first translation of this Roman tragedy to interpolate excerpts from Seneca's moral philosophies into the text. This juxtaposition of Seneca's calm, rational thought with the passionate, highly theatrical language of his play creates an exciting synergy of powerful emotional and intellectual appeal. Seneca believes that human beings live at the whim of blind chance or divine will. He is interested in how we face a tragedy not of our own making, how we respond to something beyond our control. His central tenet is that we must try to accept suffering with dignity, grace, and mercy. This philosophy is as relevant today, in a world filled with repeated horrors against innocents, as it was in ancient times.

Special Features

* Introduction to Seneca, with a comparison of ancient Greek and Roman drama, and approaches to presenting the play for modern audiences
* Text of Seneca's Oedipus in English adaptation
* Appendix I: Senecan Sources for the New Choral Odes
* Appendix II: Original Choral Odes * 5 photographs from the production of the play at Manhattan's Loewe Theatre by the Dept. of Theatre, Hunter College of the City University of New York

Also available:

Rest Lightly: An Anthology of Latin and Greek Tomb Inscriptions - ISBN 0865163553
Roman Verse Satire: Lucilius to Juvenal -- A Selection - ISBN 0865164428

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Seneca believes that human beings live at the whim of blind chance or divine will. The Roman playwright does not place blame for misfortune on human imperfection as did Sophocles, his Greek predecessor. For Seneca, we may not always be in control of what happens to us, but we have the capacity to control our response to it. His central tenet is that we must try to find the strength to accept suffering with dignity, courage and mercy. This philosophy seems as relevant today as it was in ancient times.