Intertextuality in Seneca's Philosophical Writings by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Judaism, History, Ancient History
ISBN: 9781000037739
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Published: 2020-03-19T04:00:00+00:00

2 What’s Io got to do with it? (Ep. 110)

The general theme of Ep. 110 is true and false riches. From his villa at Nomentum Seneca advises Lucilius that men should guard themselves against material desires and be at peace with themselves in order to achieve happiness. This is how the letter begins (Ep. 110.1):

Ex Nomentano meo te saluto et iubeo habere mentem bonam, hoc est propitios deos omnis, quos habet placatos et faventes quisquis sibi se propitiavit. Sepone in praesentia quae quibusdam placent, unicuique nostrum paedagogum dari deum, non quidem ordinarium, sed hunc inferioris notae ex eorum numero quos Ovidius ait ‘de plebe deos’. Ita tamen hoc seponas volo ut memineris maiores nostros qui crediderunt Stoicos fuisse; singulis enim et Genium et Iunonem dederunt.

I send you greetings from my place at Nomentum, and bid you enjoy a sound mind, that is, the favor of all the gods, whom each man finds appeased and favoring if he has first propitiated himself. For the time being set aside the tales that some thinkers like, that a divine escort is given to each of us, not an official one but one of lower rank such as Ovid calls ‘gods from the common crowd’. I want you to set this aside while keeping in mind that our ancestors who believed this were Stoics: indeed, they gave a Genius and a Juno to each individual.

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