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Troades

Seneca

A Roman tragedy by Seneca about the fate of the Trojan women after the fall of Troy, surviving in a 15th-century illuminated manuscript.

Written by Seneca himself, this tragedy links his work as a playwright to his Stoic reflections on death and suffering.

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Manuscript page with the heading TROAS in blue and red, a large decorated initial O containing a painted miniature of figures in a room, and about 35 lines of dense black Latin text in columns.
Seneca, Troades, copied in a 15th-century Italian manuscript of his ten tragedies.

About this source

What it is

Troades, meaning 'The Trojan Women', is a Roman tragedy of about 1,179 lines written by the philosopher and dramatist Seneca. It follows the Trojan queen Hecuba and other Trojan women after the fall of Troy, as the victorious Greeks decide the fates of Polyxena and the child Astyanax. The copy shown here comes from a 15th-century Italian manuscript containing all ten of Seneca's tragedies, with a decorated initial letter containing a painted miniature.

Why it matters

The play's choral reflections on death and suffering connect Seneca's work as a dramatist to his Stoic philosophy. It shows how Roman writers reused Greek myth to explore grief, cruelty, and the randomness of fate, themes that mattered to Seneca's own life under the unpredictable power of Roman emperors.

Look closer

  • What does the decorated initial and miniature painting tell you about how later readers valued this text?
  • How might the chorus's comments on death reflect Stoic ideas?
  • Why do you think a philosopher also wrote plays about violence and loss?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Seneca on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Illuminated manuscript page with Latin text 'Lucii Annei Senece Epistolarum liber feliciter incipit' and ornate borders of vines, putti, animals, a peacock, and a small portrait of a seated author holding a book.Letter

Primary source

Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium

Seneca · c. 62-65 CE

Scanned page 375 of a 1643 Latin edition of Seneca's works. The heading reads L. Annaei Senecae, Ad Paullinum, De Brevitate Vitae, Liber Unus, Caput I. Below is a large decorated initial M followed by dense Latin body text.Book

Primary source

De Brevitate Vitae

Seneca · c. 49 CE

Scanned page of an early printed book, with a running heading reading 'C. Taciti de divo Claudio Caesare liber quintus' in capitals and dense black-letter Latin text in two columns of prose. Library stamps and a handwritten shelf mark appear at the top and on the page.Book

Secondary source

Annals

Tacitus · c. AD 116 or later

Scanned page 119 of a 1594 Latin edition of Seneca's works. The header reads 'L. Annaei Senecae ad Neronem Caesarem de Clementia, Liber Primus, Caput I.' A decorated initial S opens the Latin text in dense columns of print.Book

Primary source

De Clementia

Seneca · 55-56 CE

Marble double bust in a museum, showing two bearded and balding male faces joined at the back on one shoulder-length torso draped in a cloak. The front face is older with deep wrinkles; the second face is behind it on the right. Mounted on a pale stone pedestal.Sculpture

Secondary source

Double Herm of Socrates and Seneca

first half of the 3rd century AD

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