seneca medea

What does ‘di coniugales’ look forward to?

the last line of the play ‘nullos… deos’

What does domituram freta / Tiphyn look forward to?

Tiphys …domitor profundi (617)

two options instead of regna in line 10? which is preferable

arva; stagna - palaeographically plausible, used of the Underworld in Thyestes (68)

reasons for accepting A’s ‘nunc nunc adeste’ rather than ‘adeste adeste’?

(1) Hercul. Fur. has ‘nunc nunc’. (2) Adeste doubled is unprecedented (but see adest adest in  in Ennius’ Cassandra)

What’s the issue with ‘regiae stirpi’ ?

rather general after coniugi… novae and letumque socero - why repeat the idea? or if it refers to J and M’s children, strange before we turn to Jason.

What might the regiae stirpi refer to?

generalisation of Jason and Creusa OR to the children of Jason and Medea who are also progeny of royalty

19th century scholars argue what about regiae stirpi and Ennius

They say that republican tragedy is irrelevant for Seneca - but actually, this has been turnign around: so ‘regiae exitium date’ could be influenced by ‘ exitium … dabo’ in Ennius Medea.

intertext that makes aversa regna prefereable to adversa

Lucan has ‘aversos … polos’ book 1

Seneca likes to use elision for what ?

to bring together the elements in the last dipody (9-12 elements) of the iambic trimeter.

why does Giardina suggest ‘omine prospero’

more common Latin, cites eg Octavia ‘laeta omina’

Why does Giardina suggest freta for fretum?

Herc. Fur: ‘regentem maria’ - just shows that plural is possible, not necessary

What’s strange about letum dare?

normal idiom is leto dare + accusative of the person to be killed. Thsi senecan variation occurs nowhere else in the tragedies.

Why might we accept Giardina’s luminis for ‘temporis’

Gloss on Solis et luna (see Lucretius sol et luna suo … lumine) -

Why might we accept temporis rather than Giardina’s luminis?

The twin times meaning dusk and dawn, when Venus’ divinity is traditionally said to appear.

Why does SH conjecture ‘regiae exitium’?

suggests that stirpis is an intrusive gloss for regiae, which replaced something like ‘exitium’ (SH) - which would give ‘bring death to the new bride, death ot the father in law, and destruction ot the palace’. (but exitium adn dare don’t tend to be thus constructed in extant Latin)

What’s strange about ‘in hanc’ at the end of line 125?

double monosyllable is unusual at the end of iambic trimeter. perhaps to create a sense of threat followed by the enjambed ‘ferrum exigatur’

why do we want satis instead of sat in line 126?

where the 6th foot is an iamb, the 5th is always anapest or spondee, so we need satis (long, long)

What’s problematic in line 127 ‘si quod Pelasgae, si quod urbes barbarae’

breaches a Greek principle for tragic iambic trimeter (‘Porson’s law’) by having a caesura in the spondaic fifth foot (urbes barbarae - longs on bold)

What’s porson’s law

prohibits a caesura in a spondaic fifth foot of an iambic trimeter unless a monosyllabic word precedes or follows the caesura.

What gives weight to ‘parvus comes’

in Met 7, Absyrtus is still an infant - maybe Seneca’s like Ovid looking forward to the infanticide?

What’s strange about Seneca having Absyrtus’ body scattered over the sea?

later, his blood is said to have soaked the fields. represents the twofold tradition - some have his scattered over ht efield before the Argo sets off. others on the sea journey.

Franklinos’ campo for ponto plausibly coheres with which later word?

Absyrtus is later described sprinkled over the arva.