- e0pistolh/ & e0pistolai/ - private letters & official documents

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1 Elizabeth Del Curto Latin 521-Dr. Christenson 10/28/13 The Place of Epistulae Morales in the Epistolary Tradition What is a letter? -A tangible means of communication between two parties which are physically separated from one another. Ancient terminology for the letter (Rosenmayer 2001, 19). e0pistolh/ from the verb e0piste/llein to send to/send a message -Thucydides & Xenophon -Hellenistic times - e0pistolh/ & e0pistolai/ - private letters & official documents Distinguishing Marks of a Letter (Trapp, 2003) Tangible The sender & recipient are usually physically separated. Limited Length Salutation at beginning & end of letter according to conventional formulae -Greek letter: -standard opening: o9 dei=na tw=i dei=ni xai/rein (sc. le/gei) ( So-and-so bids so-and-so to be glad. ) -standard simple closing: e0/rrwso ( be strong/be healthy ) -Latin letter: -standard opening: aliquis alicui salutem dicit (abbreviated to s.d., salutem, or s.) -standard closing: vale; cura ut valeas 1

2 V. SENECA LUCILIO SUO SALUTEM [1] Quod pertinaciter studes et omnibus omissis hoc unum agis, ut te meliorem cotidie facias, et probo et gaudeo, nec tantum hortor ut perseveres sed etiam rogo. Illud autem te admoneo, ne eorum more qui non proficere sed conspici cupiunt facias aliqua quae in habitu tuo aut genere vitae notabilia sint; Vale. Different Types of Letters (Morello 2007) Documentary Letters Fictional Letters Letters in Verse Philosophical Letters Open Letters Letters Meant only for Particular Recipients Epistolary Tradition Greek Tradition -Earliest letter in Greek: Berezen letter 500 B.C. (Trapp 2003, 6). -3 rd century B.C. epistolary habit established in Greek culture (ibid., 7). -Homer -Herodotus & Thucydides -pseudepigraphic letters Latin Tradition Romans: masters of the classical literary epistle (Pike 1967, 93). verse epistolography prose epistolography Epistuale Morales Real or Fictitious Letters? Two Extremes 2

3 Tradition of Philosophical Letter Writing into which Seneca Inserted Himself (Morello-Morrison, 2007) Plato s letters (doubtful authenticity) Aristotle s Letters Pseudo-Pythagorean Letters Cynic Epistles Epicurus Letters Models for Epistulae Morales Epicurus Cicero - Letters to Atticus Seneca s frequent quoting of Epicurus demonstrates that he is writing within a tradition. Letter 9.1 Seneca Lucilio suo salutem. An merito reprehendat in quadam epistula Epicurus 1 eos qui dicunt sapientem se ipso esse contentum et propter hoc amico non indigere, desideras scire. (Seneca 1998, 64). ( You desire to know whether Epicurus, in a certain epistle, rightly reprimands those who say that the wise man/philosopher is content with his very self and on account of this, does not stand in need of a friend. ) Seneca s Style in Epistulae Morales dialogue Epistle 75.1 Minus tibi accuratas a me epistulas mitti quereris. Quis enim accurate loquitur nisi qui vult putide loqui? Qualis sermo meus esset si una desideremus aut ambularemus, inlaboratus et facilis, tales esse epistulas meas volo, quae nihil habent accersitum nec fictum. (Russell 1974, 73). ( You complain that the letters are sent to you prepared by me with rather little care. For who speaks accurately except he who wishes to speak affectedly? I desire that my letters, which contain nothing far-fetched and do not (contain) falsehood, be such as my conversation would be if we were sitting or walking together, unlabored and easy. ) 1 Emphasis my own. 3

4 Ancient Letter Writing Manuals Artemon Pseudo-Demetrius: On Style Seneca s Contribution to the Epistolary Genre The Literary Epistle In the letters of Seneca we see not only the emergence of the literary epistle as a distinct genre but also a novel form of moral essay, circumscribed in subject-matter and highly wrought in style, in which both Montaigne and Bacon could recognize their own literary ancestry. (Coleman 1974, 289). Seneca accomplished in epistolary prose what Horace accomplished in his verse epistles (Coleman 1974, 289). In Epistle 28, Seneca alludes to Horace s Epistle 1.11 Seneca: Epistle 28 Horace: Epistle [1] Hoc tibi soli putas accidisse et admiraris quasi rem novam quod peregrinatione tam longa et tot locorum varietatibus non discussisti tristitiam gravitatemque mentis? Animum debes mutare, non caelum. ( Do you think that this has befallen you alone and do you stand in awe, as if it were a new thing, that by such long travel and so many varieties of places you have not shaken sadness and heaviness from your mind? You ought to change your soul, not the sky/climate. ) caelum, non animum mutant, qui trans mare currunt. Strenua non exercet inertia; nauibus atque quadrigis petimus bene uiuere. Quod petis, hic est, est Vlubris, animus si te non deficit aequus. ( Those who hasten across the sea change the sky/climate, not their soul/character. Restless idleness does not make (you) strong. We seek living well in ships and chariots. What you seek, is here, it is Ulubrae, if a calm mind does not desert you. ) 4

5 Preliminary Bibliography Coleman, Robert. The Artful Moralist: A Study of Seneca's Epistolary Style, The Classical Quarterly 24 (1974): Cotton, Hannah M. Greek and Latin Epistolary Formulae: Some Light on Cicero's Letter Writing, The American Journal of Philology 105 (1984): Griffin, Miriam T. Seneca: A Philosopher in Politics. Oxford: Clarendon Press, Leeman, A.D. The Epistolary Form of Sen. Ep. 102, Mnemosyne, Fourth Series 4, no. 2 (1951): Long, A A. From Epicurus to Epictetus: Studies in Hellenistic and Roman Philosophy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, Malherbe, Abraham J. Ancient Epistolary Theorists Atlanta: Scholars Press, Morello, Ruth, and A. D. Morrison. Ancient Letters: Classical and Late Antique Epistolography. Oxford: Oxford University Press, Pike, Joseph B. Classical Studies and Sketches. New York: Books and Libraries Press, Russel, D.A Letters to Lucilius. In Seneca, edited by C. D. N. Costa and J. W. Binns, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd. Poster, Carol, and Linda C. Michell, eds. Letter-Writing Manuals and Instruction from Antiquity to the Present: Historical and Bibliographic Studies. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, Stirewalt, M. Luther, Jr. Studies in Ancient Greek Epistolography. Atlanta: Scholars Press, Stowers, S.K. Letter Writing in Greco-Roman Antiquity. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, Trapp, Michael, ed. Greek and Latin Letters: an Anthology, with Translation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,