Seneca's Characters addresses one of the most enduring and least theorised elements of literature: fictional character and its relationship to actual, human selfhood. Where does the boundary between character and person lie? While the characters we encounter in texts are obviously not 'real' people, they still possess person-like qualities that stimulate our attention and engagement. How is this relationship formulated in contexts of theatrical performance, where characters are set in motion by actual people, actual bodies and voices? This book addresses such questions by focusing on issues of coherence, imitation, appearance and autonomous action. It argues for the plays' sophisticated treatment of character, their acknowledgement of its purely fictional ontology alongside deep - and often dark - appreciation of its quasi-human qualities. Seneca's Characters offers a fresh perspective on the playwright's powerful tragic aesthetics that will stimulate scholars and students alike.

This volume offers a long overdue appraisal of the dynamic interactions between Roman law and Latin literature. Despite there being periods of massive tectonic shifts in the legal and literary landscapes, the Republic and Empire of Rome have not until now been the focus of interdisciplinary study in this field. This volume brings vital new material to the attention of the law and literature movement. An interdisciplinary approach is at the heart of this volume: specialists in Roman law rarely engage in constructive dialogue with specialists in Latin literature and vice versa but this volume bridges that divide. It shows how literary scholars are eager to examine the importance of law in literature or the juridical nature of Latin literature, while Romanists are ready to embrace the interactions between literary and legal discourse. This collection capitalizes on the opportunity to open a fruitful dialogue between scholars of Latin literature and Roman law and thus makes a major, much-needed contribution to the growing field of law and literature.

Seneca's Characters addresses one of the most enduring and least theorised elements of literature: fictional character and its relationship to actual, human selfhood. Where does the boundary between character and person lie? While the characters we encounter in texts are obviously not 'real' people, they still possess person-like qualities that stimulate our attention and engagement. How is this relationship formulated in contexts of theatrical performance, where characters are set in motion by actual people, actual bodies and voices? This book addresses such questions by focusing on issues of coherence, imitation, appearance and autonomous action. It argues for the plays' sophisticated treatment of character, their acknowledgement of its purely fictional ontology alongside deep - and often dark - appreciation of its quasi-human qualities. Seneca's Characters offers a fresh perspective on the playwright's powerful tragic aesthetics that will stimulate scholars and students alike.

This volume offers a long overdue appraisal of the dynamic interactions between Roman law and Latin literature. Despite there being periods of massive tectonic shifts in the legal and literary landscapes, the Republic and Empire of Rome have not until now been the focus of interdisciplinary study in this field. This volume brings vital new material to the attention of the law and literature movement. An interdisciplinary approach is at the heart of this volume: specialists in Roman law rarely engage in constructive dialogue with specialists in Latin literature and vice versa but this volume bridges that divide. It shows how literary scholars are eager to examine the importance of law in literature or the juridical nature of Latin literature, while Romanists are ready to embrace the interactions between literary and legal discourse. This collection capitalizes on the opportunity to open a fruitful dialogue between scholars of Latin literature and Roman law and thus makes a major, much-needed contribution to the growing field of law and literature.