Week 6: Essay on Stoicism and the Death of Seneca RUFT DRAFT

Week 6: Essay on Stoicism and the Death of Seneca

In times of trouble and hardships, people are left confused, flustered, and wondering what to do. Many philosophies have been produced under this puzzling question of what is the best way to handle crises during the years. One of these philosophies produced is stoicism. It can often be seen in practice by the politicians and various important people of the ancient times. Stoicism is the belief that when one is confronted with hardships one must control his emotions; the events surrounding the death of Seneca are a perfect example of stoicism in action.  Stoicism is the belief that when one is confronted with hardships one must control his emotions; the death of Seneca is not the best example of stoicism.

One example of Seneca’s stoicism can be seen in Tacitus’s account on his death. Part of it reads, “Seneca, quite unmoved, asked for tablets on which to inscribe his will, and, on the centurion's refusal, turned to his friends, protesting that as he was forbidden to requite them, he bequeathed to them ….”(Tacitus, 1998). Seneca just finding out about his death almost immediately began writing his will and preparing for his death. Like Tacitus said, Seneca was “unmoved”. He did not panic or let the emotions of the moment get to him. Completely unfazed by the news, he set to the humdrum tasks of his will and the distribution of his personal items despite the fact that his life was ending in front of his very own eyes. The stoic characteristics of controlling emotions come out in this quote, as well as the stoicism of carrying on threw hardships, making Seneca a perfect example.

Another example of this is in Tacitus account where he wrote, “Having spoken these and like words, meant, so to say, for all, he embraced his wife; then softening awhile from the stern resolution of the hour, he begged and implored her to spare herself the burden of perpetual sorrow, and, in the contemplation of a life virtuously spent, to endure a husband's loss with honourable consolations. She declared, in answer, that she too had decided to die, and claimed for herself the blow of the executioner. There upon Seneca, not to thwart her noble ambition, from an affection too which would not leave behind him for…”(Tacitus, 1998). At first, the stoicism may not seem evident in this passage, but it can be found if you look at it closely. First you will notice that Seneca showed a sense of compassion for his wife; although, stoicism does not forbid one to love another person. Therefore, this is not a valid argument of him falling away from his stoicism. Stoicism, though, is more importantly when he allows his wife to die with him. He was not panicking telling his wife that he loves her and comforting her as most people would do to their loved ones; he was dealing with it as if it were a business deal. If Seneca remained stoic with the person who he seemingly loved the most, this shows his deep commitment to his stoic persona.

Seneca’s stoicism can be continually seen all throughout Tacitus’s writings and quotes from that time period.  One great example of this is the quote, “Even at the last moment his eloquence failed him not; he summoned his secretaries, and dictated much to them which, as it has been published for all readers in his own words, I forbear to paraphrase” (Tacitus, 1998). At the very last moment of his life, even then, he was held together in his stoicism. The hardship of death could not sway him from it. He kept going even when everything around him was going wrong portraying a true stoic. Dictating his final words, he stayed true to stoicism till the very end of his life even when most would not.

Throughout Seneca’s life, he remained constant in his stoic persona. When death and hardships stared him in the eyes, he remained calm and poised dealing with the humdrum business work of the whole ordeal. Even his beloved wife, he momentarily sympathized with but still did it as if only to set the record straight and handle the logistics on the situation they found themselves in. When people are presented with a crisis, their true colors come out, and Seneca displayed the true colors of stoicism. He died the same way he lived his entire life. Seneca was a true stoic who is a perfect example for stoicism then and now.

Bibliography

Tacitus: The Death of Seneca, 65 CE. (1998, May). Retrieved April 6, 2011, from Ancient History Sourcebook: http://www.fordham.edu/HALSALL/ancient/tacitus-ann15a.html