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White Crow Productions Ltd
On Benefits
On Benefits
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Lucius Annaeus Seneca was one of the great Roman Stoic thinkers and is one of only a few philosophers from that era whose work has remained popular in recent times.
His writings were known by many of the early Christian writers, including Jerome, Augustine and Tertullian, who referred to him as ‘our Seneca’. It was Tertullian who first suggested that Seneca had corresponded with St Paul and although the letters survive, certain scholars have dismissed them as forgeries in later years.
Despite the scepticism surrounding the letters, it can be seen that the Stoic philosophy that Seneca advocated paved the way for Rome to make the move to Christianity. Seneca’s Letters from a Stoic proselytizes about humane and upright ideals and encouraged a spiritual way of life.
Many have quoted Seneca over the years. Dante referred to him in the Inferno and placed him in the first circle of Hell, or Limbo, a place of perfect natural happiness where virtuous non-Christians like the ancient philosophers had to stay for eternity, due to their lack of grace (given only by Christ) and required to go to heaven. Chaucer also quoted him, as did Petrarch and Virgil.
Seneca wrote extensively during the last three years of his life and De Beneficiis, or On Benefits, was completed in this period. The work is divided into seven books, and in them the author discusses giving and receiving and the views contained within the traditions of the Stoic philosophy.
It would seem that William Shakespeare might have been influenced by On Benefits, as a phrase from his famous play, All’s Well That Ends Well, bears a striking resemblance to some of the writing in Seneca’s book.
‘Tis pity – That wishing well had not a body in it
Which might be felt: that we, the poorer born,
Whose baser stars do shut us up in wishes,
Might with effects of them follow our friends
And show what we alone must think; which never
Returns us thanks.
All’s Well That Ends Well, Act 1, Scene 1
His writings were known by many of the early Christian writers, including Jerome, Augustine and Tertullian, who referred to him as ‘our Seneca’. It was Tertullian who first suggested that Seneca had corresponded with St Paul and although the letters survive, certain scholars have dismissed them as forgeries in later years.
Despite the scepticism surrounding the letters, it can be seen that the Stoic philosophy that Seneca advocated paved the way for Rome to make the move to Christianity. Seneca’s Letters from a Stoic proselytizes about humane and upright ideals and encouraged a spiritual way of life.
Many have quoted Seneca over the years. Dante referred to him in the Inferno and placed him in the first circle of Hell, or Limbo, a place of perfect natural happiness where virtuous non-Christians like the ancient philosophers had to stay for eternity, due to their lack of grace (given only by Christ) and required to go to heaven. Chaucer also quoted him, as did Petrarch and Virgil.
Seneca wrote extensively during the last three years of his life and De Beneficiis, or On Benefits, was completed in this period. The work is divided into seven books, and in them the author discusses giving and receiving and the views contained within the traditions of the Stoic philosophy.
It would seem that William Shakespeare might have been influenced by On Benefits, as a phrase from his famous play, All’s Well That Ends Well, bears a striking resemblance to some of the writing in Seneca’s book.
‘Tis pity – That wishing well had not a body in it
Which might be felt: that we, the poorer born,
Whose baser stars do shut us up in wishes,
Might with effects of them follow our friends
And show what we alone must think; which never
Returns us thanks.
All’s Well That Ends Well, Act 1, Scene 1
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