'J.A.Boyle's Tragic Seneca has redeemed the Latin playwright from the purgatory of Eliot's "second rank", and raised him to a place in the pantheon of genuine dramatic artists. He has made 1997 a true vintage year indeed.' - Times Literary Supplement'Tragic Seneca: an Essay in the Theatrical Tradition is a very successful compromise between general introduction and scholarly monograph. ....His book presents a persuasive and sophisticated reading of Senecan Tragedy in its historicala and political context, and of Renaissance receptions. Boyle includes a useful general introduction to Roman drama up to the Neronian period, arguing forcefully that Seneca's plays were written for stage performance, and also discusses the playwright's declamatory style; the moral and theological aspects of the plays; dramatic technique..., intertextuality; metatheater, and the tendency of Seneca's characters to self-dramatization. ... Boyle writes in a lively and readable style, which will be accessible to the beginner as well as the expert, and conveys a strong sense of the plays as exciting and challenging drama.' - Greece and Rome`This book has a great deal to offer, particularly to undergraduates.' - Journal of Roman Studies

• Part 1 Prologue; Chapter 1 The Roman Theatre; Part 2 Senecan Tragedy; Chapter 2 The Declamatory Style; Chapter 3 Ideas Made Flesh; Chapter 4 The Body of the Play; Chapter 5 The Palimpsestic Code; Chapter 6 The Theatricalised Wor(l)d; Part 3 Seneca and Renaissance Drama; Chapter 7 Seneca Inscriptvs; Chapter 8 Ideology and Meaning; Chapter 9 The Metatheatrical Mind; Part 4 Epilogue; Chapter 10 Tragedy and Culture;

'J.A.Boyle's Tragic Seneca has redeemed the Latin playwright from the purgatory of Eliot's "second rank", and raised him to a place in the pantheon of genuine dramatic artists. He has made 1997 a true vintage year indeed.' - Times Literary Supplement'Tragic Seneca: an Essay in the Theatrical Tradition is a very successful compromise between general introduction and scholarly monograph. ....His book presents a persuasive and sophisticated reading of Senecan Tragedy in its historicala and political context, and of Renaissance receptions. Boyle includes a useful general introduction to Roman drama up to the Neronian period, arguing forcefully that Seneca's plays were written for stage performance, and also discusses the playwright's declamatory style; the moral and theological aspects of the plays; dramatic technique..., intertextuality; metatheater, and the tendency of Seneca's characters to self-dramatization. ... Boyle writes in a lively and readable style, which will be accessible to the beginner as well as the expert, and conveys a strong sense of the plays as exciting and challenging drama.' - Greece and Rome`This book has a great deal to offer, particularly to undergraduates.' - Journal of Roman Studies

• Part 1 Prologue; Chapter 1 The Roman Theatre; Part 2 Senecan Tragedy; Chapter 2 The Declamatory Style; Chapter 3 Ideas Made Flesh; Chapter 4 The Body of the Play; Chapter 5 The Palimpsestic Code; Chapter 6 The Theatricalised Wor(l)d; Part 3 Seneca and Renaissance Drama; Chapter 7 Seneca Inscriptvs; Chapter 8 Ideology and Meaning; Chapter 9 The Metatheatrical Mind; Part 4 Epilogue; Chapter 10 Tragedy and Culture;

'J.A.Boyle's Tragic Seneca has redeemed the Latin playwright from the purgatory of Eliot's "second rank", and raised him to a place in the pantheon of genuine dramatic artists. He has made 1997 a true vintage year indeed.' - Times Literary Supplement'Tragic Seneca: an Essay in the Theatrical Tradition is a very successful compromise between general introduction and scholarly monograph. ....His book presents a persuasive and sophisticated reading of Senecan Tragedy in its historicala and political context, and of Renaissance receptions. Boyle includes a useful general introduction to Roman drama up to the Neronian period, arguing forcefully that Seneca's plays were written for stage performance, and also discusses the playwright's declamatory style; the moral and theological aspects of the plays; dramatic technique..., intertextuality; metatheater, and the tendency of Seneca's characters to self-dramatization. ... Boyle writes in a lively and readable style, which will be accessible to the beginner as well as the expert, and conveys a strong sense of the plays as exciting and challenging drama.' - Greece and Rome`This book has a great deal to offer, particularly to undergraduates.' - Journal of Roman Studies

• Part 1 Prologue; Chapter 1 The Roman Theatre; Part 2 Senecan Tragedy; Chapter 2 The Declamatory Style; Chapter 3 Ideas Made Flesh; Chapter 4 The Body of the Play; Chapter 5 The Palimpsestic Code; Chapter 6 The Theatricalised Wor(l)d; Part 3 Seneca and Renaissance Drama; Chapter 7 Seneca Inscriptvs; Chapter 8 Ideology and Meaning; Chapter 9 The Metatheatrical Mind; Part 4 Epilogue; Chapter 10 Tragedy and Culture;