This two-volume critical edition of Seneca's tragedies by Friedrich Leo (1851-1914) was published in Berlin in 1878-1879. Seneca, the first-century Roman philosopher, modelled his tragedies on the work of Greek playwright Euripides. Leo argues that the tragedies were in fact written for recitation only, and were not intended to be performed, although they have been successfully staged in modern times. A classical scholar of some distinction who later became a full member of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, Leo's critical edition of Seneca was published early in his career, while he became better known for his later work on Roman poetry. Volume 2 contains the text of the six tragedies which have been definitively attributed to Seneca, as well as Hercules Oetaeus and Octavia, which resemble Seneca's style, but are more likely to have been written by a disciple.
