Seneca and Elizabethan Tragedy

Seneca's plays, which include Hercules Furens, Phaedra, Medea and Oedipus, were widely read during the Elizabethan era, and had an important influence on the dramatists of the time, including Shakespeare, Kyd, Marlowe and Marston. This study, first published in 1922, examines Seneca's Greek predecessors, his character, life and times, and the nature and extent of his influence and legacy. Divided into five sections, the book addresses in turn: the rise of Greek drama before Seneca; Seneca's character and temperament; Seneca's tragedies; the different dramatic forms in the centuries after Seneca; and the important influence of Seneca on Elizabethan dramatists. Lucas provides close readings of a wide range of plays, including Macbeth and The Spanish Tragedy, and places the works in their historical context – Greek, Roman and Elizabethan.