The human wit: Seneca

The tragedy of Seneca(50b.Ch.-40a.Ch.), has some symbolic translation, in Oedipus king, in the first dialogue to himself, some wheatear and natural phenomenology become a motive of grieve, because he tied, we can imagine his destiny this involuntary incest, the protagonist says: “Now night is driven out. A hesitating Sun returns and lifts his beam, shrouded with a filthy cloud. Bringing somber light with his fi re that heralds grief, his view will be of houses wasted by devouring plague: the day will show the devastation of the night. Does anyone rejoice in kingship? A deceptive blessing: how many evils you conceal behind a smiling mask! As elevated ridges always catch the gales, and as the rocky crag that juts into the massive strait is pounded by the surge, however calm the sea…”, the soul of tragedy of Seneca is in these words: “Does anyone rejoice in kingship? A deceptive blessing…”, the words of Seneca are certainly much indicative for the wit of stoicism of Seneca, in fact his phrase is indicative: “Et vivere fortibus facere est”; this is also to live is destiny of alone the strong persons; it is the wit of Oedipus, that have to live the his life with the drama of incest; and it evident for the rest od dialogue, above all in the words: “the massive strait is pounded by the surge, however calm the sea…”, because it is representation of human with, that we can identify to Oedipus, because the grief is present as the felicity, but for some occasion we must quit this condition and hide it under a smile, it is the: “however calm the sea…”, and other note that is very important to understand the wit of stoicism and of Seneca: “…so the heights of power lie exposed to Fortune.”, with the word of fortune, that Seneca written as a name, why? Simple because Fortune was a goddess, that managed the cases positive or negative of men, in ancient Greek was called Τύχη, this is Tike, a translation of Fortune or in Roman ancient  theology, also Fors, from this word is sort, that has kept the primary meaning of goddess, this is casual, because the sort is genre, species and types, it is the typical of semiotic translation, typical of Latin and ancient Greek, but the semiotic mean because the genre or type of somebody is casual; hence the Fortune is a case, and it manages the life of men. He continues his discourse: “How well I did to flee the scepter of my father Polybus! Free from my anxieties, an exile, fearless, wandering, I stumbled (sky and gods I call to witness) into kingship.”; the destiny of Oedipus and the think of Seneca regard to the fortune are carved here, the case that the ancient peoples attributed to goddess Fortune or Τύχη, is so, and the example that Seneca reported is the involuntary homicide of father of Oedipus: “My fears are monstrous: that my sire be slaughtered by my hand…”; it is the case that Seneca has took for example necessary to justify the precedent words: “Et vivere fortibus facere est”; in fact Oedipus shows his interior strong facing his grieves; naturally we must also consider that he has that grieves for the involuntary homicide of father, but not certainly for the incest; it is for the primary roll of father or man in the family and in the life of ancient time. Anyway Seneca has told the casual wit of human gender.

Alessandro Lusana