The myth of Medea was well-known to Romans of the first-century CE. One could read Euripides’

and Apollonius’

in Greek, as well as the Latin versions of Ennius and Varro Atacinus. But the recent, and very popular, works of Ovid dealing with Medea, including his own (now lost) tragedy [cf. Hinds (1993)] had a great impact on Seneca’s view of the myth. Seneca’s tragedy often reveals the influence of the previous literary tradition, and his highly allusive style speaks to the erudition of his audience. In the

this can be seen especially in the characterization of Medea herself. As Seneca’s Medea metapoetically seeks to outdo her previous representations, so Seneca himself strives to create a novel tragedy that builds off the literary tradition, while…

1862 words

Citation: Trinacty, Christopher . "Medea". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 20 July 2011 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=33480, accessed 22 November 2024.]

• View recommended reading for this article