Stoic Philosophy of Seneca Essays and Letters

Rating:
Summary: As good a book on Stoicism as is out there
Review: I read this book while in graduate school (when I was suppose to be reading something else of course), and it had a profound effect on me. There are many legends in Stoicism but there are few tangible works, ones that one can imbibe and feel atleast a little filled--other than Marcus Aurelius. This book gives not so much a systematic look at the philosophy but it does have that density and practicality and intimacy, which is so rare. It is interesting and more illuminating than any other book on the topic that I have come across, including the other greats: Epictetus, Aurelius.

Rating:
Summary: The Good Book
Review: Seneca's one hundred and twenty four letters to Lucilius constitute a secular bible, an ethical catechism written in a gnomic and epigrammatic style that sparkles as it enlightens. So impressed were the early church fathers with Seneca's moral insights that they advanced (fabricated?) the speculation that he must have come within the influence of Christian teachings. T.S. Eliot sneers at Seneca's boyish, commonplace wisdom and points out that the resemblances between Seneca's 'stoic philosophy' and Christianity are superficial. For those seeking a practical, modern manual on how to do good and how to do well, written in the 'silver point' style that values brevity, concision and memorable expression, Seneca's letters are indeed the Good Book.



Rating:
Summary: Best anthology of Seneca available
Review: Undoubtedly Hadas' edition is the best single volume work of Seneca's writings currently available. I also have Penguin's selected letters, which offers a more extensive collection of the great Stoic's correspondence, but Hadas' book is preferable as an anthology since it includes some of Seneca's more interesting dialogues and essays not available except in the more expensive Loeb editions. Simply as a writer, Seneca is marvelous. His style is remarkably pithy, yet the thought is lofty. Just from a historical viewpoint, I've learned a lot about daily Roman life from his many annecdotes. Seneca's Stoicism is not presented in a "doctrinaire" manner as with Epictetus (whom I also enjoy) but rather in a conversational style. My only qualification is that in an effort to make the translation readable and appealing, Hadas sometimes concedes too much to modern American idiom, for example where he has Seneca saying that Caligula "dined one day at the cost of half a million dollars." There are other instances. Most translators would have used the original monetary reference and added a footnote to help put it in contemporary context. That aside, this volume is a great place to become acquainted with the profound wisdom of later Stoicism.