Tragic Seneca

'J.A.Boyle's Tragic Seneca has redeemed the Latin playwright from the purgatory of Eliot's "second rank", and raised him to a place in the pantheon of genuine dramatic artists. He has made 1997 a true vintage year indeed.' - Times Literary Supplement

'Tragic Seneca: an Essay in the Theatrical Tradition is a very successful compromise between general introduction and scholarly monograph. ….His book presents a persuasive and sophisticated reading of Senecan Tragedy in its historicala and political context, and of Renaissance receptions. Boyle includes a useful general introduction to Roman drama up to the Neronian period, arguing forcefully that Seneca's plays were written for stage performance, and also discusses the playwright's declamatory style; the moral and theological aspects of the plays; dramatic technique…, intertextuality; metatheater, and the tendency of Seneca's characters to self-dramatization. … Boyle writes in a lively and readable style, which will be accessible to the beginner as well as the expert, and conveys a strong sense of the plays as exciting and challenging drama.' - Greece and Rome

`This book has a great deal to offer, particularly to undergraduates.' - Journal of Roman Studies