Apocolocyntosis
- Language:
- English
- Status:
- Complete work
- Authorship:
- Written by the author
- Condition of the text:
- Clean text
- Extent:
- ~5,470 words · 26 passages
Cite this work
- APALucius Annaeus Seneca. (n.d.). Apocolocyntosis. SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/seneca/apocolocyntosis
- MLALucius Annaeus Seneca. "Apocolocyntosis." SigPhi, https://sigphiai.com/en/works/seneca/apocolocyntosis.
- ChicagoLucius Annaeus Seneca. Apocolocyntosis. SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/seneca/apocolocyntosis.
What it is about
A satire on the death and deification of the emperor Claudius: instead of becoming a god he is turned into a pumpkin. It mixes prose and verse and is cruel throughout.
Context and history
The only Latin Menippean satire to survive nearly whole, and the exact counterpoint to the Consolation to Polybius, where the same author had flattered the same emperor. Having both side by side says more about Seneca and Nero's court than any biography.
Editorial context, not a citable source: unlike the passages of the work itself, these statements cannot be checked against the corpus.
This piece is ascribed to Seneca by ancient tradition; it is impossible to prove that it is his, and impossible to prove that it is not. The matter will probably continue to be decided by every one according to his view of Seneca's character and abilities: in the matters of style and of sentiment much may be said on both sides. Dion Cassius (lx, 35) says that Seneca composed an ἀποκολοκύντωσις or Pumpkinification of Claudius after his death, the title being a parody of the usual ἀποθέωσις; but this title is not given in the MSS. of the Ludus de Morte Claudii, nor is there anything in the piece which suits the title very well. As a literary form, the piece belongs to the class called _Satura Menippea_, a satiric medley in prose and verse. This text is that of Buecheler, with a few trifling changes, which are indicated in the notes. We have been courteously allowed by Messrs Weidmann to use this text. I have to acknowledge the help of Mr Ball's notes, from which I have taken a few references; but my translation was made many years ago. W.H.D. ROUSE. BIBLIOGRAPHY _Editio Princeps:_ Lucii Annaei Senecae in morte Claudii Caesaris Ludus nuper repertus: Rome, 1513. _Latest critical text:_ Franz Buecheler, Weidmann, 1904 (a reprint with a few changes of the text from a larger work, Divi Claudii Ἀποκολοκύντωσις in the Symbola Philologorum Bonnensium, fasc. i, 1864). _Translations and helps:_ The Satire of Seneca on the Apotheosis of Claudius, by A.P. Ball (with introduction, notes, and translations): New York: Columbia University Press; London, Macmillan, 1902. SENECA APOCOLOCYNTOSIS, OR LUDUS DE MORTE CLAUDII: THE PUMPKINIFICATION OF CLAUDIUS. I wish to place on record the proceedings in heaven 1 October 13 last, of the new year which begin
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