Seneca His Ten Tragedies

The translation of Seneca’s Ten Tragedies into English, completed in 1581, was a major literary achievement that played a pivotal role in shaping Renaissance drama. The work includes translations of Seneca’s tragedies by Jasper Heywood, Alexander Neville, John Studley, Thomas Nuce, and Thomas Newton. These translators sought to bring Roman Stoic philosophy and dramatic themes of fate, vengeance, and moral corruption to an English audience. The project, initiated by Jasper Heywood, was completed over several decades, with each translator adapting Seneca's dense Latin prose into vivid, emotive English, often intensifying the tragic elements to appeal to Elizabethan tastes. The tragedies included in the collection are Hercules Furens, Thyeſtes, Thebais, Hippolytus, Oedipus, Troas, Medea, Agamemnon, Octauia, Hercules Oetaeus. They offered reflections on power, revenge, and human suffering, which resonated deeply in the politically charged context of Tudor England. These translations greatly influenced the development of English tragedy, notably shaping the revenge tragedy genre, impacting playwrights such as Shakespeare and Kyd.

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This edition of Seneca’s tragedies (USTC No. 509428) is held at the British Library. It is in quarto and consists of 217 pages.

The frontispiece reads: 

SENECA HIS TENNE TRAGEDIES, TRANSLATED INTO Englyſh.
Mercurij nutrices, horae.
IMPRINTED AT LONDON IN Fleetſtreete neere vnto Saincte Dunſtans church by Thomas Marſh. 1581

The tragedies are presented in order from the first to the tenth, however, in the introductory pages they are grouped under the name of the translator, as follows:

THE NAMES OF THE TRAGEDIEs OF SENECA, AND by whom each of them was tranſlated.

1 Hercules Furens,

2 Thyeſtes,

6 Troas,

By Iaſper Heywood.

5 Oedipus, By Alex. Neuile.

4 Hippolytus,

7 Medea,

8 Agamemnon,

10 Hercules Oetaeus

By Iohn Studley.

9 Octauia, By T. Nuce.

3 Thebais. By Thomas Newton.

Hercules Furens, Thyestes, and Troas are reprints of the 1561, 1560, 1559 translations by Heywood only with some differences in spelling; Alexander Neville brought some content as well as word changes to his 1563 Oedipus translation for this edition; John Studley’s Agamemnon and Medea are reprints of his 1566 translations with spelling changes; Octavia by Thomas Nuce is a reprint of the 1566 version, with spelling changes.

Signatures go from A3 to Ff3, and follow the following order: B, B1, B2, B3, B4, four unnumbered pages.