Thyestes

Jasper Heywood's 1560 translation of Seneca's Thyestes was a significant work that introduced English audiences to the themes of Roman Stoicism through classical tragedy. Thyestes was one of the earliest examples of Seneca’s tragedies being introduced into the English literary canon, it is one of Seneca’s most intense plays, centering around the themes of revenge, power, and familial betrayal, where Atreus enacts a horrifying vengeance on his brother, Thyestes, by tricking him into eating his own sons. Heywood's translation was not a mere literal rendering; he adapted the original Latin text to make it more palatable for his Tudor audience, often expanding and modifying certain sections. His version included additional lines, passages, and even “free compositions” not present in the original to enhance the emotional and moral intensity of the work​. Heywood’s use of elaborate rhetorical flourishes reflected the growing influence of Renaissance humanism and sought to align the play with the moral imperatives of the time, emphasizing Stoic endurance amid suffering.      

Boyle, A. J., ed. Seneca: Thyestes. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2017.

Coleman, Katherine. “Revenge as Spectacle: Jasper Heywood's Thyestes.” Classical Receptions Journal 5, no. 2 (2013): 122-144.

Heywood, Jasper. Seneca His Ten Tragedies, Translated into English. Edited by Thomas Newton. London: Thomas Marsh, 1581.

Ker, James. "A Note on Jasper Heywood’s Thyestes and the Tudor Translation." Modern Philology 110, no. 4 (2013): 573-590.

Kerrigan, John. "Heywood’s Thyestes and its Influence on English Drama." English Literary Renaissance 18, no. 3 (1988): 289-312.

Kerrigan, John. Revenge Tragedy: Aeschylus to Armageddon. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996.

Kiefer, Frederick. Fortune and Elizabethan Tragedy. Huntington, NY: W.W. Norton, 1983.

Miola, Robert S. Seneca in Renaissance England. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 1992.

Winston, Jessica. "Seneca in Early Elizabethan England." Renaissance Quarterly 59, no. 1 (2006): 29-58.

This edition of Jasper Heywood’s translation of Seneca’s tragedy (USTC No. 505785) is held at the British Library. It is in octavo and consists of 112 pages.

The frontispiece reads: 

THE SECONDE TRAGEDIE OF Seneca entituled Thyeſtes faithfully Engliſhed by Iaſper Heywood fellowe of Alſolne College in Oxforde.

IMPRINTED AT London in fleteſtrete in the hous late Thomas Berthelettes. Anno 1560. 26. die Martii.

Signatures in this edition go from *ii to Ev. Signatures * is followed by a [fleuron][1]. The first five signatures are indicated with roman numbers, (i.e. Ai, Aii, Aiii, Aiiii, Av) and followed by two unnumbered pages.

[1] USTC archive, https://www.ustc.ac.uk/editions/505785.