Hercules Furens

Jasper Heywood’s translation of Seneca’s Hercules Furens (1561) is a notable contribution to the early modern reception of classical Roman drama in England. Hercules Furens dramatizes the hero's descent into madness, a tragedy induced by the goddess Juno, which leads Hercules to kill his wife and children. This intense psychological portrayal of the hero's downfall exemplifies Seneca’s exploration of Stoic philosophy, particularly themes of reason and irrationality. Heywood's translation aligns closely with his earlier works on Seneca’s Troas and Thyestes. He infused the text with elaborate rhetorical style and dramatic flourishes, making it more accessible to his English audience. He was known for expanding the original Latin, incorporating longer speeches and "free compositions" that were not part of Seneca's original to heighten the emotional and moral tension​.

Boyle, A. J., ed. Seneca: Hercules Furens. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.

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

Ker, James, and Jessica Winston, eds. Elizabethan Seneca: Three Tragedies and Selected Prose. London: Modern Humanities Research Association, 2012.

Kraye, Jill. “Stoic Madness: Jasper Heywood’s Hercules Furens and its Tudor Translation.” Renaissance Studies 14, no. 4 (2000): 381-402.

Lillie, W. M. "The Elizabethan Reception of Seneca's Hercules Furens." Classical Receptions Journal 3, no. 1 (2011): 145-167.

Miola, Robert S. “Shakespeare and Hercules: Seneca’s Hercules Furens and Its Elizabethan Impact.” Shakespeare Quarterly 41, no. 3 (1990): 291-312.

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

Tarrant, R. J., ed. Seneca: Hercules Furens. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985.

Winston, Jessica. "Seneca and English Tragedy: Exploring the Influence of Hercules Furens." Renaissance Quarterly 58, no. 2 (2005): 309-335.

This edition of Jasper Heywood’s translation of Seneca’s tragedy (USTC No. 505903) is held at the British Library. It is in octavo and consists of 184 pages.

The frontispiece reads: 

Lucii Annei ſenecae Tragedia prima quae inſcribitur Hercules furens nuper recognita, & ab omnibus mendis, quibus antea ſcatebat ſedulo purgata, & in ſtudioſae inuentutis vtilitatē, in Anglicum metrum tanta fide conuerſa, vt carmen pro carmine quoad Anglica lingua patiatur pene redditum videas.

Per laſperum Heywodum Oxonienſem.

The firſt Tragedie of Lucius Anneus ſeneca, intituled Hercules furens, newly pervſed and of all faultes whereof it did before abound diligently corrected, and for the profit of young ſchollers ſo faithfully tranſlated into Engliſh metre, that ye may ſe verſe for verſe tourned as farre as the phraſe of the engliſh permitteth

By Iaſper Heywood ſtudient in Oxford.

This edition features the original Latin text with Heywood’s parallel translation.

Signatures in this edition go from Aiii to M. The first two signatures are indicated with roman numbers, (Aii and Aiii) followed by one unnumbered page. The following signatures – from B to M – are indicated with arab numbers (B, B2, B3, B4, B5) followed by three unnumbered pages.