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“The central theme of Seneca’s tragedies is how to endure a world in which there is no justice, no safety, no guarantees—political or divine—of human dignity.”
For this episode, I went to Sonoma County, California to speak with the poet Dana Gioia.
Seneca was a brilliant philosopher and statesman, but not many know he was also a world-class playwright. Dana Gioia is changing that.
Our conversation focuses on Dana’s translation of Seneca’s The Madness of Hercules but also covers Dana’s story, Stoicism, and much more.
https://danagioia.com/
https://www.wisebloodbooks.com/store/p131/seneca-the-madness-of-hercules-translate-by-dana-gioia.html
(02:19) Dana's Story
(13:29) Choosing Art Over Material Success
(19:30) Seneca Enters the Picture
(32:02) The Madness of Hercules
(38:25) The Value in Seneca's Violence
(44:44) Reading The Play
(51:21) Reading vs Listening vs Seeing
(57:59) Bacchus
(59:55) Seneca the Playwright vs Seneca the Philosopher
(01:07:31) Seneca on Anger
(01:14:26) Stoicism Today
(01:21:11) Fasting
(01:29:05) Final Words
Note: I had use backup audio for 1:02 to 1:08. You’ll notice a slight decline in audio quality for those 6 minutes.
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Thanks to Michael Levy for graciously letting us use his music in the conversations: https://ancientlyre.com/
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