Haunted by Horror: The Ghost of Seneca in Renaissance Drama

Abstract

Ghosts are one of the most salient features of Seneca's tragedies, along with horrible acts of revenge, cruel, megalomaniacal tyrant figures. All these elements exert significant influence on Renaissance tragedy. Given the constraints of space and the abundance of fine scholarship on the influence and reception of Senecan tragedy, the chapter focuses primarily on vengeful ghosts and megalomaniacal tyrants. It starts with the plays of the Senecan corpus and then discusses some of the many cases that are, as it were, haunted by the ghost of Seneca - and by the tyrant Nero. The remainder of the chapter focuses on a few of the revenging ghosts and tyrants in Renaissance tragedy that are inspired by the Senecan corpus and suggests some of the most important similarities and differences. The revenge ghost who delivers the prologue and sets the drama in motion is a particularly clear instance of Senecanism.

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