Apes debemus imitari: Seneca e la gnomologia antica

Abstract

In this paper, a wide selection of gnomic quotes from Seneca’s Epistles is assessed and compared with the ancient gnomologies on papyrus, with the goal of substantiating or invalidating the communis opinio regarding the use of such gnomic collections as primary sources of Seneca’s quotations. To do so, the structure and the content of the gnomic anthologies preserved by papyri are directly compared with the different strategies adopted by Seneca in his quotations, with a particular focus on epicueran gnomai from Epistles 1-29 and on a well-known euripidean excerpt from Epistle 115. The results of our comparative work, as well as of a wider examination of roman book culture in the first imperial period, suggests a new hypothesis about Seneca’s working method and use of primary sources.