SENECA QUOTES
Reasons for sex
‘lust was given to humanity not for the sake of pleasure, but for the
propagation of the human race’ (Consolation to Helvia)
otherwise ‘the sea would soon be stagnant, empty, without fish’ (Phaedra)
‘restock and restore’ (Phaedra)
‘their growing up brings wider fruits’
‘legitimate sons’ (Thyestes)
Hence why same-sex rels are ‘living unnaturally’ (Letter 122) (UNLESS
THERES ANOTHER PARA ON HOMO STUFF)
And why ‘nothing is more disgusting than lusting after one’s wife as if for
a mistress’
Danger of excessive lust
‘spark of love’ quickly escalates
‘lust which sets men’s hearts aflame’ (Phaedra)
‘unholy flames of your passion’
‘raging fires’
‘wildfire’
‘a quick flame runs over timbered roofs’
‘lust forces me to follow’
‘Passion, passion rules’
‘maddened friendship’
‘rips the soul apart through its pleasure’ (Consolation to Marcia)
Like a disease
‘ultimately foul’ (On Benefits)
,‘fester’ (Phaedra)
‘fevered mind’
‘limbs are ravaged’
‘beauty has fallen from her shining form’
Drunkeness
‘does not create vices, but its brings them out’
‘self-induced state of insanity’
Pleasures should be ‘slaves, not masters’
‘subdue’ passion with ‘reason’
‘desire to be well is part of what makes us well’ (Nurse’s advice to
Phaedra)
Homoeroticism
‘living unnaturally’ ‘this abuse’ ‘endure’
‘restock and restore’
‘greedy for men as for women’ (Natural Questions, complaint about
Hostius Quadra – more concerned abt excessive indulgence than
homoeroticism itself)
No self-improvement, no virtus
Prevents boys from being ‘allowed to grow into a man’ while enduring ‘a
man’s attention for as long as may be’ (Letter 122)
Friendship!
‘there’s no greater pleasure’ (enthusiastically observes in Letter 55)
‘nobler stimulus’ than lust
‘natural instinct’
, ‘just like there is innate pleasantness for us in other things, so there is in
friendship’ (Letter 9)
Requires self-improvement
‘if you wish to be loved, then love’
‘where there’s a human, there’s a chance to give’ (On the Happy Life)
Friendship for personal gain is a ‘great mistake’
Stoical acceptance in friendship
‘the wise man...is able to do without friends’
however ‘he still desires a friend’
‘someone I may follow into exile, someone for whose life I may put myself
up as security and pay the price as well’
Corruption and perverse friendships (inc his own)
‘quest is for rape and forbidden sex’ with Pirithous
Even slaves can be ‘friends’
‘To be really respected is to be loved’
Marriage
Seems to express genuine love for ‘my Paulina’
Perhaps unstoical, ‘her very being depends on mine’
Marriage keeps you alive; ‘one who doesn’t value his wife ... so much as
to wait longer in life who insists on dying, that man is a hedonist.’
Self-improvement
‘starting to be considerate of myself, in order to be considerate of her’
(Epistle 104)
Reasons for sex
‘lust was given to humanity not for the sake of pleasure, but for the
propagation of the human race’ (Consolation to Helvia)
otherwise ‘the sea would soon be stagnant, empty, without fish’ (Phaedra)
‘restock and restore’ (Phaedra)
‘their growing up brings wider fruits’
‘legitimate sons’ (Thyestes)
Hence why same-sex rels are ‘living unnaturally’ (Letter 122) (UNLESS
THERES ANOTHER PARA ON HOMO STUFF)
And why ‘nothing is more disgusting than lusting after one’s wife as if for
a mistress’
Danger of excessive lust
‘spark of love’ quickly escalates
‘lust which sets men’s hearts aflame’ (Phaedra)
‘unholy flames of your passion’
‘raging fires’
‘wildfire’
‘a quick flame runs over timbered roofs’
‘lust forces me to follow’
‘Passion, passion rules’
‘maddened friendship’
‘rips the soul apart through its pleasure’ (Consolation to Marcia)
Like a disease
‘ultimately foul’ (On Benefits)
,‘fester’ (Phaedra)
‘fevered mind’
‘limbs are ravaged’
‘beauty has fallen from her shining form’
Drunkeness
‘does not create vices, but its brings them out’
‘self-induced state of insanity’
Pleasures should be ‘slaves, not masters’
‘subdue’ passion with ‘reason’
‘desire to be well is part of what makes us well’ (Nurse’s advice to
Phaedra)
Homoeroticism
‘living unnaturally’ ‘this abuse’ ‘endure’
‘restock and restore’
‘greedy for men as for women’ (Natural Questions, complaint about
Hostius Quadra – more concerned abt excessive indulgence than
homoeroticism itself)
No self-improvement, no virtus
Prevents boys from being ‘allowed to grow into a man’ while enduring ‘a
man’s attention for as long as may be’ (Letter 122)
Friendship!
‘there’s no greater pleasure’ (enthusiastically observes in Letter 55)
‘nobler stimulus’ than lust
‘natural instinct’
, ‘just like there is innate pleasantness for us in other things, so there is in
friendship’ (Letter 9)
Requires self-improvement
‘if you wish to be loved, then love’
‘where there’s a human, there’s a chance to give’ (On the Happy Life)
Friendship for personal gain is a ‘great mistake’
Stoical acceptance in friendship
‘the wise man...is able to do without friends’
however ‘he still desires a friend’
‘someone I may follow into exile, someone for whose life I may put myself
up as security and pay the price as well’
Corruption and perverse friendships (inc his own)
‘quest is for rape and forbidden sex’ with Pirithous
Even slaves can be ‘friends’
‘To be really respected is to be loved’
Marriage
Seems to express genuine love for ‘my Paulina’
Perhaps unstoical, ‘her very being depends on mine’
Marriage keeps you alive; ‘one who doesn’t value his wife ... so much as
to wait longer in life who insists on dying, that man is a hedonist.’
Self-improvement
‘starting to be considerate of myself, in order to be considerate of her’
(Epistle 104)
