Seneca the Younger’s tragedy Thyestes

E721955

Seneca the Younger’s tragedy "Thyestes" is a Roman Stoic drama that retells the gruesome myth of the feuding brothers Atreus and Thyestes, emphasizing themes of revenge, tyranny, and moral corruption.

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Statements (46)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Latin literary work
Roman tragedy
author Seneca the Younger
basedOn Greek myth of Atreus and Thyestes
containsCharacter Chorus of Mycenaeans
Fury
Messenger
Tantalus (ghost)
linked to: Tantalus
dramaticFocus moral degradation caused by unchecked anger
psychology of the tyrant Atreus
genre tragedy
influenced Early modern revenge tragedy
Renaissance tragedy
language Latin
literaryForm verse drama
literaryMovement Silver Age Latin literature
literaryTradition Roman Stoic drama
mainCharacter Atreus
Thyestes
meter Latin iambic trimeter (dialogue)
various lyric meters (choral odes)
notableFeature choral reflections on tyranny and excess
extreme depiction of violence
rhetorical monologues
originalTitleLanguage Latin
partOf Senecan tragedies
periodOfComposition 1st century CE
philosophicalContext Stoicism
plotElement Atreus reveals the crime to Thyestes after the meal
Atreus serves Thyestes the flesh of his own children in a banquet
Atreus takes revenge on Thyestes by killing Thyestes’ sons
Thyestes unknowingly eats his sons
relatedMythologicalCycle House of Atreus
relatedWork Agamemnon (Seneca)
setting Mycenae
structure five-act tragedy (conventionally divided)
survivalStatus extant
theme cycle of violence
familial conflict
fate
guilt
moral corruption
revenge
the abuse of power
tyranny
title Thyestes

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Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Thyestes appearsIn Seneca the Younger’s tragedy Thyestes
Senecan tragedies hasPart Thyestes (Seneca)
linked to: Seneca the Younger’s tragedy Thyestes