The story of Drusiana, follower of St. John, is almost unique in all of Western literature. It te... more The story of Drusiana, follower of St. John, is almost unique in all of Western literature. It tells the story of a saintly woman, an analogue of St. John himself, whose body tempts beyond death itself. The fortunes of this story were dramatic. The differences are great between its original 2nd century form, its 10th century treatment by the Christian world’s first playwright and the pictorial representation by the artists of the 13th century English Apocalypse manuscripts, yet the themes presented are strangely similar. This essay traces the reception of that story, its forms, its censorship and its resurrection.
Tragic Seneca has enjoyed a varied reputation. As T.S. Eliot put it, "In the Renaissance, no Lati... more Tragic Seneca has enjoyed a varied reputation. As T.S. Eliot put it, "In the Renaissance, no Latin author was more highly esteemed that Seneca; in modern times, few Latin authors have been more consistently damned". The author of this damnation of Seneca was the German early Romantic, August Wilhelm Schlegel, in his 1808 series of lectures on dramatic art. This essay examines these lectures in detail, exploring the motives for Schlegel's influential condemnation of Seneca Tragicus, and similarly explores his late 20th century revival, which had strikingly similar reasons for extolling Seneca as Schlegel had for condemning him.
The story of Drusiana, follower of St. John, is almost unique in all of Western literature. It te... more The story of Drusiana, follower of St. John, is almost unique in all of Western literature. It tells the story of a saintly woman, an analogue of St. John himself, whose body tempts beyond death itself. The fortunes of this story were dramatic. The differences are great between its original 2nd century form, its 10th century treatment by the Christian world’s first playwright and the pictorial representation by the artists of the 13th century English Apocalypse manuscripts, yet the themes presented are strangely similar. This essay traces the reception of that story, its forms, its censorship and its resurrection.
Tragic Seneca has enjoyed a varied reputation. As T.S. Eliot put it, "In the Renaissance, no Lati... more Tragic Seneca has enjoyed a varied reputation. As T.S. Eliot put it, "In the Renaissance, no Latin author was more highly esteemed that Seneca; in modern times, few Latin authors have been more consistently damned". The author of this damnation of Seneca was the German early Romantic, August Wilhelm Schlegel, in his 1808 series of lectures on dramatic art. This essay examines these lectures in detail, exploring the motives for Schlegel's influential condemnation of Seneca Tragicus, and similarly explores his late 20th century revival, which had strikingly similar reasons for extolling Seneca as Schlegel had for condemning him.
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