Lo spazio della uoluntas senecana: tra filosofia e tragedia

The aim of this paper is to examine the cogency of the Senecan notion of uoluntas in the development of passion (with reference to De ira 2.4) also showing a possible ‘transposition’ of the concept within Seneca’s tragedies, precisely in the Medea and in the Phaedra. Specifically, we firstly propose to explain what characteristics are entailed by the development of the adfectus, highlighting the centrality of the notion of uoluntas non contumax. Subsequently, we rely on our analysis to present an interpretation of the famous monologues of Medea and Phaedra (Med. 937-44 and Phaed. 602-5). To reread the tragedies in light of the theoretical background refined in the De ira allows not only to further investigate the psychological mechanisms related to uoluntas but ultimately also to show a possible element of proximity between the author’s philosophical and tragic works.