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1882
Volume 73, Issue 1
  • ISSN: 0017-0461
  • E-ISSN: 2507-0401

Abstract

Abstract

L’enfasi posta da Seneca sulla tortura, che si è sinora supposta derivare da fattori stilistici (il gusto dell’epoca per il macabro) e storicopersonali (il rischio reale di essere torturati, per i membri dell’sotto il Principato), è spiegata in questo articolo in un modo nuovo, basato sulla massima epicurea - adottata da Seneca - secondo la quale il dolore, se acuto, è breve e, se cronico, è lieve. La tortura, infatti, infliggendo deliberatamente dolore grave e prolungato e privando la vittima della possibilità di suicidarsi, mette in crisi il quadro rassicurante della tolleranza al dolore da parte del , ponendo quest’ultimo davanti al rischio di fallimento.

Abstract

[Obsession with Torture in Seneca: A Chink in the ’ Endurance?]

Seneca’s emphasis on torture, which is supposed to be rooted in stylistic (the taste for the macabre at the time) and historical-personal factors (the real risk of being tortured, for members of the elite under the Principate), is explained in this article in a new way, based on the Epicurean maxim - adopted by Seneca - that pain, if acute, is short and, if chronic, is mild. Indeed, torture, by deliberately inflicting severe and prolonged pain, and even depriving the victim of the possibility of suicide, breaks the reassuring picture of the ’ pain tolerance and puts him at risk of failure.

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/content/journals/10.1484/J.GIF.5.126013
2021-01-01
2025-12-05

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  • Article Type: Research Article

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