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Letters From a Stoic

Epistulae Morales Ad Lucilium
Aug 20, 2017ricardohdz rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Seneca: the philosopher and man who lived in a contradictory way to his principles and beliefs; who preached simplicity, cold water baths, simple food and rudimentary rest, all while exercising great political power in the Roman Empire of Nero (of which he was tutor) and accumulated great riches, among which mention their opulent villas, gardens and vineyards. In this compendium of letters to his friend Lucilius (whose identity is questioned), Seneca develops the essence of stoicism in a simple and direct manner, characteristic of epistolary correspondence of time. This is exemplified with some ideas of the philosopher contained in the letter CXIV in relation to the literary forms and of writing: “As the way in which each individual expresses himself resembles the way he acts" "Once a person’s spirit has acquired the habit of disdaining what is customary and regards the usual as banal, it starts looking for novelty in its methods of expression as well" “The bold and frequent use of metaphor passes for good style" In relation to its structure and content, starting from letter L it shows a significant change in the writing of Seneca, and it is here where correspondence writings become essays in form, by setting aside the direct and colloquial Ideas and move towards a written dialogue and a development of philosophical conversation. It should be noted that this edition offers a translation and edition of shortened versions of epistolary letters, which are not presented in their original extension and the text has been updated with the aim of presenting the ideas and their meaning in a contemporary way. In my judgment, these editing decisions destroy the meaning and context in which they were exposed. In the same way, the translator and editor clarifies that certain omissions of "texts of little importance" were made, without reference to the criteria followed for this. An essential and classic book in any bookstore. The issue is not recommended, I would suggest exploring some other versions of your translation.