Libertas y ejemplaridad en Sen. Ep. 80

Abstract

Self-vindication is an issue of paramount importance in Seneca’s Epistulae. Particularly, Ep.80’s incipit presents Seneca as an exemplum of how the animus can set itself free from the limits imposed by the outside world. However, this paper argues that the emphasis this letter poses on theatre and unmasking seems to point to the fact that discourse can be turned into a mask that hides the inner difficulties to reach mental libertas. Since this letter mentions the personata felicitas of the delicati (§8), it could be stated that Seneca’s exemplum shows his readers the risk for libertas of becoming personata, and thus of concealing the contradictions of those who have not been able yet to achieve interior freedom.