Falling in Love with the Book: Letter 2

Abstract

Through metaphor and example, the second of the Epistulae morales trains Seneca’s readers in a relationship with the text that is truly a love affair. In a book filled with many descriptions of acts of reading, this letter sketches the first of several modes of therapeutic reading that Seneca explores. While his remarks on the subject are numerous and not all consistent with one another, one can discern a coordinated effort to promote a receptive and committed style of reading that nonetheless safeguards the agency of the individual.