Chaucer: "A Second Seneca"
Dr. Jesus L. Serrano Reyes
Cordoba
Nineteen centuries of Seneca's influence on the European culture should be important enough for Spaniards to research it . Nevertheless we need to appeal to German, English , French, American or Italian works to know about Seneca's influence. Most of the studies and editions of Seneca's works are not Spanish. I have not found even a Spanish edition of Seneca's works in Latin and only one Spanish book about his influence on the European culture: Domiciano Herreras, Seneca y la Proyeccion Europea de su obra. Malaga: Estudios de Literatura Comparada 2:, 1968.
Yet Seneca's Spanishness has been defended strongly over the centuries, and the real knowledge of Seneca in Spain has always been the saying: "You are a Seneca", that is, you are a wise man. We can find this saying in Spain from the XVI century.
I do not argue about Seneca's place of birth and his familiar education, it does not need any defence, but European and American researchers probably would not argue about it if Spaniards knew and studied Seneca.
This ignorance about Seneca is a traditional matter in Spain. There was an interruption of his "records" in Spain from the VIII to the XII centuries, and as Reynolds says: "Seneca had to be reimported into his native country".
Many European authorites were influenced by Seneca in the Middle Ages as Domiciano Herreras shows in his catalogue of Seneca's influence: " Boecio, Martin de Braga, Scoto, Alano de Insulis, Amalrico de Bine, Oton de Freisingen, Pedro Abelardo, Hilberto de Tours, Bernardo de Charles, St. Bernardo de Charles, St. Bernardo de Claraval, John de Salisbury, St. Tomas de Aquino, St. Buenaventura, Don Pedro de Portugal, Boccaccio, Dante, Petrarca and Geoffrey Chaucer".
I am going to show how Seneca makes his presence felt in The Canterbury Tales :
* Considering the problems of the sources and misattributions.
* Analysing Chaucer's regard for Seneca.
* Analysing and classifying, briefly, Chaucer's quotations, the topics, and Seneca's books: where they come from and the tales in which they appear.
* Compiling the references of the quotations which had been found, up to now.
* Contributing with the new twenty-one quotations I have identified.
The object of this study is an attempt to clarify the influence of this Hispanic author in The Canterbury Tales, trying to clear up the misattributions and giving each one what belongs to each one. The most original, interesting and important part of this work, to my mind, is the discovery of new quotations.
Therefore, this work is the compilation of the findings of others and the addition of my own findings. I consider this a difficult task because Seneca's work is broad and intensive and because on looking for influences there could be coincidences and common sources, so researchers must be cautious.
I could have considered the influence of Seneca's philosophy, in general, because I think that this influence is present, mainly in those aspects which have been traditionally related to the Christian ideas. Nevertheless, I have prefered to research not general ideas but concrete words which can be revealed in quotations.
1.- Sources and misattributions in the Middle Ages
Seneca was considered the philosopher and sage in the Middle Ages. Most of the times writers read him through the indirect way of compediums or apocryphal books.
The Bishop Martin of Braga (Martin of Dumiun) wrote two treatises in the VI century which used Seneca's works as a direct source: De Ira, an epitome of Seneca's De Ira and Formula vitae honestae which was widespread in the Middle Ages. Bl|her considers that Petrarca was the first one who recognized that Martin of Braga was the real author of this book.
There were many compendiums of Seneca's maxims in the XIII and XIV centuries: Formula vitae honestae, De remedis fortiorum, De moribus, Proverbia Senecae, Speculum Historiale, Breviloquium de virtutibus antiquorum principium et philosophorum, and among them Commonuniloquium sive summa collationun can be considered the most famous at that time.
Geoffrey Chaucer knew and made use of some of these compendiums. Robert A. Pratt analysed how Chaucer used the Communiloquium by John of Wales in The Canterbury Tales, although he says:
"I do not claim that Chaucer necessarily knew and made use of this particular volume; yet I think it will be clear that if not this precise volume, then probably a close relative- whether progenitor, cousin or descendant- suplied the poet with raw materials for some of his brilliant passages of characterization, drama and satire".
This important and relevant article demonstrates that Chaucer specially used it: Pratt explained the passages of Seneca's stories about Piso, Cambyses and Cyrus from De Ira showing that in Seneca's De Ira "they are separated by six chapters" and " Chaucer not only conjoined the stories, and in the same order as John of Wales, but also echoed three additional details which John of Wales had contributed to his redaction: that Cambyses drank more "than bifoore" (quam ante); that he had the boy stand "bifore hym" (ex opposito); and that Cyrus' horse was "dreynt (submersus) in the river".
Nevertheless when Pratt says: "The chief poems in which Chaucer utilized raw materials from the Communiloquium are the Prologue and The Wife of Bath's Tale, The Summoner's Tale and The Pardoner's Tale" he does not mention The Tale of Melibee where I have identified twenty quotations from Seneca. The Tale of Melibee, where there are more quotations from many authors, is not included in this list, however.
On the oher hand, he considers "the errors in Chaucer are generally the errors of his sources". This explanation can help to solve the problem of misattributions in The Canterbury Tales when Chaucer cites Seneca.
The misattributions cited in The Riverside Chaucer are the following:
* The Merchant's Tale
- IV. 1375 from Albertanus, Lib. Cons. 18.
- IV. 1523-25 from Distichs of Cato, sententia 17.
* The Tale of Melibee
- VII. 1071 from Martinus Dumiensis, Formula honestae vitae 3
- VII. 1127 from Publius Syrius, Sententiae, 281.
- VII. 1147 from Martinus Dumiensis, De moribus, 16.
- VII. 1185 from Publius Syrius, Sententiae, 389.
- VII. 1226 not identified in Seneca.
- VII. 1320 from Publius Syrius, Sententiae, 542, 607,380, 116.
- VII. 1324 from Publius Syrius, Sententiae, 255.
- VII. 1455 from Publius Syrius, Sententiae, 172.
- VII. 1488 from Publius Syrius, Sententiae, 483.
- VII. 1531 from Martinus Dumiensis, De moribus, 139.
- VII. 1775-76 from Martinus Dumiensis, De moribus, 94.
- VII. 1859 from Publius Syrius, Sententiae, 64
- VII. 1866 from Publius Syrius, Sententiae, 366
* The Parson's Tale
X.- 144 unidentified. Pennaforte also attributes the quotations to Seneca.
A brief analysis leads us to the following conclusions:
a) Most of the misattributions to Seneca (12 of 15) appear in The Tale of Melibee which is the tale where there are more quotations.
b) All the misattributions in The Tale of Melibee are from the same two authors: Martinus Dumiensis and Publius Syrius.
Pratt in his "Chaucer and the hand that fed him" does not include The Tale of Melibee in "the chief poems in which Chaucer utilized raw material from the Communiloquium". I think Chaucer used another source for the quotations from Seneca in The Tale of Melibee. The cue and the key to support my opinion can be found reading Karl Alfred Bl|her:
" Tambiin se usaron mucho en la Edad Media las sentencias del llamado Liber de moribus, antologma que recoge en sustancia varias obras de Sineca, aunque tambiin con aditamento de otro origen. Si bien es verdad que se han de buscar las fuentes de estos tres pequeqos escritos, salvo unas cuantas aqadiduras en obras autinticas de Sineca, la fuente principal de un cuarto tratado, que se propags ampliamente en la Edad Media con el nombre de Sineca, es el mimsgrafo romano Publilio Siro (siglo I antes de Cristo). Reuniendo fragmentos de iste, se habma compilado, ya en la Antig|edad, una coleccisn de aforismos de sabidurma practica (unos 1.000 versos yambicos y troqueos). Esta coleccisn de aforismos tomados de las obras de Publilio Siro, puesta en orden alfabitico, perdis en su difusisn a travis del tiempo la parte final (maximas de la N a la Z) y fue completada con sentencias de Sineca (sacadas sobre todo del De moribus, aunque tambiin de las Epistolae ad Lucilium y otras obras) y aforismos de origen distinto, ordenados asimismo alfabiticamente de la N a la Z. El florilogio resultante fue divulgado en la Edad Media normalmente con el tmtulo de Proverbia Senecae (o tambiin Sententiae Senecae)" .
Chaucer may have used Proverbia Senecae as a source for Seneca's maxims, at least in The Tale of Melibee. It would imply the misattributions from Publius Syrius and from Martinus Dumiensis on using De moribus.
Another misattribution in the Middle Ages is repeated in The Riverside Chaucer: there is no distinction between Seneca, "The Philosopher", and his father, Seneca, "The Rhetorician". In the "Explanatory Notes" of The Riverside Chaucer is written: "1062 Seneca, Contraversiarum 2.3.12. C.f. WBT III.950 and n." It is not specified that Contraversiorum was not written by Lucius Annaeus Seneca but by his father. This misattribution was common in the Middle Ages as Astrana Marmn says:
"En los csdices hay diferencia en el nombre de Sineca el Padre. Unos le llaman Lucio, y otros Marco. Pero de los mas antiguos se infiere que se denomins Lucio, como su hijo el Filssofo. A ello obedece el confundirse las obras del uno con las del otro durante la Edad Media".
In any case, I think the problem of misattribution to Seneca is quite difficult because of the quantity of the compediums and the mixture of them. Further more, it is to be noticed that Seneca was "The Philosopher" and "The Sage" par excellence in the Middle Ages.
2.- Chaucer's regard for Seneca
Chaucer showed a great regard for Seneca as it can be infered reading The Canterbury Tales. Seneca's name is cited thirty one times in this Chaucer's work. The Spanish philosopher is, after Solomon, the author who is cited more times by Chaucer. So, Seneca's maxims were very esteemed for their value in improving the morality of mankind. Argumentations were not as valuable, easy maxims were better.
Chaucer addresses Seneca once as a "clerk", as a "philosophere", as a "sage" and the rest of the times he addresses him just as "Senek". It implies not only a great regard but a "familiar relationship" using him as a source. We know that "when the French poet Eustache Deschamps wished to compliment Chaucer on his poetic achievement, he congratulated him upon his grasp of ethical doctrines by nominating him a second Seneca."
Chaucer emphasizing this regard advises his readers to read Seneca twice:
-"Reedeth Senek, and redeth eek Boece"
The Wife of Bath's Tale, 1168.
- "Reed Salomon, so wys and honourable,
Reed David in his psalmes, reed Senekke"
344-345 The Manciple's Tale, 344-45.
Seneca is associated with great authors (Boece, Solomon, David) in these two quotations. There is no shadow of doubt about Chaucer's regard for Seneca. But there is another important consequence which can be gained, especially from the second quotation: Chaucer considered Seneca a Christian authority; the context of the quotation is the context of a sermon where the Manciple takes out a moral from his own tale and he critizes gossips who are abominable to God.
Another significant contribution in evaluating Chaucer's regard for Seneca is given in The Monk's Tale by the author of The Canterbury Tales when he wrote about Nero. The first thing which will surprise readers is that Chaucer related Nero's atrocities but no one of them copes the twenty four verses which Chaucer wrote about Seneca, that is, more than one third of the total.
The following quotations from the passage are essential to confirm not only Chaucer's knowledge about Seneca but also his regard for him:
"For of moralitee he was the flour,
As in his tyme, but if bookes lye".
2497-2948
That Seneca was considered the "flower of virtue" shows Chaucer's regard, but the conditional "if" may lead us toward two different suspicions: the first is that Chaucer may have cast doubt on Seneca's historical fame without any foundation, and the second is that Chaucer may have known, reading or listening, the historical opinions against Seneca. Dion Casio in his Historia romana and Tacito in his Annales are the most important detractors, accusing Seneca of preaching the virtue and living a life of pleasure and wealth. Nevertheless Karl Alfred Bluher says that the decisive sources of the moral objections, Tacito and Dion Casius were not found again till the Italian Humanism in the XIV and XV centuries. Bluher thinks that Boccaccio was the first author interested in Tacito's ideas about Seneca.
Chaucer's regard for Seneca in the passage on Nero can be summarized in a few relevant words: teacher, sage, victim and flower of virtue.
Chaucer's reading about Seneca may be confirmed by considering the two versions of Seneca's death. Nevertheless Seneca did not know or,at least, did not mention the real cause of Seneca's death: a conspiratory against Nero.
3.- Quotations from Seneca in The Canterbury Tales
It is to be noticed that quotations from Seneca in The Canterbury Tales do not appear only when Seneca's name is cited; most of them exist uncited or under the name of other writers. Chaucer did not use quotations "ad literam"; he transformed them to develop characters, satires or examples.
There are forty five quotations from Seneca: twenty three of them are cited in The Riverside Chaucer, one is cited by Ayres and it is not included in The Riverside Chaucer, and I have identified twenty-one new quotations.
3.1- Compilatation
The following quotations are those which have been identified up to now. All appear in The Riverside Chaucer, except the last one (quotation number 24) which has been identified by Ayres but not included by The Riverside Chaucer. As I consider the new quotations the most interesting ones for the readers, I am going to omit the ones which have already been recognized, giving just the references.
1. Introduction to the Man of Law's Tale, 25-28.
Ad Lucilium Epistulae Morales. I. 3.
2. The Wife of Bath's Tale, 1168-1170.
Ad Lucilium Epistulae Morales. 44. 2, 5.
3. The Wife of Bath's Tale, 1183-84.
Ad Lucilium Epistolae Morales. 2. 5.
4. The Summoner's Tale, 2017-2042.
De Ira, I. 18. 1, 3, 5.
5. The Summoner's Tale, 2043-2071.
De Ira, 3. 14. 1, 2.
6. The Summoner's Tale, 2079-2084.
De Ira, 3. 21. 1, 2.
7. The Pardoner's Tale, 492-97.
Ad Lucilium Epistulae Morales. 83. 18, 19.
8. The Pardoner's Tale, 513-516.
Ad Lucilium Epistulae Morales. 95. 19.
9. The Pardoner's Tale, 544-546.
Ad Lucilium Epistulae Morales. 95. 15.
10. The Tale of Melibee, 984-985.
Ad Lucilium Epistolae Morales. 74. 30.
11. The Tale of Melibee, 992.
Ad Lucilium Epistolae Morales. 63. 1.
12. The Tale of Melibee, 993.
Ad Lucilium Espistulae Morales. 63. 11.
13. The Tale of Melibee, 1066.
De Beneficiis, IV 38. 1, 2.
14. The Tale of Melibee, 1328.
Ad Lucilium Epistulae Morales. 3.3
15. The Tale of Melibee, 1339-1340.
De Clementia. I. 19. 6.
16. The Tale of Melibee, 1481-1483.
De Ira. II. 34. 1.
17. The Tale of Melibee, 1676-77.
Ad Lucilium Epistulae Morales. 94. 46.
18. The Tale of Melibee, 1857.
De Clementia. I. 24. 1.
19.- The Parson's Tale, 145.
Ad Lucilium Epistulae Morales. 65. 21.
20. The Parson's Tale", 467-68.
De Clementia. I. 3.3. // I.19.2. // I.19.3.
21. The Parson's Tale, 536.
De Ira II. 19. 3.
22. The Parson's Tale, 759.
Ad Lucilium Episulae Morales. 47. 1.
23. The Parson's Tale, 762.
Ad Lucilium Epistulae Morales. 47. 11.
24. The Parson's Tale, 762.
Ad Lucilium Epistulae Morales. 47. 11.
3.2. New quotations
I have identified the following quotations which had not been recognized as quotations from Seneca. Some of them have been ascribed to other authors (Publius Syrius, Juvenal, St. Jerome, etc.). I do not deny the possibility of common sources or similarities, but I claim that Seneca wrote the same ideas and often used the same words.
I consider that this part is the most important of my research because it is, to my mind, an interesting contribution and it may be a starting point for other researchers.
* The Knight's Tale
1. "We witen nat what thing we preyen heere;
We faren as he that dronke is as a mous.
A dronke man moot wel he hath an hous,
But he noot which the righte wey is slider.
And certes, in this world so faren we;
We seken faste after felicitee,
But we goon wrong ful often, trewely."
1260-1267.
" omnes beate volunt, sed ad pervidendum, quid sit quod beatuam vitam efficiat, caligant; adeoque non est facile consequi beatam vitam, ut eo quisque ab ea longius recedat, quo ad illam concitatius fertur, si via lapsus est; quae ubi in contrarium ducit, ipsa velocitas maioris intervalli causa fit"
De Vita Beata, I. 1.
" To live happily is the desire of all men, but their minds are blinded to a clear vision of just what it is that makes life happy; and so far from its being easy to attain the happy life, the more eagerly a man strives to reach it, the farther he recedes from it if he has made a mistake in the road; for when it leads in the opposite direction, his very speed will encrease the distance that separates him."
* The Man of Law's Tale
2. "Wommen are born to thraldom and penance,
And to under mannes governance."
286-87.
"Tantum inter Stuicos, Serene, et ceteros sapientiam professos interesse quantum inter feminas et mares non immento dixerim, cum utraque turba ad vitae societatem tantundem onferat, sed altera pars ad obsequendum, altera imperio nata sit."
De Constantia Sapientis, 1. 1.
"Might say with good reason, Serenus, that there is as great difference between the Stoics and the other shools of philosophy as there is between males and females, since while each set contributes equally to human society, the one class is born to obey, the other to command."
* The Wife of Bath's Prologue
3. "For wel ye knowe, a lord in his houshold,
He nath nat every vessel al of gold,
Somme been of tree, and doon hir lord servyse."
99-101.
"Tubero paupertem et se dignam et capitolio iucavit, cum fictilibus in publica cena uss ostendit debere iis hominem esse contentum quibus di etiamnunc uterentur."
Ad Lucilium Epistulae Morales. 98. 13.
4. "No thyng forgat he the care and the wo
that Socrates hadde with his wyves two,
How Xantippa caste pisse upon his heed.
This sely man sat stille as he were deed;"
727-730.
"Respiciamus eorum exempla, quorum laudarmus patientiam, ut Socratis, qui comoediarum publicatos in se et spectatos sales in partem bonam accepit ni sitque non minus quam cum ab uxore Xanthippe immunda aqua perfunderetur."
De Constantia Sapientis, XVII. 6.
"Let us turn now to the examples of those whose endurance we commend- for instance to that of Socrates, who took in good part the published and acted gibes directed against him in comedies, and laughed as heartily as when his wife Xanthippe drenched him with foul water."
5. "Whoso that halt hym payd of his poverte,
I holde hym riche, al hadde he nat a sherte."
1185-1186.
"Cui cum paupertate bene covenit dives est"
Ad Lucilium Epistulae Morales. 4. 11.
6. "Juvenal seith of poverty myrily:
`The povre man, whan he goth by the weyne,
Bifore the theves he may synge and pleye'."
1992-1194.
"Nudum latro transmittit; etiam in obsessa via pauperi pax est."
Ad Lucilium Epistulae Morales. 14. 9.
7. "Poverte is this, although it seme alenge:
Possessioum that no wight wol chalenge."
1199-1200.
"Aut ego fallor, aut regnum est inter avaros, circumscriptores, latrones, plagiarios unum esses, cui noceri non possit."
De Tranquilitate Animi. VIII. 4.
"Either I am deceived, or it is a regal thing to be the only one amid all the misers, the sharpers, the robbers, and planderers who cannot be harmed."
* The Summoner's Tale
8. "Lo, what seyde he that so wel teche kan?
`Ne be no felawe to an irous man,
Ne with no wood man walke by the weye,
Lest thee repente;'"
2085-88.
"Fugere itaque debit omnis quos irritaturos racundiam
sciet."
De Ira. III. 8. 3.
"It will, therefore, be a man's duty to avoid all those who he knows will provoke his anger."
"Elige simplices, faciles, moderatos, qui iram tuam nec evocet et ferant."
De Ira III. 8. 5.
" Choose frank, good-natured, temperate people, who will not call forth your anger and yet will bear with it."
* The Tale of Melibee
9. "/Oure Lord hath yeve it me ; our Lord hath
biraft it me;"
1000.
"Fac ergo, mi Lucili, quod aequitatem tuam decet, desine beneficium fortunae male interpretari: abstulit, sed dedit."
Ad Lucilium Epistulae Morales. 63. 7.
10. "/ The firste is this: he that hath greet
ire and wratthe in hymself, he weneth alwey
that he may do thyng that he may nat do./"
1124.
"concupiscunt autem homines et quae non possunt."
De Ira. I. 3. 2.
"moreover, men do desire even what they cannot attain."
11. "/and certes, that ne may nevere been accompliced,
for evere the moore abundaunce that he hath
of richesse, the moore he desireth."
1132.
"Qui multum habet plus cupit, quod est argumentum nondum illum satis habere."
Ad Lucilium Epistulae Morales Tomus. 119. 6.
12. "/For Solomon seith that
`right as the herte of a man deliteth in
savour that is soote, right so the conseil of
trewe frendes yeveth swetnesse to the soule'/"
1158.
"Nihil tamen aeque oblectavent amicum, quam amicitia fidelis et dulcis. Quantum bonum est, ubi praeparata sunt pectora, in quae tuto secretum omne descendant, quorum conscientiam minus quam tuam timeas, quorum sermo sollicitudinem leniat, sententia consilium expediat, hilaritas tristiam dissipet, con speculus ipse delectet!"
De Tranquilitate de Animi. VII. 3.
"Nothing, however, gives the mind so much pleasure as fond and faithful friendship. What a blessing it is to have those to whose waiting hearts every secret may be commited with safety, whose knowledge of you you fear less than your knowledge of yourself, whose conversation soothes your anxiety, whose opinion assists your decission, whose cheerfulness scatters your sorrow, the very sight of whom gives you joy!"
13. "/ Thou shalt also eschue the conseiling of folk
that been dronkelewe, for they ne kan no conseil
hyde/"
1193.
"ei qui soleat ebrius fieri non committi sermonem secretum."
Ad Lucilium Epistolae Morales. 83. 12.
14. "/For the proverbe seith, `He that to muche
embraceth, distreyneth litel'/"
1215.
"Aptari onus viribus debet nec plus occupari quam cui sufficere possimus. Non quantum vis sed quantum capis hauriendum est. Bonum tantum habe animun: capies quantum voles."
Ad Lucilium Epistulae Morales. 108. 2.
15. "that in maladies that oon contrarie is warisshed
by another contrarie-/"
1277.
"Fac, quod medici solent, qui, ubi visitata remedia non procedunt temptant contraria."
De Clementia. I. 9. 6.
"Follow the practice of physicians, who when the usual remedies do not work try just the opposite."
16. "/But whose wolde considere in alle
vengances the perils and yveles that myghte
sewe of vengeance-takynge,/ a man wolde
nevere take vengeance, and that were
harm;/ for by the vengeance-takynge
been the wikked men dissevered fro the goode men,/"
1429-1431.
" Adice, quod magna pars hominun est, quae reverti ad innocentiam possit, si <poenae remissio fuerit>. Non tamen vulgo ignoscere decet; nam ubi discremen inter malos bonosque sublatum est, confusio sequitur et vitiorum eruptio; itaque adhibenda moderatio est, quae sanabilia ingenia distinguere a deploratis sciat."
De Clementia. I. 2. 2.
" Then, too, there are a great many people who might be turned back to the path of virtue if [they are released from punishment]. Nevertheless, pardoning ought not to be too common; for when the distinction between the bad and the good is removed, the result is confusion and an epidemic of vice. Therefore a wise moderation should be execesised which will be capable of distinguishing between curable and hopelss characters."
17. ".../For
Senec seith thus: `That maister, he seith, is
good that proveth shrewes.'/"
1437.
"Sed tam commoda illorum sine invidia videbit quam scelera sine ira iudex damnat improbanda, non odit."
De Ira. I. 16. 6.
" A good judge condemns wrongful deeds, but he does not hate them."
18. "And , as the same Senec seith, `The moore clear
and the moore shynyng that Fortune is , the
moore brotil and the sonner broker she is'/"
1450.
"Quid enim est quod non fortuna, cum voluit, ex florentmssimo detrahet? quod non eo magis adgrediatur et quatiat quo speciosius fulget?"
Ad Lucilium Epistulae Morales. 91. 4.
19. "/Trusteth nat in hire for she nys
nat stidefast ne stable, /for whan thow
trowest to be moost seur or siker of hire help,
she wol faille thee and deceyve thee/"
1451-52.
"In ipsa securitate animus ad difficilia se praeparet et contra iniurias fortunae inter beneficia firmatur."
Ad Lucilium Epistulae Morales. 18. 6.
* The Nun's Priest's Tale
20. "For certeinly, as that thise clerkes seyn,
Whereas a man may have noon audience,
Noght helpeth it to tellen his sentence."
2800-2802.
"Raro ad nos venit, noo ulla alia ex causa quam quod audire verum, a quo periculo iam abeot; nulli enim nisi audituro dicendum est."
Ad Lucilium Epistulae Morales. 29.1
* The Manciple's Tale
21. "The wise Plato seith, as ye may rede,
The word moot nede accorde with the dede.
If men shal telle properly a thyng,
The word moot cosyn be to the werkyng".
207-210.
"Maximun hoc est et officium sapientae et indicium, ut verbis opera concordent, ut ipse ubique par sibi idenque sit"
Ad Lucilium Epistulae Morales. 20. 2.
4. Analysis of the quotations
The quotations which can be identified in Seneca's works were used by Chaucer to support his ideas, examples and opinions. Seneca who was a philosopher and a writer of literature was beneficial to Chaucer as a moral philosopher because his maxims were suitable for Chaucer's intention of teaching and preaching mankind in spite of some erotic or scabrous passages in The Canterbury Tales.
Didacticism and moralism is quite present in this Chaucer's work as shown in the "Retraction", in many whole tales, in parts of the some scabrous tales, in the morals, at the end of some tales, and so on.
4.1 Topics: Classification
A possible classification into "mirror for princes" and " manual for preachers" could be made, but there are some quotations which are too hazy to set. All the quotations may be considered fit to "manual for preachers" or for "mirror for princes". Nevertheless a "mirror for princes" could include "Political Advice", "Vengeance", "nobility", "advice" and some stories from "anger ".
This classification into topics shows a variety of Seneca's themes which are the most important in the Senecan works. An easy access to compilations which included an antology from one or different authors could be an explanation for this variety.
The Tale of Melibee is a special tale because of three reasons:
- Chaucer is a teller who tells the tale.
- There are many quotations, proverbs, sayings.
- Reader can discover some interpretations.
This is the tale where there are more quotations from Seneca. It is expected because there more citations. Besides it is a moral tale as Seneca's maxims. But I go further agreeing with the interpretations which consider this tale a political allegory of John of Gaunt's proposed campaign in Spain. This theory is difficult to demonstrate with scientific elements that cannot be considered as mere coincidences by other researchers. This investigation can help to support the claim of these elements: most of the quotations from Seneca in The Tale of Melibee can be classified as "Mirror for princes". The prince could be John of Gaunt, his daughter would be his Spanish wife Constanza of Castile who claimed the crown of Castile . Relating quotations from Seneca with the events would be the next step.
I think it is not pure coincidence that The Tale of Melibee is the only tale in which Chaucer cited Petrus Alphonsus .
The following list shows the numbers of quotations in the tales and the prevailing topics in the tales:
- The Tale of Melibee (20). Political advice.
- The Wife of Bath's Tale (5). Poverty- Wealth.
- The Parson's Tale (5). Political advice.
- The Pardoner's Tale (4). Gluttony .
- The Summoner's Tale (4). Anger.
- The Wife of Bath's Prologue (2). Anger. Poverty/wealth.
- Introduction the Man of Law's Tale (1) Time.
- The Man of Law's Tale (1). Women.
- The Manciple's Tale (1). Proverbs.
- The Knight's Tale (1). Fate.
- The Prologue of Nun's Priest's Tale (1). Proverbs.
The tales with the largest collections of references have the topics in coherent contexts: The Tale of Melibee with a political affair, The Wife of Bath's Tale with the marriage argument, The Pardoner's Tale about gluttony and avarice, and The Summoner's Tale with the topic of anger.
The sources from Seneca show an evident diference: Chaucer was more derivative of the Epistles (26 quotations) than elsewhere, even than with De Ira (8 quotations). Epistles was the most famous work which disseminated his fame as a classic popular moralist.
Conclusions
* "Seneca" was a name to conjure with in the Middle Ages. The glory and fame of Cordoba at that time helped Seneca's fame. But after that time, when the fame of Cordoba was on the decline, Cordovan and Spanish people have turned to Seneca to increase their fame.
* Spanish ignorance of Seneca's works is a traditional matter from the Middle Ages. Although his influence on Spanish authors has been important, Seneca has to be reimported to Spain many times. The shortage of Spanish manuscripts implies that modern editions in Latin of Seneca's works are not Spanish.
* Many misattributions are due to the errors of a considerable body of genuine works. It is not surprise to find Seneca wrongly quoted because of the mistakes in the compendiums and other sources.
* Chaucer's acquaintance with Seneca had its source mainly in the compendiums: Communiloquium sive suma collationum and Proverbia Senecae. Chaucer was more familiar with the Epistles than with any other Seneca's works.
* Chaucer's regard for Seneca is quite evident. It is revealed in all the quotations we have been able to find, in the Senecan moral philosophy which appears in many Chaucer's thouhgts, in the two advice to read Seneca, and in the important passage about Nero.
* We can find Seneca's name only in The Canterbury Tales and in Boece. Nevertheless, Ayres showed that Seneca's influence appears in other works written by Chaucer.
* The present paper compiles Senecan quotations which have been identified up to now, verifyng the real parallelism in the original Latin works from Seneca.
* The variety of topics and its classification reveal a full and positive influence where most of the traditional themes from Seneca are included.
* The Senecan influence is present in many Chaucer's thoughts in The Canterbury Tales. I have limited my work to study the twenty-one references which can be considered quotable parallelisms. This work should be considered a starting point toward research on the important influence of Seneca in Chaucer's works.
Dr.Jesus Luis Serrano Reyes
Cordoba
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