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De Tranquillitate Animi

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De Tranquillitate Animi (On the tranquility of the mind) is a Latin work by Seneca (4 BC–65 AD).[1] The dialogue concerns the state of mind of Seneca's friend Annaeus Serenus, and how to cure Serenus of anxiety, worry and disgust with life.

Background

Democritus of Abdera (circa 460 - 370/360 B.C.[2][3]) wrote a treatise Περι εύθυμίης (Peri euthymiés), this is acknowledged as having some influence to Seneca. The title of the treatise, when translated from the Greek is, about cheerfulness,[4] (εύθυμία, might mean either cheerfulness or stability of mind). Seneca especially identified with the term euthumia or euthymia (steadiness of the mind, well-being of the soul, self-confidence [5]),[6] and laudes the Grecian Democritus in relation to his treatise on the subject.[7] The term euthumia has a rough translation as tranquilitas into Latin, thus by Seneca.[8][9][10]

Seneca knew of Aristotle (384 - 22 B.C.[11]), since the end of De Tranquilitates is a quote from him:[12][13]

nullum magnum ingenium sine mixtura dementiae fuit

Writing a little later than Seneca, Plutarch wrote a work of the same name, described in the 1589 translation as, "a philosophical treatise concerning the quietness of the mind",[14] and both men shared a cultural background.[15]

Dating

De Tranquillitate Animi is thought to be written during the years 49 to 62 A.D.[16]

Title and contents

The title when translated into English means on the tranquility of the mind (or) soul. The word animi is translated, in a general sense,as the rational soul, and in a more restricted sense, as the mind as a thing thinking, feeling, willing. T.M. Green provides definitions of animus, animi as being soul, mind and also courage, passion. Monteleone translated tranquillitas animi as, mental equilibrium.[17][18][19][20][21]

De Tranquillitate Animi is part of Seneca's series of Dialogi (dialogues). The dialogue concerns the state of the animi of Seneca's friend Annaeus Serenus, and how to cure Serenus of anxiety, worry and disgust with life.[22][23][24][25][26]

it is more typical of a human to laugh down life than to bewail it

— -15.2 [27]

Themes

Seneca, as with other Stoics, was concerned with providing insight for the development of a practice of life, for others to develop into virtuous individuals and to achieve inner harmony.[28][29][30]

The superior position ho sophos (the sage) inhabits, of detachment from earthly (terena) possibilities of future events of a detrimental nature, is the unifying theme of the dialogue.[31][32][33][34]

Later history

The first extant copy of the work is as part of the codex Ambrosianus (id est, of the Ambrosianus library in Milan), from the 5th century A.D.[35][36][37]

References

  1. ^ M. Griffin & B. Inwood (translation) (2011). de Beneficiis by Lucius Annaeus Seneca. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0226748405. Retrieved 2015-03-14.
  2. ^ CJ. Vamvacas (2009). The Founders of Western Thought – The Presocratics: A diachronic parallelism between Presocratic Thought and Philosophy and the Natural Sciences. Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 1402097913. Retrieved 2015-03-29.
  3. ^ M.E. Mickelson (edited by T Hockey, K Bracher, M Bolt, V Trimble, J Palmeri, R Jarrell, Jordan D. Marché, F Jamil Ragep) (2007). Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers. Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 0387304002. Retrieved 2015-03-16. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ Strong's Concordance. περί. bible hub. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
  5. ^ OAW Dilke (edited by Wolfgang Haase) (1981). The Interpretation of Horace's Epistles (in) Aufstieg und niedergang der Rӧmischen welt. Walter de Gruyter. p. 1849. ISBN 3110084678. Retrieved 2015-03-16. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  6. ^ F Copleston (2003). History of Philosophy Volume 1: Greece and Rome. A&C Black. p. 125. ISBN 0826468950. Retrieved 2015-03-14.
  7. ^ S McElduff (2013). Roman Theories of Translation: Surpassing the Source. Routledge. ISBN 1135069069. Retrieved 2015-03-14.
  8. ^ J Brunschwig; G Ernest R Lloyd; P Pellegrin (2000). Greek Thought: A Guide to Classical Knowledge. Harvard University Press. ISBN 067400261X. Retrieved 2015-03-14.
  9. ^ W Turner (1929). History of Philosophy. The Athenaeum Press. ISBN 1105919315. Retrieved 2015-03-14.
  10. ^ GA Kennedy (2008). The Art of Rhetoric in the Roman World: 300 B. C. - A. D. 300. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 472. ISBN 1556359799. Retrieved 2015-03-16.Volume 2 of History of rhetoric (Source:euthymia, self-confidence & euthumia rough translates as tranquilitas)
  11. ^ http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/6763 (Project Gutenberg) search within BASE (Bielefeld University Library) verified via T. Irwin - p.xi[Retrieved 2015-3-29]
  12. ^ HJ Norman - Genius and Psychiatry Proc R Soc Med. 1923; 16(Sect Psych): 33–38. [Retrieved 2015-3-15] (ed. Norman was the first source here for the latin quote)
  13. ^ AL Motto, JR Clark - The Paradox of Genius and Madness: Seneca and his Influence [Retrieved 2015-3-15] (ed. Motto & Clark provided a translation of the Latin,etc)
  14. ^ catalogue showing - A philosophicall treatise concerning the quietnes of the mind. Taken out of the morall workes written in Greeke, by the most famous philosopher, & historiographer, Plutarch of Cherronea, counsellor to Traian the emperour. And translated out of Greeke into French by Iames Amyor Bishop of Auxerre, and great almoner to the most Christian King of Fraunce Charles the ninth. And now turned out of French into English by Iohn Clapham. [London]: Printed by Robert Robinson for Thomas Newman, 1589 (ed. made available online via Digital Library Production Service (DLPS) & Text Creation Partnership) [Retrieved 2015-3-29]
  15. ^ Plutarch's Lives: Tr. from the Original Greek: with Notes Critical and Historical, and a New Life of Plutarch John and William Langhorne 1804[Retrieved 2015-3-30]
  16. ^ Fritz-Heiner Mutschler in Brill's (p.154) ISBN 9004217088 [Retrieved 2015-3-14]
  17. ^ L.D.Reynolds, M.T.Griffin, E.Fantham - The Oxford Classical Dictionary Oxford University Press, 29 Mar 2012 (edited by S Hornblower, A Spawforth, E Eidinow) ISBN 0199545561 [Retrieved 2015-3-14]
  18. ^ Michel Foucault - Wrong-Doing, Truth-Telling: The Function of Avowal in Justice (University of Chicago Press, 4 Jun 2014) ISBN 0226257703 [Retrieved 2015-3-14]
  19. ^ Perseus Digital Library - Tufts University Search Tools - Latin Word Study Tool (for expanded definitions see page under Lewis & Short) [Retrieved 2015-3-14]
  20. ^ T.M. Green (professor of classics and chair of the Department of Classical and Oriental Studies at Hunter College of the City University of New York c.2014) - The Greek & Latin Roots of English (Rowman & Littlefield, 17 Jul 2014) ISBN 1442233281 [Retrieved 2015-3-14]
  21. ^ M.Monteleone - Brill's Companion to Seneca: Philosopher and Dramatist (head of p.129) (edited by Andreas Heil, Gregor Damschen) [Retrieved 2015-3-15]
  22. ^ J Sellars - Stoicism (Routledge, 5 Dec 2014) ISBN 1317493915 [Retrieved 2015-3-16]
  23. ^ M.Foucault Wrong-Doing, Truth-Telling: The Function of Avowal in Justice (University of Chicago Press, 4 Jun 2014) ISBN 0226257703 [Retrieved 2014-3-14]
  24. ^ the word <Annaeus> taken from MT Griffin - Seneca on Society: A Guide to De Beneficiis - Oxford University Press, 14 Mar 2013 ISBN 0199245487 [Retrieved 2014-3-14]
  25. ^ SENECA AS A MORALIST AND PHILOSOPHER in The National quarterly review -p.18 published 1868 (ed. by E.I. Sears) [Retrieved 2015-3-18]
  26. ^ Cambridge University Dictionary online - disquiet (search criteria was <disquietude>) [Retrieved 2015-3-18]
  27. ^ C Star - The Empire of the Self: Self-Command and Political Speech in Seneca and Petronius - JHU Press, 7 Sep 2012 ISBN 1421406748 [Retrieved 2015-3-14]
  28. ^ Groenendijk, Leendert F. and de Ruyter, Doret J.(2009) 'Learning from Seneca: a Stoic perspective on the art of living and education', Ethics and Education, 4: 1, 81 — 92 DOI: 10.1080/17449640902816277 [Retrieved 2015-3-17] (ed. <inner harmony> c.f. p.82;1st paragraph;last sentence , <virtuous> p.82;2nd paragraph;3rd from last sentence , <practical> - p.82;3rd paragraph;last sentence)
  29. ^ R Bett - A Companion to Ancient Philosophy (edited by Mary Louise Gill, Pierre Pellegrin) John Wiley & Sons, 9 Feb 2009 ISBN 1405178256 [Retrieved 2015-3-17] (p.546 <the sage>)
  30. ^ J Wildberger - Brill's Companion to Seneca: Philosopher and Dramatist (p.314) (edited by Andreas Heil, Gregor Damschen) BRILL, 13 Dec 2013 ISBN 9004217088 [Retrieved 2015-3-17]
  31. ^ R Bett - A Companion to Ancient Philosophy - p.531 (edited by Mary Louise Gill, Pierre Pellegrin)[Retrieved 2015-3-19] (ed. Bett was source of term ho sophos)
  32. ^ GD Williams - Naturales Quaestiones (in) Brill's Companion to Seneca: Philosopher and Dramatist (p.184) Brill's Companions in Classical Studies (edited by A Heil, G Damschen) BRILL, 13 Dec 2013 ISBN 9004217088 [Retrieved 2015-3-19]
  33. ^ Cambridge University dictionary - contingencies [Retrieved 2015-3-19]
  34. ^ Gian Biagio Conte - professor of Latin literature in the Department of Classical Philology at the University of Pisa, Italy. (Translated by J Solodow). Latin Literature: A History. JHU Press, 4 Nov 1999. ISBN 0801862531. Retrieved 2015-03-19. {{cite book}}: horizontal tab character in |author= at position 141 (help)
  35. ^ Fritz-Heiner Mutschler in Brill's Companion to Seneca: Philosopher and Dramatist [Retrieved 2015-3-14]
  36. ^ TH Horne - An Introduction to the Critical Study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, Volume 2) E. Littell, 1825 [Retrieved 2015-3-16]
  37. ^ C Boyd-Taylor in Thirteenth Congress of the International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies, Ljubljana, 2007 (International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies. Congress) Society of Biblical Lit, 2008 ISBN 1589833953 [Retrieved 2015-3-14]
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