Seneca - College of Stoic Philosophers

INTRODUCTORY NOTEletters,This essay in biography was originally intendedas an introduction to a translation of Seneca'sthe greater part of which has been completed.But as this translation is not likely everto be published, I have decided, after long hesitation,to print the introduction by itself, on thechance that here or there some reader may befound to share my interest in the subject.Of the three branches into which philosophy,in the ancient view, divided itself— ethic, physic,and logic— it is with the two first alone that Senecawas concerned. He never lost touch with life andreality. To those who ' love to lose themselves ina mystery,' and rest in an O ''Altitudo ! Senecaas a philosopher makes no appeal. Rather wouldhe teach men how to find themselves and, so faras is possible to souls closed in by a ' vesture ofdecay,' to understand the meaning of life and ofdeath. His meaning is never ambiguous. Howevershallow a pool may be, as has often beensaid, you cannot see to the bottom if the waterismuddy. Like the waters of the Lake of Garda,on the other hand, Seneca's thoughts combineclearness with depth. He played too large a part