PROVER-SE PARA A MORTE: REFLEXÕES SENEQUIANAS EM AD LUCILIUM EPISTULAE MORALES

Abstract

In this study we will present some reflections of the Ad Lucilium Epistulae Morales of Lucio Aneu Seneca, writer, politician and Stoic thinker of the 1st century of the Christian Era. The aim of this work is to investigate, based on his study mentioned above, the understanding of Senech regarding life and its finitude, whether natural or caused by suicide, as an integral part of the content for the formation of man. Although his study is extensive, this work will be limited to letters in which the conception of death is more widely reasoned. During the study of these letters, it is observed that Seneca understands that death is one of the duties of existence, and it is up to the ideal man, that is, to the sage, to accept this condition and, consequently, to break out of the fear it provokes. Therefore, it is up to man to move away from fear and anguish in the face of death. At first, the foundations of the Roman stoic thought in which Seneca is inserted are presented. For this, it is necessary to understand the historical context in which Seneca developed his reflections. This context was significantly marked by Hellenism and Stoicism. For the unfolding of the research, will we translate the letters XXX, LIV, LVIII, LXIII, LXX, LXXVIII e XCIII from Ad Lucilium Epistulae Morales, poring over the excerpts that are pertinent to the analysis. It is not essential for anyone who wants to understand the meaning of the definition of happy life without going through an unveiling of the awareness of existence that is shown from the knowledge of death - this is the fundamental subject of this work, after all, for Seneca, there is no escape, for to reach the knowledge of life is to understand oneself as mortal.