Albertino Mussato, Senecan tragedies, and the poetic crown

Abstract

The paper analyses the reception of Seneca’s works and biography in 13th- and 14th-century Padua, focusing especially on the role played by Lovato Lovati and Albertino Mussato. It argues that Mussato was pivotal in the reception of Seneca as a tragic poet. Both Mussato’s Senece vita et mores and Ecerinis emphasised Seneca’s worth as an author of tragedies, starting a new rise of the fortune of Seneca’s plays.