De Otio - Wikipedia De Otio From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search Essay by Seneca De Otio From the 1643 edition, published by Francesco Baba. Its position, appended to the end of De Vita Beata, reflects the manuscript tradition Author Lucius Annaeus Seneca Country Ancient Rome Language Latin Subject Ethics Genre Philosophy Publication date AD c. 62 De Otio (On Leisure) is a 1st-century Latin work by Seneca (4 BC–65 AD). It survives in a fragmentary state. The work concerns the rational use of spare time, whereby one can still actively aid humankind by engaging in wider questions about nature and the universe. Contents 1 Dating 2 Title and contents 3 Themes 4 References 5 Further reading 5.1 Translations 6 External links Dating[edit] No absolute certainty about the date of writing is possible, but since the contents of the work parallel Seneca's own withdrawal into private life near the end of his life it is thought by a majority of critics to have been written around 62 AD or shortly after.[1][2] Title and contents[edit] Otio is from otium, this literally translates as leisure, vacant time, freedom from business.[3] De Otio survives only in fragmentary form. The manuscript text begins mid-sentence, and ends rather abruptly.[4][5] In the Codex Ambrosianus C 90 (the main source for Seneca's essays) it is simply tacked onto the end of De Vita Beata suggesting a scribe missed a page or two.[6] The title of the essay, De Otio, is known from the table of contents. The addressee has been erased but appears to have been seven letters long and is assumed to have been Seneca's friend Serenus.[6] De Otio is thus one of a trio of dialogues addressed to Serenus, which also includes De Constantia Sapientis and De Tranquillitate Animi.[7] Chronologically, it is thought to be the last of the three.[7] Themes[edit] Seneca understood the word otio to represent something more than absolute free-time. He understood it to mean leisure used in service to the community by intellectual activity:[8] ... hoc nempe ab homine exigitur, ut prosit hominibus ... this of course is required of a human, to benefit their fellow humans In De Otio Seneca debates the appropriate life for a Stoic philosopher. Seneca reports the standard position of the school that wise people will engage in public affairs, unless something prevents them. Seneca lists some arguments against engaging in public life such as if the state is too corrupt, or if the wise person's influence is too limited, or if they are ill. Seneca then shows that private life (otium) far from being a life of listless retirement can be active from a Stoic point of view. The wise person can choose to engage with the wider universe: by moving one's actions from the local to the cosmic perspective and engage with the fundamental questions of the universe, one can still aid all of humankind.[2] The superior position the sage (ho sophos) inhabits of detachment from earthly (terena) concerns, and an according freedom from possible future events of detrimental nature, is a unifying theme of the dialogue.[9][7] References[edit] ^ G. D. Williams - Lucius Annaeus Seneca - De Otio - Cambridge Greek and Latin Classics (p.2) (Cambridge University Press, 30 Jan 2003) ISBN 0521588065 [Retrieved 2015-3-16] ^ a b R Scott Smith - Brill's Companion to Seneca: Philosopher and Dramatist (edited by Andreas Heil, Gregor Damschen) BRILL, 13 Dec 2013 ISBN 9004217088 [Retrieved 2015-3-16] ^ Perseus Digital Library - Latin Word Study Tool otium - otio [Retrieved 2015-3-16] ^ Howatson, M. (2013). The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature. p. 519. ISBN 978-0199548552. ^ Bartsch, Shadi; Schiesaro, Alessandro, eds. (16 February 2015). The Cambridge Companion to Seneca. p. 79. ISBN 978-1316239896. ^ a b Cooper, John M.; Procopé, J. F. (1995). Seneca: Moral and Political Essays. Cambridge University Press. p. 167. ISBN 0521348188. ^ a b c Gian Biagio Conte - professor of Latin literature in the Department of Classical Philology at the University of Pisa, Italy. (Translated by J Solodow) (4 Nov 1999). Latin Literature: A History. JHU Press. ISBN 0801862531. Retrieved 2015-03-19. ^ T E Beck (editor) "Introduction" to B Taegio - La Villa (first published 1559) Penn Studies in Landscape Architecture (University of Pennsylvania Press, 21 Sep 2011) ISBN 0812203801 [Retrieved 2015-3-16] ^ 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) Further reading[edit] Translations[edit] G. D. Williams (2003), Seneca - De Otio, De Brevitate Vitae (Cambridge Greek and Latin Classics). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521588065 Elaine Fantham, Harry M. Hine, James Ker, Gareth D. Williams (2014). Seneca: Hardship and Happiness. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0226748332 External links[edit] Works related to Of Leisure at Wikisource Seneca's Dialogues, translated by Aubrey Stewart at Standard Ebooks De Otio (Latin) (ed. John W. Basore) v t e Seneca the Younger Philosophy Dialogues De Beneficiis De Brevitate Vitae De Clementia De Constantia Sapientis De Ira De Otio De Providentia De Tranquillitate Animi De Vita Beata Letters Letters to Lucilius Consolations Seneca's Consolations (ad Helviam Matrem, ad Marciam, ad Polybium) Natural philosophy Naturales quaestiones Literature Extant plays Agamemnon Hercules Furens Medea Oedipus Phaedra Phoenissae Thyestes Troades Plays of questionable authorship Hercules Oetaeus Octavia Satire Apocolocyntosis Other Letters of Paul and Seneca (spurious) Related Senecan tragedy Stoicism Portraits Socrates and Seneca Double Herm Pseudo-Seneca The Death of Seneca (1773 painting) Family Seneca the Elder (father) Gallio (brother) Pompeia Paulina (wife) Lucan (nephew) v t e Stoicism Philosophers Early Zeno of Citium Persaeus Aristo Sphaerus Herillus Cleanthes Chrysippus Zeno of Tarsus Crates of Mallus Diogenes of Babylon Dioscorides Zenodotus Dionysius of Cyrene Apollodorus Antipater of Tarsus Middle Panaetius Dardanus Mnesarchus Hecato Posidonius Diodotus Diotimus Geminus Antipater of Tyre Athenodorus Cananites Late Seneca Cornutus Musonius Rufus Euphrates Cleomedes Epictetus Hierocles Junius Rusticus Marcus Aurelius Chaeremon Mara bar Serapion Philosophy Stoicism categories logic passions physics Neostoicism Modern Stoicism Concepts Adiaphora Apatheia Ataraxia Ekpyrosis Eudaimonia Katalepsis Kathekon Logos Oikeiôsis Pneuma Prohairesis Sophos Works Epictetus Discourses Enchiridion Marcus Aurelius Meditations Seneca Letters to Lucilius Essays: Anger Benefits Clemency Constancy Happiness Leisure Providence Shortness of Life Tranquillity Consolations Other Lectures (Musonius Rufus) On Passions (Chrysippus) Republic (Zeno) Related articles Paradoxa Stoicorum Stoicorum Veterum Fragmenta Stoic Opposition Moral intellectualism Authority control VIAF 1 WorldCat (via VIAF) Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=De_Otio&oldid=1027358765" Categories: Philosophical works by Seneca the Younger Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description matches Wikidata Articles containing Latin-language text Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with WorldCat-VIAF identifiers Navigation menu Personal tools Not logged in Talk Contributions Create account Log in Namespaces Article Talk Variants Views Read Edit View history More Search Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Donate Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Permanent link Page information Cite this page Wikidata item Print/export Download as PDF Printable version Languages العربية Deutsch Italiano Latina Nederlands Português Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Edit links This page was last edited on 7 June 2021, at 13:19 (UTC). 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