In the Court of Time: The Reckoning of a Monster in the Apocolocyntosis of Seneca

Abstract

Seneca's Menippean satire, the Apocolocyntosis is constantly interrupted by digressions containing apparently extraneous matter about astrological and seasonal phenomena surrounding the central events—an important device known as temporal periphrasis. But the motif of time, in and of itself, is molded by Seneca to provide particular perspective to the characters of the Apocolocyntosis. Temporal transitions and periphrases are transformed into dominant narrative devices that often dwarf and tacitly critique the characters and events that they would be expected merely to frame. The description of Claudius's final days, death, and afterlife is interrupted by numerous temporal and historical digressions, and this disjointed narrative befits the monstrous physical and moral character of the emperor. The insipid language of the central panegyric to Nero has attracted critical comment, and this study concludes with a close reading of this section, which reveals several ambiguities in the praise of the emperor. The location of the panegyric is problematic, interrupting the account about Claudius. Nero is surrounded by the scatology, monstrosity, and buffoonery connected with Claudius' life and death. Instead of being located in the satire as successor to Claudius and being praised at the end of the narrative, Nero is embedded within it. But of most significance is the employment of the imagery of temporal periphrasis in praising Nero. He is compared with stars in flight, the evening star, and the sun at dawn—all of which call to mind the stale images of Epistle 122, as well as those of the numerous temporal digressions of the Apocolocyntosis. Character has been subordinated to abrupt narrative transitions, shifts, and temporal periphrases, and the two emperors Claudius and Nero have become part of the machinery of the Apocolocyntosis and absorbed into its temporal collapse.