Naturales quaestiones
Naturales quaestiones is a work on phenomena and questions of nature that Seneca wrote between AD 62 and AD 63. Seneca shows himself to be a collector of the findings of numerous, mainly Greek authors. The material is - following the division of cosmology into celestial science, meteorology and geography - restricted to topics of meteorology. Seneca is thus in the tradition of older authors such as Aristotle and Poseidonios .
Structure and overall design
The work consists of 8 individual books, which are dedicated to different topics. The individual book is generally divided into a foreword, the main part with the subject-related theses and a final part. In all books except the mangled Book IVb and Book VII, Seneca turns to his friend Lucilius Junior . The foreword and the final part mostly contain philosophical-ethical statements, so that there is a unique mixture of scientific and ethical topics.
In the main scientific parts, Seneca transmits the statements of several authors. He also evaluates them and explains which of the often very controversial theories he supports.
swell
Seneca names around 40 names of informants. These are philosophers and natural scientists, but also “explorers”, whose reports he quotes. For example, B. Euthymenes of Massilia from his voyage on the Atlantic Ocean. Many names are only mentioned once. Important sources with several mentions are Anaxagoras (6 mentions), Aristotle (13), Callisthenes (6), Poseidonius (10) and Theophrastus von Eresos (9).
Often Seneca is generally committed to the teaching of the Stoics , to which he adheres:
"In hac sententia sunt plerique nostrorum ..." is translated as
"Most Stoics are of this opinion ... ". Older philosophers are also cited
with the statement antiqui .
Latin authors are also used, albeit rarely. In the wind book (V, 16) Seneca names the Marcus Terentius Varro . The Latin names of the winds in this chapter ( aquilo , septemtrio etc.) also suggest a Latin source. Seneca mentions Papirius Fabianus, the author of the causarum naturalium libri, in his description of the Flood (III, 27, (3)).
Nevertheless, on the one hand, there are still large areas of text that some people mean by a general term or are also referred to. On the other hand, Seneca expressly expresses his own opinion, for example:
"Ego nostris non assentior" = "I do not agree with our school here"
in contrast to the school of the Stoics.
Despite this variety of sources, it has also been assumed that Seneca relied primarily on Poseidonius.
Contents of the individual books
Book I - Meteor Book
Seneca deals with various light phenomena, which are mainly caused by sunlight in clouds, water droplets, etc. The main focus is the description of the rainbow and theories of its formation.
These scientific observations are framed by the Praefatio, in which the limitations of man compared to nature and deity are discussed, and a moralizing closing word. Here Seneca describes in detail the use of mirrors in erotic scenes, whereby he does not hold back the name of the fellow citizen whom he deeply despises.
Book II - Thunderstorm Book
The subject of the book is the description of and theories on the origin of lightning and thunder.
In the foreword-like opening chapters (1-11), Seneca presents his classification of matter and the world, as well as a description of the properties of air. The book closes again with moral considerations. This time Seneca grapples with the fear of death. From Chapter 31, Seneca leads from the inexplicable physical property of lightning to melt silver while leaving the surrounding wooden box intact, to the lightning mantic . In doing so, he compares the (superstitious) Etruscan standpoint with the (rational) standpoint of the Stoa.
Book III - water book
Again, a foreword (scientific writing is rated positively compared to historiography) and an epilogue (an impressive description of the Flood) frame the scientific explanations. Various theories of the formation of rivers, groundwater and the properties of water are dealt with. The obligatory morality-critical section of this book (chapters 17-19) castigates the bad habit of bringing fish, especially sea barbels, alive on the table and enjoying their changing colors in agony before they are cooked in front of the guests.
Book IVa - Nile Book
According to Praefatio and a description of the Nile, Seneca handed down four of the then known theories of the etiology of the Nile threshold:
- Melting snow in the Ethiopian Mountains ( Anaxagoras )
- Etesia damming the Nile ( Thales , Euthymenes also assume that the Nile is connected to the Atlantic)
- Seasonal temperature change in underground water veins ( Oinopides of Chios)
- Equalization of humidity by underground pipe system ( Diogenes of Apollonia )
Seneca rejects all theories and is thus in accordance with the current state of knowledge. Before he quotes a theory that he approves, the book breaks off.
Book IVb - Book of Clouds
The beginning of the book is lost. It begins with a description of the hail and snow. In Chapter 6, Seneca resolutely rejects the superstitious notion that a blood sacrifice can avert hail.
In chapters 8 to 12 he forms theories about the temperature rise with increasing air height and the associated snow formation.
The book ends with a harsh criticism of the luxurious lifestyle through which ice and snow are used - abused - to cool food and beverages.
Book V - Wind Book
The book begins without a
praefatio
with a definition: ventus est fluens aër. Wind is flowing air.
In chapters 2 to 6 theories of wind formation (evaporation of the earth, release of air from the digestive earth animal, life force of the air) are presented. From chapters 7 to 17 Seneca describes different winds and develops a compass rose with 4 or 12 different winds.
Seneca leads a short description of the beneficial effects of the wind into a long moral-philosophical declamation (chap. 18, (10)):
quousque nos mala nostra rapuerunt? parum est intra orbem suum furere
How far have our evils brought us? It is not enough to race in your own world.
Book VI - Earthquake Book
Starting with the Campania earthquake that recently wreaked havoc in both Pompeii and Herculaneum , Seneca addresses the fear that an earthquake creates.
From chapters 4 to 20, numerous earthquake theories are expanded, most of which are linked to the name of a philosopher who represents them. Fire, water, and air are named as causes, even several acting together. From Chapter 21, Seneca developed his own opinion: penetrating air, which completely fills underground cavities under great pressure, is the cause.
He also reports interesting observations from the earthquake in Campania - for example in Chapter 27 - that sheep had died from the poisonous fumes and in Chapter 31 that the elastic clay walls were ultimately better than the stone walls.
Book VII - Comet Book
Seneca has compiled a large number of theories that he discusses. It is possible that he had an excerpt from Poseidonios' comet, which has not been handed down. In Chapters 4-10 he vehemently refutes the theory advocated by several astronomers that comets are evaporation from water and air eddies. He especially turns against an astronomer Epigenes (possibly the one mentioned in Pliny - Naturalis historia -VII, 193). He also rejects the thesis that it is a reflection of the union of two stars (Chapter 19), Aristotle 's opinion that comets are a weather sign (Chapter 28), and otherwise. On the other hand, he is convinced of the statements made by Apollonios of Myndos (Chapter 4, 22ff), who is otherwise unknown, that comets are to be equated with the planet ( stellae errantes ). The frequently cited objection that planets move in the zodiac , but comets in several regions of the sky, he brushed aside with a reference to future knowledge (Chapter 25).
Hereby Seneca leads on to the last chapters, in which he regrets that only such a small part of creation is understandable to man:
neque enim omnia deus homini fecit. quota pars operis tanti nobis committitur?
For the Godhead did not create everything for man. What small part of this gigantic work is accessible to us?
and that man tries so little to expand his knowledge.
Tradition and survival
The Naturales quaestiones were far less received in the Middle Ages than other ancient scientific writings, such as Aristotle's Meteorology . It was also far less read than other Senecan writings.
About 50 manuscripts from the 12th to 14th centuries have survived, all of which have the same text gap in the middle of the text, but are divided into 2 groups with regard to the arrangement of the books. One group divides the books: I-II-III-25,6-IVb-V-VI-VII, the other: IVb-V-VI-VII-I-II-III-IVa.
It was not until 1907 that Alfred Gercke produced a complete text edition.
Text editing and translation
- Paul Oltramare (ed.): Sénèque. Questions Naturelles . Paris, 1st edition 1929, 2nd edition 1961, 3rd revised. 2003 edition, Les Belles Lettres.
- L. Annaeus Seneca: Scientific investigations . Ed. And transl. by Martinus FA Brok. Darmstadt 1995.
- Harry M. Hine (Ed.): L. Annaei Senecae Naturalivm qvaestionvm libros . Stuttgart [u. a.] 1996.
- L. Annaeus Seneca: Naturales quaestiones. Scientific investigations . Latin / German. Transl. And ed. by Otto and Eva Schönberger. Stuttgart 1998.
literature
- Bardo Gauly : Senecas Naturales Quaestiones. Natural philosophy for the Roman Empire , Munich 2004.
- Nikolaus Groß: Senecas Naturales Quaestiones. Composition, natural philosophical statements and their sources . Stuttgart 1989.
- Gregor Maurach (ed.): Seneca as a philosopher . Darmstadt 1975.
- Albert Rehm : The seventh book of the Naturales Quaestiones of Seneca and the comet theory of Poseidonios . Munich 1922.
- Franz Peter Waiblinger : Senecas Naturales Quaestiones. Greek science and Roman form . Munich 1977.
- Gareth D. Williams: The cosmic viewpoint. A study of Seneca's "Natural Questions" . New York 2012.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Otto and Eva Schönberger: Naturales quaestiones , epilogue, The emergence of the Naturales quaestiones
- ^ Franz Peter Waiblinger: Senecas Naturales Quaestiones , II. The subject of the Naturales Quaestiones and its traditional structure
- ↑ L. Annaeus Seneca, Naturales quaestiones , IV a, 2, (22)
- ^ Paul Oltramare: Sénèque: Questions Naturelles , Index des noms propres
- ^ Translation by Otto and Eva Schönburger
- ^ Franz Peter Waiblinger: Senecas Naturales Quaestiones , II, 3
- ↑ L. Annaeus Seneca: Naturales quaestiones , VII, 22, (1)
- ↑ Albert Rehm: The seventh book of the Naturales Quaestiones des Seneca and the comet theory of Poseidonois
- ↑ Nicolaus Gross: Senecas Naturales Quaestiones , 2.2 Das Gewitterbuch
- ↑ Nicolaus Gross: Senecas Naturales Questiones , 2.4. The Nile Book
- ↑ Nikolaus Gross: Senecas Naturales Quaestiones , 2.6.10
- ↑ Albert Rehm: The seventh book of the Naturales Quaestiones des Seneca and the comet theory of Poseidonois
- ↑ Otto and Eva Schönberger: Naturales quaestiones , note 4.1, page 497
- ^ Franz Peter Waiblinger: Senecas Naturales Questiones , I. Introduction
- ^ MFA Brok: L. Annaeus Seneca Scientific investigations , introduction