THE PURPOSE OF THE APOCOLOCYNTOSIS
The purpose of the Apocolocyntosis has been the subject of much scholarly discussion, particularly
in the present century. Rostagni maintains that it was written to bring ridicule upon the official
deification of the dead emperor Claudius and that it was chiefly because of it that the divine
honours accorded him fell into abeyance under Nero (for which see Suetonius, Claudius, 45). Nock,
however, while he recognises in it clever parody, would be unwilling to regard it as an attack on the
practice of deifying emperors. Waltz believes the piece to be a subtle political manoeuvre aimed at
Agrippina in that it satirises the consecration which she herself set on foot. Bickel , rightly
accepting late December 54 or possibly early 55 as the composition date, argues that it is the
manifesto for a new political programme. Kurfess, noting that Claudius breathed his last whilst he
was listening to a troupe of comedians (4), contends that it is meant to convey the official version of
Claudius' demise ; if this version failed to gain credence, the satire, with its insistence on the folly
and cruelty of Claudius, would divert blame from Agrippina since readers would be convinced that
the removal of such an emperor by whatever means was justified. Viedebaant sees the satire as a
political work, and feels that Seneca, as prime minister and regent for the youthful Nero, could not
have allowed himself to indulge in purely personal and spiteful abuse. Weinreich and Duff take it
as a vengeful assault on the dead Claudius. Miss Β. Μ. Marti views it as a political tract addressed
to Nero.
It is probable that some of these scholars have been reading more into the satire than is there. In the
task of interpretation we are hindered by not knowing enough about Menippean satire, but we can
be sure that it was compounded of two elements, amusement and instruction, which were doubtless
mixed in different proportions in different pieces. The main impressionon the mind after a first
reading of the Apocolocyntosis is of humour (and even of wit), though the general level of humour
may not be particularly to our taste. Its author has very skil fully and wickedly contrived to
emphasise and play upon Claudius' various infirmities, bodily and mental. In life Claudius was
weak and sickly; on his death-bed he desiit vivere videri . He suffered from a speech impediment
and therefore when he presents himself at the gate of Olympus he cannot make himself understood
with his outlandish enunciation (pertúrbalo sono et voce confusa, 5) . Hercules, sent to interview
him, is startled at the weird figure he finds confronting him and imagines that a thirteenth labour is
in store. But his fear is allayed when he looks closer, for Claudius seems after all to be a kind of
human being (diligentius intuenti visus est quasi homo, 5). A reference to the ascendancy that his
freedmen notoriously had over Claudius is to be observed in section 6 where the emperor, enraged
at being contradicted, is ignored by everyone (putares omnes illius esse libertos — adeo illum nemo
curabat). The emperor's amnesia is satirised in section 13 when he asks the spirits of men he had
himself condemned to death how they came to be there. His fondness for gambling is hit up when
(14) Aeacus decrees that he shall rattle dice for ever pertuso fritillo, and earlier in the same section
his great interest in jurisdiction and waywardness as a judge are touched on in the court proceedings
where the case for the prosecution only is heard 12.
Senecan authorship of the Apocolocyntosis has been doubted. Critics have found it difficult to
believe that Seneca could have produced this biting satire after the Consolatio ad Polybium with its
cringing adulation of Claudius and the funeral oration which he composed for delivery by Nero. It
is clear, however, that the Consolatio is ironical; and remembering that there was general laughter
when Claudius' providentia sapientiaque were mentioned in the laudatio funebris, one may
reasonably surmise that other parts of it were obliquely sarcastic, derision lying behind thickly
applied praise. Nevertheless scholars (e.g. Stahr and Riese) have been tempted to assign the piece
elsewhere ; — recently in a stimulating essay G. Bagnani has suggested Petronius as its author.
…
Stylistically, too, Senecan authorship is perfectly possible. Satirical elements, as Duff remarks, are
not absent from the Letters, and such a literary adept would find the form demanded by Menippean
satire relatively easy to master.
…
In the words of Apollo (4) and in the speech of Augustus (10) the key is different. Here a distinctly
political note is struck. When Apollo sings :
vincat mortalis témpora vitae ille, mihi similis vultu similisque decore nec cantu nec voce minor,
felicia lassis saecula praestabit legumque silentia rumpet.
something more than mere flattery is to be understood. The reference to felicia saecula and to the
restoration of law, legumque sïlentia rumpet, though couched in the form of prophecy, tact fully
expresses the author's hope that the new reign will be one in which wisdom will prevail — that is,
that the teaching which he has imparted to his pupil will be put into effect. Similarly, when
Augustus bitterly denounces Claudius as an un worthy successor to the throne 20 and roundly
condemns him for the mass executions that took place during his principate, Seneca is pleading for
an end to capricious and irresponsible rule; justice and temperance should be the attributes of
power.
This idea is fully handled in his De Clementia, a treatise also addressed to the young emperor.
Seneca accepted the fact of monarchy and sought to use his influence and literary ability to counter
or reduce absolutist tendencies. No person, he proclaims 21, is more enhanced by clemency than a
king or prince, and under a just ruler the state best flourishes 22. Seneca's chosen role at court as
advocate of moderation and his work as statesman tend to be obscured by the habit of regarding him
as primarily a philosopher 23 ; a man of letters with a taste for philosophy who became an
important figure in high politics is a more accurate description of him.