Hercules' Affectus: The (In)Human Body in Seneca's Hercules Furens.

This article navigates the development of Hercules' physical and psychological identity in Seneca's Hercules Furens through the lens of affect theory (and germane theoretical approaches). By combining this theoretical framework with ancient philosophical and medical conceptions of the human body, He...

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Publicado en:Classical Antiquity Vol. 45; no. 1; pp. 155 - 189
Autor principal: Martorana, Simona
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: University of California Press Jun2026
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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        affil: The Australian National University
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      keyword:
        affect theory
        anger
        automata
        De ira
        Heracles
        Hercules Furens
        human body
        identity
        mind
        object-oriented ontology
        objects
        posthumanism
        Seneca
      ab: This article navigates the development of Hercules' physical and psychological identity in Seneca's Hercules Furens through the lens of affect theory (and germane theoretical approaches). By combining this theoretical framework with ancient philosophical and medical conceptions of the human body, Hercules' fury is reinterpreted as an extreme example of embodied emotional experience. Thus, the borders between abstract and concrete appear blurred; Hercules' "affective" objects—his weapons—become both prosthetic extensions of his body and hypostases of his emotions. By taking control of Hercules as a mind-body-object continuum, anger not only determines Hercules' physical agency but also contributes to the reshaping of his identity tout court. The rupture of the distinctions between human affections and their concrete manifestations, between human agency and object agency, which characterizes the Hercules Furens leads us to question traditional (Stoic) notions of the unity of the subject, as well as definitions of (human) personhood.
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      src: R
    language: English
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