Albertino Mussato’s Glosses on Seneca’s Tragedies: Preliminary Remarks

Abstract

The paper offers an overview of Albertino Mussato’s commentary on Seneca’s Tragedies, which survives in fragmentary form in two manuscripts; dating to the beginning of the 14th c., it is probably the earliest exposition on the work of the tragedian. Hypotheses are suggested concerning the relationship between the commentary and other writings of Mussato devoted to Seneca, such as a Vita Senece, the Argumenta to the ten plays and a treatise on meter known as Evidentia tragediarum Senece. Moreover, the main features of the glosses are presented, with particular regard to Mussato’s remarks on meter, to the parallels with classical, medieval and biblical passages that the author pointed out in his exposition, and to his philological approach to the Senecan text.