Video: James Romm on Seneca
Episode 4 of "Meet the Greco-Romans"
Welcome to the fourth of an occasional series of video chats with authors and translators who have written about the philosophy, culture, and history of the Greco-Roman tradition.
In this episode I talk to James Romm, author and translator of a number of books on Seneca, including Dying Every Day: Seneca at the Court of Nero, How to Give: An Ancient Guide to Giving and Receiving, How to Keep Your Cool: An Ancient Guide to Anger Management, and How to Die: An Ancient Guide to the End of Life. Which happen to be precisely the books we discuss in our wide ranging conversation on Stoicism and practical philosophy.
We debate whether Seneca was a monster or a secular saint, why we moderns grossly underestimate the importance of bestowing or receiving benefits, how come people get angry when we talk about anger, and in what sense a major task of philosophy is to prepare us for our own demise.
Here is our video chat:
My son of 17 yrs was 'returned' as Epectetus would say when he was killed on his motorcycle 1 yr ago. Since then I have been on a journey to understand the program of life.
This and other similar discussions from learnered people resonate with me and give me peace.
Thank you again for this opportunity to live and put my saddened heart in perspective.... Most importantly to choose life.
Thank you
Very enjoyable conversation. I got a lot out of it
Tim