Essays 6: Of Consolation to Marcia Audiobook (Free)

Marcia actively mourned the loss of life of her child Metilius for over three years. In Of Consolation to Marcia, Seneca attempts to convince her the fate of her boy, while tragic, shouldn’t have already been a shock. She knew a great many other mothers who had dropped their sons; why should she expect her own kid to endure her? The acknowledgement, also expectation, from the worst of all possible outcomes is normally a tenet of Seneca’s Stoic viewpoint. While Seneca sympathised with Marcia, he reminded her that ‘we are about Essays 6: Of Consolation to Marcia delivered into a world of things which are all destined to pass away,’ which if she could accept that no-one is assured a just existence (that is, one where sons constantly outlive their mothers), she could finally end her mourning and live the others of her lifestyle in peace

Translation by Aubrey Stewart and made by Vox Stoica

Seneca’s Essays Series:

1) Of providence – addressed to Lucilius

2) For the Firmness of the Wise Man – addressed to Serenus

3-5) Of Anger (Books 1-3) – addressed to his brother Novatus

6) Of Consolation – addressed to Marcia

7) Of the Happy Life – addressed to Gallio

8) Of Leisure – resolved to Serenus

9) Of Tranquillity of Mind – addressed to Serenus

10) Within the Shortness of Life – addressed to Paulinus

11) Of Consolation – addressed to Polybius

12) Of Consolation – addressed to Helvia