Character Assassination through Conflation: The Influence of Senecan Tragedy on Historiographical Conceptions of Agrippina the Younger

This thesis examines the particular similarities in both language and characterization which exist between multiple female characters in the tragedies of Seneca the Younger and the depiction presented by later historians, most prominently Tacitus, of Agrippina the Younger. The work is divided into three chapters, each dealing with a rhetorical stereotype in which the historical portrait of Agrippina is cast. These stereotypes are then examined with an eye toward similar characterizations in Senecan tragedy. In regard to the similarities between these texts, this work argues that Seneca designed these associations for Agrippina due to the rivalry that developed between the two at the onset of Nero's reign. The delicate relationship between Agrippina and Seneca as powerful members of the imperial court is discussed, with particular focus on why Seneca would choose to attack the woman to whom he owed his recall from exile and position as tutor to Nero.