The manuscripts of the eight extant Latin tragedies identify the plays as the Marci Lucii Annei Senecae Tragoediae. Since nobody

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问题     The manuscripts of the eight extant Latin tragedies identify the plays as the Marci Lucii Annei Senecae Tragoediae. Since nobody of that name is known, modern scholars believe the dramas to be the work of Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger, the well-known philosopher, orator and politician. Clearly the tragedies were written during Seneca’s lifetime: internal references to earlier poets, most notably Ovid, indicate that the dramas cannot have been composed prior to the second decade C.E., and the plays must have been written by 96 C.E., when Quintilian quotes Medea, one of the tragedies.
    It is remarkably, however, that Seneca himself never mentions the plays, since there are certain passages in them that could be used to illustrate points of his philosophy. There are at least two possible explanations. In the early Roman Empire, playwrights were sometimes exiled or executed for line constructed as directed against the emperor; thus, Seneca’s silence may be simple prudence. But if anyone could safely attach his name to dramas, surely it would be Seneca, the emperor’s tutor. And although Herrmann offers Seneca’s modesty as an explanation, Seneca is not averse to referring to his other writings. The evidence for equating Seneca with the author of the tragedies seems circumstantial.
The author of the passage makes which of the following claims about the eight extant Latin tragedies?

选项 A、There is only circumstantial evidence that the plays were all written by the same author.
B、Scholars have persistently attributed the plays to Seneca despite evidence that some of them may have been composed prior to his lifetime.
C、Evidence in the manuscripts of the plays identifies them as having been written by Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger.
D、The plays contain some lines that have been construed as being directed against the emperor.
E、The plays contain material that could illustrate certain aspects of Seneca’s philosophy.

答案E

解析 对应第二段第一句,这是作者说的,因此正确。A项本文讨论的是这些作品是否由塞涅卡完成,而非是否由同一人完成。B项文中未提及。C项关于这些作品是否为塞涅卡创作的,在文中一直都是推测,没有确凿的证据去证明;另外,作者的观点是证明塞涅卡是作者的证据是circumstantial。D项作者认为,因为塞涅卡是国王的老师,所以就算他写了一些针对国王的话,也不需要保持沉默。至于作品中到底有没有针对国王的台词,作者并没有说。
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