Phaedra's Forbidden Love and the Nurse's Warning — Seneca the Younger, Phaedra, lines 110–196, Latin & English

110

iuvat excitatas consequi cursu feras

It is a pleasure to pursue the startled beasts in full career,

et rigida molli gaesa iaculari manu.

and to hurl stiff javelins with tender hand.

Quo tendis. anime? quid furens saltus amas?

Whither do you hasten, my soul? Why in madness do you love the glades?

fatale miserae matris agnosco malum:

I recognize the fatal ill of my wretched mother:

peccare noster novit in silvis amor.

our love knows how to sin in the woods.

115

genetrix, tui me miseret: infando malo¹

Mother, I pity you: seized by an unspeakable evil,

correpta pecoris efferum saevi ducem

you in your boldness loved the wild leader of the savage herd;

audax amasti; torvus, impatiens iugi

grim, impatient of the yoke,

adulter ille, ductor indomiti gregis—

that adulterer, leader of the untamed flock—

sed amabat aliquid, quis meas miserae deus

yet he loved something. What god, or what Daedalus,

120

aut quis iuvare Daedalus flammas queat?

could help my flames, wretched that I am?

non si ipse remeet, arte Mopsopia potens

Not even if he himself should return, potent in Mopsopian art,

qui nostra caeca monstra conclusit domo,

who shut up our monster in the blind house,

promittat ullam casibus nostris opem.

could promise any aid to our misfortunes.

stirpem perosa² Solis invisi Venus

Venus, hating the race of the detested Sun,

125

per nos catenas vindicat Martis sui

through us avenges the chains of her Mars and her own,

suasque, probris omne Phoebeum genus

and loads the whole race of Phoebus with unspeakable infamy:

onerat nefandis: nulla Minois levi

no daughter of Minos has come off with a light love;

defuncta amore est, iungitur semper nefas.

crime is always joined with it.

Thesea coniunx, clara progenies Iovis,

Wife of Theseus, illustrious offspring of Jove,

130

nefanda casto pectore exturba ocius,

banish swiftly these unspeakable things from your chaste breast,

extingue flammas neve te dirae spei

extinguish the flames, and do not yield yourself obedient

praebe obsequentem: quisquis in primo obstitit

to a dreadful hope. Whoever resisted at the first

pepulitque amorem, tutus ac victor fuit;

and repelled love, has been safe and victorious;

qui blandiendo dulce nutrivit malum,

he who by flattering has nourished the sweet evil,

135

sero recusat ferre quod subiit iugum.

too late refuses to bear the yoke he has submitted to.

Nec me fugit,³ quam durus et veri insolens

Nor does it escape me, how harsh and unaccustomed to truth

ad recta flecti regius nolit tumor,

the royal pride is, unwilling to be bent to the right;

quemcumque dederit exitum casus feram:

whatever end fortune shall give, I will bear it:

fortem facit vicina libertas senem.

the proximity of freedom makes an old man brave.

140

Honesta primum est velle nec labi via.

First, it is honorable to wish for what is right, and not to slip from the path;

pudor est secundus nosse peccandi modum,

the second honor is to know the limit of sinning.

quo, misera, pergis? quid domum infamem aggravas

Whither, wretched woman, do you go? Why do you burden an already infamous house

superasque matrem? maius est monstro nefas:

and surpass your mother? Your crime is greater than a monster:

nam monstra fato, moribus scelera imputes,⁴

for you may impute monsters to fate, but crimes to character.

145

si, quod maritus supera non cernit loca,

If, because your husband does not see the upper regions,

tutum esse facinus credis et vacuum metu,

you believe your crime is safe and free from fear,

erras; teneri crede Lethaeo abditum

you err; believe that Theseus is held hidden in the Lethaean

Thesea profundo et ferre perpetuam Styga:

depth and bears the eternal Styx:

quid ille, lato maria qui regno premit

but what of him, who presses the seas with his wide realm

150

populisque reddit iura centeni», pater?

and gives laws to a hundred peoples—your father?

latere tantum facinus occultum sinet?

Will he allow so great a crime to remain hidden?

sagax parentum est cura. credamus tamen

Sage is the care of parents. Yet let us suppose

astu doloque tegere nos tantum nefas:

that we can cover so great a crime with craft and guile:

quid ille rebus lumen infundens suum

what of him, who pours his light upon all things,

155

matris parens? quid ille qui mundum quatit

your mother’s sire? What of him who shakes the universe,

vibrans corusca fulmen Aetnaeum manu,

brandishing the lightning of Etna with his glittering hand,

sator deorum? credis hoc posse effici,

the father of the gods? Do you believe it can be brought about

inter videntes omnia ut lateas avos?

that you should remain hidden among ancestors who see all things?

sed ut⁵ secundus numinum abscondat favor

But suppose the favorable grace of the gods should hide

160

coitus nefandos utque contingat stupro

your unspeakable unions, and suppose that there should befall your crime

negata magnis sceleribus semper fides:

that secrecy which is ever denied to great misdeeds:

quid poena praesens, conscius mentis pavor

what of the immediate punishment, the conscious terror of the mind,

animusque culpa plenus et semet timens?

and the soul full of guilt and fearing itself?

scelus aliqua tutum, nulla securum tulit.

Crime has made some safe, but none secure.

165

compesce amoris impii flammas, precor,

Quench, I pray, the flames of an impious love,

nefasque quod non ulla tellus barbara

and a crime which no barbarian land

commisit umquam, non vagi campis Getae

has ever committed, not the Getae wandering on the plains,

nec inhospitalis Taurus aut sparsus Scythes;

nor inhospitable Taurus, nor the scattered Scythian;

expelle facinus mente castifica horridum

expel this horrid crime from your purified mind,

170

memorque matris metue concubitus novos.

and mindful of your mother, dread strange unions.

miscere thalamos patris et gnati apparas

Do you prepare to mingle the marriage beds of father and son,

uteroque prolem capere confusam impio?

and to conceive in your impious womb a confused offspring?

perge et nefandis verte naturam ignibus—

Go on, and subvert nature with your unspeakable fires—

cur monstra cessant? aula cur fratris vacat?

why do monsters cease? Why is your brother’s palace vacant?

175

prodigia totiens orbis insueta audiet,

Will the world so often hear of unaccustomed prodigies,

natura totiens legibus cedet suis,

will nature so often yield her laws,

quotiens amabit Cressa?

as often as a Cretan woman loves?

Quae memoras scio

I know that what you relate

vera esse, nutrix; sed furor cogit sequi

is true, nurse; but madness forces me to follow

peiora, vadit animus in praeceps sciens

the worse path; my mind knowingly goes to the brink,

180

remeatque frustra sana consilia appetens.

and returns in vain, seeking healthy counsels.

sic cum gravatam navita adversa ratem

Just as when a sailor drives his heavy ship

propellit unda, cedit in vanum labor

against the adverse wave, his labor yields in vain,

et victa prono puppis aufertur vado.

and the defeated vessel is carried away by the rushing current.

quid ratio possit? vicit ac regnat furor

What can reason do? Madness has conquered and reigns,

185

potensque tota mente dominatur deus.

and a powerful god dominates my entire mind.

hic volucer omni pollet in terra impotens

This winged, powerless god prevails in every land,

ipsumque flammis torret indomitis Iovem;

and scorches Jove himself with untamed flames;

Gradivus istas belliger sensit faces,

Warlike Gradivus felt those torches,

opifex trisulci fulminis sensit deus,

the god who fashions the three-pronged lightning felt them,

190

et qui furentis semper Aetnaeis iugis

and he who ever on the Etnaean ridges

versat caminos igne tam parvo calet;

turns the raging furnaces is warmed by so small a fire;

ipsumque Phoebum, tela qui nervo regit,

and Phoebus himself, who guides his weapons on the bowstring,

figit sagitta certior missa puer

the boy pierces with a more unerring arrow

volitatque caelo pariter et terris gravis.

and flies through the sky, heavy alike to heaven and earth.

195

Deum esse amorem turpis et vitio favens

That love is a god is what base lust, favoring vice,

finxit libido, quoque liberior foret

has feigned, so that it might be more free,

Syntax notes5 items

115infando malo
An ablative phrase consisting of the adjective infando and the noun malo, acting as an ablative of cause or instrument modifying the following perfect participle correpta ('seized').
124perosa
The perfect participle of the verb perodi ('to hate thoroughly'). Although passive in form, it has an active meaning like a deponent verb and takes the accusative stirpem ('race') as its direct object.
136Nec me fugit
The verb fugere is used here with the accusative me to mean 'I am well aware.' The content of what is known is expressed by the indirect question clause beginning with quam ('how') and taking the subjunctive nolit.
144imputes
The second-person singular subjunctive present. This is a generic or potential second-person usage referring to people in general ('one may'), functioning as a subjunctive of obligation or possibility.
159ut
This introduces a concessive ut-clause (ut + subjunctive abscondat and contingat). It sets up a contrast with quid in §162, meaning 'even if the favor of the gods should hide everything, one cannot escape the sting of conscience.'

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-22) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-22)

2026-09-22 AI review — source 1

urn:cts:latinLit:phi1017.phi005.humanitext-lat2:110-196