Phaedra's Confession and the Nurse's False Accusation — Seneca the Younger, Phaedra, lines 649–730, Latin & English

649

monstrique caecam Gnosii vidit domum

and saw the dark house of the Knossian monster,

650

et longa curva fila collegit via.

and gathered the thread from the long, winding path.

quis tum ille fulsit! presserant vittae comam

How he shone then! Headband had pressed his hair,

et ora flavus tenera tinguebat pudor:

and a golden shame colored his tender cheeks;

inerant lacertis mollibus fortes tori;

strong muscles were in his soft arms,

tuaeque Phoebes vultus¹ aut Phoebi mei.

and he had the face of your Phoebe, or of my Phoebus.

655

tuusque potius— talis, en talis fuit

Or rather yours— such, behold, such was he

cum placuit hosti, sic tulit celsum caput:

when he pleased the enemy, thus he bore his high head;

in te magis refulget incomptus decor;

in you, unadorned beauty shines more brightly;

est genitor in te totus et torvae tamen

your father is entirely in you, and yet some part

pars «aliqua matris miscet ex aequo decus:

of your fierce mother mingles her beauty equally;

660

in ore Graio Scythicus apparet rigor.

in a Greek face, Scythian harshness appears.

si cum parente Creticum intrasses² fretum.

If you had entered the Cretan sea with your father,

tibi fila potius nostra nevisset soror.

my sister would have spun her threads for you instead.

te te, soror, quacumque siderei poli

You, sister, in whatever part of the starry sky

in parte fulges, invoco ad causam parem:

you shine, I invoke you to a similar cause:

665

domus sorores una corripuit duas,

one house has seized two sisters,

te genitor, at me gnatus. en supplex iacet

the father took you, but the son took me. Behold, a suppliant lies,

adlapsa genibus regiae proles domus.

the offspring of a royal house, fallen at your knees.

respersa nulla labe et intacta, innocens

Sprinkled with no stain, untouched and innocent,

tibi mutor uni. certa descendi ad preces:

I am changed for you alone. Determined, I have descended to prayers;

670

finem hic dolori faciet aut vitae dies.

this day will make an end either to my grief or to my life.

miserere amantis—

Pity the lover—

Magne regnator deum,

Great ruler of the gods,

tam lentus audis scelera? tam lentus vides?

do you hear crimes so slowly? Do you see them so slowly?

et quando saeva fulmen.emittes manu,

And when will you send the lightning from your fierce hand,

si nunc serenum est? omnis impulsus ruat

if now the sky is clear? Let all the shattered heaven

675

aether et atris nubibus condat diem,

fall and hide the day with black clouds,

ac versa retro sidera obliquos agant

and let the reversed stars drive their twisted paths

retorta cursus, tuque, sidereum caput,

backward, and you, starry head,

radiate Titan, tu nefas stirpis tuae

radiant Titan, do you look upon the crime of your offspring?

speculare? lucem merge et in tenebras fuge.

Plunge your light and flee into darkness.

680

cur dextra, divum rector atque hominum, vacat

Why is your right hand, ruler of gods and men, idle,

tua nec trisulca mundus ardescit face?

and the world does not burn with your three-forked torch?

in me tona, me fige, me velox cremet

Thunder against me, transfix me, let the swift fire burn me,

transactus ignis— sum nocens, merui mori:

driven through me— I am guilty, I have deserved to die:

placui novercae, dignus en stupris ego?.

I pleased my stepmother, behold, am I worthy of disgrace?

685

scelerique tanto visus ego solus tibi

And did I alone seem to you easy material

materia facilis? hoc meus meruit rigor?

for so great a crime? Did my rigidity deserve this?

o scelere vincens omne femineum genus,

O you who surpass all womankind in crime,

genetrice peior! illa se tantum stupro

worse than your mother! She contaminated herself only with adultery,

690

contaminavit, et tamen. tacitum diu

and yet, a long-silent

crimen biformi partus exhibuit nota

crime was revealed by her offspring of double form,

scelusque matris arguit vultu truci

and the ambiguous child proved the mother’s crime

ambiguus infans— ille te venter tulit.

with his fierce face— that womb bore you.

o ter quaterque prospero fato dati

O three and four times blessed by happy fate

695

quos hausit et peremit et leto dedit

whom hatred and deceit swallowed, destroyed, and gave to death—

odium dolusque— genitor, invideo tibi:

father, I envy you:

Colchide noverca maius haec, maius malum est.

this woman is a greater, a far greater evil than the Colchian stepmother.

Et ipsa nostrae fata cognosco domus:

I myself also recognize the fate of our house:

fugienda petimus; sed mei non sum potens.

we seek what must be avoided; but I am not master of myself.

700

te vel per ignes, per mare insanum sequar

I will follow you even through fires, through the raging sea,

rupesque et amnes, unda quos torrens rapit;

and rocks and rivers which the torrential wave sweeps away;

quacumque gressus tuleris hac amens agar—

wherever you carry your steps, I, mad, will be driven—

iterum, superbe, genibus advolvor tuis.

again, proud youth, I prostrate myself at your knees.

Procul impudicos corpore a casto amove

Remove far from my chaste body your shameless

705

tactus— quid hoc est? etiam in amplexus ruit?

touches— what is this? Does she even rush into my embrace?

stringatur ensis, merita supplicia exigat.

Let my sword be drawn, let it exact deserved punishment.

en impudicum crine contorto caput

Behold, with her hair twisted, I bent back her shameless head

laeva reflexi: iustior numquam focis

with my left hand: never was more righteous blood

datus tuis est sanguis, arquitenens dea.

offered to your altars, bow-bearing goddess.

710

Hippolyte, nunc me compotem voti facis:

Hippolytus, now you make me possessor of my wish:

sanas furentem. maius hoc voto meo est,

you cure my madness. This is greater than my prayer,

salvo ut pudore manibus immoriar tuis.

that with my honor safe I may die by your hands.

Abscede, vive ne quid exores,³ et hic

Depart, live so that you may obtain nothing by prayer, and let this

contactus ensis deserat castum latus.

defiled sword leave my chaste side.

715

quis eluet me Tanais aut quae barbaris

What Tanais will wash me, or what Maeotis

Maeotis undis Pontico incumbens mari?

with its barbarian waves flowing into the Pontic sea?

non ipse toto magnus Oceano pater

Not the great father himself with the whole Ocean

tantum expiarit sceleris, o silvae, o ferae!

could expiate so much crime. O woods, o wild beasts!

Deprensa culpa est. anime, quid segnis stupes?

The crime is detected. My soul, why do you stand numb in sloth?

720

regeramus ipsi crimen atque ultro impiam

Let us turn back the crime ourselves, and let us accuse him

Venerem arguamus: scelere velandum est scelus:

of impious love: crime must be veiled by crime;

tutissimum est inferre, cum timeas, gradum.

it is safest to attack when you are afraid.

ausae priores simus an passae nefas,

Whether we first dared or suffered the crime,

secreta cum sit culpa, quis testis sciet?

since the sin is secret, what witness will know?

725

Adeste, Athenae! fida famulorum manus,

Be near, Athens! Faithful band of servants,

fer opem! nefandi raptor Hippolytus stupri

bring aid! Hippolytus, the ravisher of unspeakable lust,

instat premitque, mortis intentat metum,

presses and attacks, threatens the fear of death,

ferro pudicam terret— en praeceps abit

terrifies a chaste woman with iron— behold, he departs headlong,

ensemque trepida liquit attonitus fuga.

and in his trembling flight, astonished, he left his sword.

730

pignus tenemus sceleris, hanc maestam prius

We hold the proof of his crime, first this sorrowful woman—

Syntax notes3 items

654vultus
The noun vultus ('face, features') functions either as the subject of the implied verb from the previous line (inerant), or with an elliptical phrase such as erat tibi. Phaedra compares his features to his goddess Phoebe (Artemis) or her own ancestor Phoebus (Apollo), but corrects herself to say they are rather his own.
661intrasses
The verbs intrasses (syncopated form of intravisses) and nevisset represent a past contrary-to-fact conditional construction. It suggests that if Hippolytus, rather than Theseus, had entered the Cretan sea, Ariadne would have spun her threads for him.
713ne quid exores
The clause ne quid exores uses the subjunctive of exoro ('to obtain by entreaty'). Hippolytus expresses his harsh refusal to grant even her wish of dying by his hand, forcing her to live without having any of her prayers answered.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-22)urn:cts:latinLit:phi1017.phi005.humanitext-lat2:649-730