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Dionysius of Halicarnassus · Roman Antiquities §4.66.1-4.66.3

Lucretia Returns to Her Father and Pleads for Vengeance

Passage 310 of 962 · Greek

Summary

After Sextus departs, Lucretia returns in mourning to her father in Rome, where she laments the terrible outrage committed against her, begging for vengeance and asking him to summon their friends and relatives to hear her story.

§4.66.1ἡμέρας δὲ γενομένης ὁ μὲν ἐπὶ τὸ στρατόπεδον ἀπῄει πονηρὰν καὶ ὀλέθριον ἐπιθυμίαν ἐκπεπληρωκώς, ἡ δὲ Λουκρητία δεινῶς φέρουσα τὸ συμβεβηκὸς ὡς εἶχε τάχους ἐπιβᾶσα τῆς ἀπήνης εἰς Ῥώμην ᾤχετο, μέλαιναν ἐσθῆτα περιβαλομένη καὶ ξιφίδιόν τι κρύπτουσα ὑπὸ τῇ στολῇ, οὔτε προσαγορεύουσα κατὰ τὰς συναντήσεις οὐδένα τῶν ἀσπαζομένων οὔτʼ ἀποκρινομένη τοῖς μαθεῖν βουλομένοις, ὅ τι πέπονθεν, ἀλλὰ σύννους καὶ κατηφὴς καὶ μεστοὺς ἔχουσα τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς δακρύων.
As day came, the one departed for the camp, having satisfied his wicked and ruinous desire, while Lucretia, bearing grievously what had happened, mounted her carriage with all possible speed and went to Rome, clad in black garments and concealing a dagger under her robe, neither addressing anyone of those who greeted her when she met them, nor answering those who wished to learn what she had suffered, but pensive and downcast, and having her eyes full of tears.
§4.66.2ὡς δʼ εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν εἰσῆλθε τοῦ πατρός· ἔτυχον δὲ συγγενεῖς ὄντες τινὲς παρʼ αὐτῷ· τῶν γονάτων αὐτοῦ λαβομένη καὶ περιπεσοῦσα τέως μὲν ἔκλαιε φωνὴν οὐδεμίαν προϊεμένη, ἔπειτʼ ἀνιστάντος αὐτὴν τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τί πέπονθεν ἀξιοῦντος λέγειν· ἱκέτις ἔφη γίνομαί σου πάτερ δεινὴν καὶ ἀνήκεστον ὑπομείνασα ὕβριν, τιμωρῆσαί μοι καὶ μὴ περιιδεῖν τὴν σεαυτοῦ §4.66.3θυγατέρα θανάτου χείρονα παθοῦσαν. θαυμάσαντος δʼ αὐτοῦ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων καὶ τίς ὕβρικεν αὐτὴν καὶ ποδαπὴν ὕβριν ἀξιοῦντος λέγειν·
And when she entered the house of her father—it happened that some of her relatives were with him—she clasped his knees and, falling upon him, wept for a time without emitting a single word; then, when her father raised her up and demanded that she tell what she had suffered, she said, "I become a suppliant to you, father, having suffered a terrible and irreparable outrage, that you avenge me and do not look on while your own daughter has suffered worse than death." And when he and all the others were astonished and demanded that she tell who had outraged her and what kind of outrage it was, she said, "You shall hear of my misfortunes, father, before long.
ἀκούσῃ τὰς ἐμάς, ἔφη, συμφοράς, ὦ πάτερ, οὐκ εἰς μακράν· χάρισαι δέ μοι ταύτην πρῶτον αἰτουμένῃ τὴν χάριν· κάλεσον ὅσους δύνασαι πλείστους φίλους τε καὶ συγγενεῖς, ἵνα παρʼ ἐμοῦ τῆς τὰ δεινὰ παθούσης ἀκούσωσι καὶ μὴ παρʼ ἑτέρων.
But grant me this favor first, since I ask it: call as many of your friends and relatives as you can, so that they may hear from me, who have suffered these terrible things, and not from others.
ὅταν δὲ μάθῃς τὰς κατασχούσας αἰσχρὰς καὶ δεινὰς ἀνάγκας, βούλευσαι μετʼ αὐτῶν, ὅντινα τιμωρήσεις ἐμοί τε καὶ σεαυτῷ τρόπον καὶ μὴ πολὺν ποίει χρόνον τὸν διὰ μέσου.
And when you learn the shameful and terrible constraints that have possessed me, consult with them in what manner you will avenge both me and yourself, and do not make the intervening time long."

Notes

  1. 4.66.1ὡς εἶχε τάχους — An idiomatic expression combining the conjunction ὡς with the intransitive use of ἔχω (here imperfect εἶχε) and the partitive genitive τάχους ('speed'), meaning 'with all possible speed' or 'as fast as she could'.
  2. 4.66.2τιμωρῆσαί μοι — When the verb τιμωρέω (here aorist active imperative second person singular) takes the dative (μοι), it means 'to help' or 'to avenge (someone)'. This is distinct from its usage with the accusative, which means 'to punish (someone)'.
  3. 4.66.3θαυμάσαντος δʼ αὐτοῦ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων — A genitive absolute construction where the participles θαυμάσαντος (and later ἀξιούντος) have αὐτοῦ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων as their logical subject, expressing the time or attendant circumstance ('when he and all the others were astonished...') distinct from the subject of the main clause.

Cite this passage

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities §4.66.1-4.66.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0081.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.66.1-4.66.3

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