Humanitext Reader

Seneca the Younger · Phaedra §1102-1198

Phaedra's Confession of Falsehood and Suicide

Passage 13 of 14 · Latin

Summary

Theseus laments over the brutally mangled remains of Hippolytus, when Phaedra appears, confesses that her accusation was a complete fabrication, and kills herself with a sword.

§1102dominumque rumpunt, inde semanimem secant §1103virgulta, acutis asperi vepres rubis §1104omnisque truncus corporis partem tulit.
and they break their master, then the half-lifeless body the brushwood cuts, and the rough briars with sharp brambles, and every tree-trunk carried away a part of his body.
§1105errant per agros funebris famuli manus, §1106per illa qua distinctus Hippolytus loca §1107longum cruenta tramitem signat nota, §1108maestaeque domini membra vestigant canes.
The funeral band of servants wanders through the fields, through those places where the torn Hippolytus marks a long path with a bloody sign, and the sad dogs trace their master's limbs.
§1109necdum dolentum sedulus potuit labor §1110explere corpus, hocine est formae decus?
Nor yet could the diligent labor of the grieving ones complete his body. Is this the glory of his beauty?
§1111qui modo paterni clarus imperii comes §1112et certus heres siderum fulsit modo, §1113passim ad supremos ille colligitur rogos §1114et funeri confertur.
He who but now as the bright companion of his father's empire and certain heir of the stars shone but now, is collected from all sides for his final funeral pyre and brought together for his burial.
§1114bO nimium potens, §1115quanto parentes sanguinis vinclo tenes. §1116natura, quam te colimus inviti quoque: §1117occidere volui noxium, amissum fleo.
O too powerful, with how strong a bond of blood do you hold parents, Nature; how we worship you even against our will: I wished to kill him when guilty, now lost I weep for him.
§1118Gaudere non est ipse quod voluit potens.
It is not possible for him who had the power to do what he wished to rejoice.
§1119Equidem malorum maximum hunc cumulum reor, §1120si abominaiida casus optanda efficit.
Indeed, I think this is the greatest heap of evils, if fate makes formerly desirable things abominable.
§1121Et si odia servas, cur madent fletu genae?
And if you still keep your hatred, why are your cheeks wet with weeping?
§1122Quod interemi non, quod amisi fleo.
I weep not because I killed him, but because I lost him.
§1123Quanti casus humana rotant!
How great the chances that rotate human affairs!
§1124minor in parvis Fortuna furit §1125leviusque ferit leviora deus; §1126servat placidos obscura quies §1127praebetque senes casa securos.
Fortune rages less against small things, and God strikes more lightly the lighter things; obscure quiet keeps people peaceful, and a cottage provides secure old men.
§1128Admota aetheriis culmina sedibus §1129Euros excipiunt, excipiunt Notos, §1130insani Boreae minas §1131imbriferumque Corum.
Peaks moved close to heavenly seats receive the East winds, receive the South winds, the threats of mad Boreas and the rainy Corus.
§1132Raros patitur fulminis ictus §1133umida vallis: §1134tremuit telo Iovis altisoni §1135Caucasus ingens Plirygiurnque nemus §1136matris Cybeles: metuens caelo §1137Iuppiter alto vicina petit; §1138non capit umquam magnos motus §1139humilis tecti plebeia domus.
Seldom does the wet valley suffer the blows of lightning; huge Caucasus trembled with the weapon of high-thundering Jove and the Phrygian grove of mother Cybele; fearing high heaven, Jupiter seeks neighboring places; the plebeian house of a humble roof never receives great disturbances.
§1141Volat ambiguis mobilis alis §1142hora, nec ulli praestat velox §1143Fortuna fidem,
The volatile hour flies on ambiguous wings, nor does swift Fortune maintain her loyalty to anyone.
§1144hic qui clari sidera mundi §1145nitidumque diem morte relicta. §1146luget maestos tristis reditus §1147ipsoque magis flebile Averno §1148sedis patriae videt hospitium.
This man, leaving the stars of the bright world and the shining day by death, laments his sad returns with sorrow, and sees the hospitality of his father's house more mournful than Avernus itself.
§1149Pallas Actaeae veneranda genti, §1150quod tuus caelum superosque Theseus §1151spectat et fugit Stygias paludes, §1152casta nil debes patruo rapaci: §1153constat inferno numerus tyranno.
Pallas, to be revered by the Actaean nation, because your Theseus beholds the sky and the gods above and escapes the Stygian marshes, chaste one, you owe nothing to your greedy uncle: the number remains constant for the infernal tyrant.
§1154Quae vox ab altis flebilis tectis sonat §1155strictoque vaecors Phaedra quid ferro parat?
What mournful voice sounds from the high roofs, and what does frantic Phaedra prepare with drawn sword?
§1156Quis te dolore percitam instigat furor?
What madness urges you on, stirred by grief?
§1157quid ensis iste quidve vociferatio §1158planctusque supra corpus invisum volunt?
What does that sword mean, or what do the crying out and the breast-striking lamentation over the hated body want?
§1159Me, me, profundi saeve dominator freti, §1160invade et in me monstra caerulei maris §1161emitte, quicquid intimo Tethys sinu §1162extrema gestat, quicquid Oceanus vagis §1163complexus undis ultimo fluctu tegit,
Me, me, fierce ruler of the deep sea, attack, and against me the monsters of the dark blue sea send forth, whatever Tethys in her deepest bosom carries at the ends of the earth, whatever Ocean, embracing with wandering waves, covers with his furthest billow.
§1164o dure Theseu semper, o numquam ad tuos §1165tuto reverse: gnatus et genitor nece §1166reditus tuos luere; pervertis domum §1167amore semper coniugum aut odio nocens.
O always harsh Theseus, o you who never returned safely to your own; son and father by their death have paid for your return; you ruin your house, always guilty by your love for your wives or by your hatred.
§1168Hippolyte, tales intuor vultus tuos §1169talesque feci? membra quis saevus Sinis §1170aut quis Procrustes sparsit aut quis Cresius, §1171Daedalea vasto claustra mugitu replens, §1172taurus biformis ore cornigero ferox §1173divulsit? heu me.
Hippolytus, do I look upon such features of yours, and did I make them such? What cruel Sinis or what Procrustes scattered your limbs, or what Cretan bull, filling the Daedalean enclosures with vast bellowing, ferocious with horned face and double form, tore you apart?
quo tuus fugit decor §1174oculique nostrum sidus? exanimis iaces?
Ah me, whither has your beauty fled, and your eyes, our star? Do you lie lifeless?
§1175ades parumper verbaque exaudi mea— §1176nil turpe loquimur: hac manu poenas tibi §1177solvam et nefando pectori ferrum inseram §1178animaque Phaedram pariter ac scelere exuam, §1179et te per undas perque Tartareos lacus. §1180per Styga, per amnes igneos amens sequar.
Attend for a little while and hear my words— I speak nothing shameful: with this hand I will pay penalty to you and insert the sword into my impious breast, and free Phaedra from life and crime alike, and you through the waves and through the Tartarean lakes, through the Styx, through the fiery rivers frantic I will follow.
§1181placemus umbras: capitis exuvias cape §1182laceraeque frontis accipe abscisam comam.
Let us appease the shades: take the spoils of my head and receive the torn hair cut from my forehead.
§1183non licuit animos iungere, at certe licet §1184iunxisse fata.
It was not allowed to join our minds, but surely it is allowed to have joined our fates.
morere, si casta es, viro; §1185si incesta, amori, coniugis thalamos petam
Die, if you are chaste, for your husband; if unchaste, for your love. Shall I seek the marriage bed of my husband, defiled by so great a crime?
§1186tanto impiatos facinore? hoc derat nefas, §1187ut vindicato sancta fruereris toro.
This wickedness alone was lacking, that you, a pure woman, should enjoy a vindicated bed.
§1188o mors amoris una sedamen mali, §1189o mors ^pudoris maximum laesi decus, §1190confugimus ad te: pande placatos sinus.
O death, the sole healer of an evil love, O death, the greatest honor of injured modesty, we flee to you: open your peaceful bosom.
§1191Audite, Athenae, tuque, funesta pater §1192peior noverca: falsa memoravi et nefas, §1193quod ipsa demens pectore insano hauseram, §1194mentita finxi.
Hear, Athens, and you, father more deadly than a stepmother: I have spoken false things, and the crime which I myself, mad, had conceived in my insane breast, lying I invented.
vana punisti pater, §1195iuvenisque castus crimine incesto iacet, §1196pudicus, insons— recipe iam mores tuos.
You punished vain things, father, and the chaste youth lies dead by the charge of incest, pure, guiltless—receive now his true character.
§1197mucrone pectus impium iusto patet §1198cruorque sancto solvit inferias viro.
My impious breast lies open to the just blade, and my blood pays the funeral offering to the sacred man.

Notes

  1. §1102dominumque rumpunt — A highly styled zeugma where the main verb rumpunt takes both the abstract noun moram (delay) and the concrete noun dominum (master, i.e., Hippolytus) as objects. With the former, it means 'to break the delay' (to run without staying), and with the latter, 'to tear apart their master' (or the reins binding him).
  2. §1112siderum — The genitive siderum (of the stars) modifies the preceding heres (heir). 'Heir of the stars' is a metaphorical expression implying the celestial and noble lineage of Theseus' house. The second modo is an adverb meaning 'just now', corresponding to the qui modo of the previous line.
  3. §1118Gaudere non est — The phrase non est is an impersonal construction meaning 'it is not possible' or 'it is not allowed' (equivalent to non licet). potens (the one having power) functions as the substantive subject related to the relative clause quod voluit (what he wished).
  4. §1136metuens caelo alto vicina petit — The participle metuens (fearing, guarding against) takes caelo alto (high heaven) as its complement, while vicina (neighboring places near heaven) is the object of petit (seeks, strikes). This describes the natural phenomenon where Jove's thunderbolts strike higher places adjacent to the sky.
  5. §1144hic qui clari — Here hic (this man) refers to Theseus, who has returned from the underworld. The relative clause containing morte relicta (having left death behind) in lines 1144-1145 leads to the main verbs luget (laments) in line 1146 and videt (sees) in line 1148, presenting a slightly disrupted but decipherable syntax centered on Theseus as the subject.
  6. §1153constat inferno numerus tyranno — Here constat means 'remains constant' or 'is unchanged'. It expresses a grim irony: although Theseus escaped the underworld (reducing the count of the dead), Hippolytus has died and descended in his place, so the total tally of souls (numerus) remains constant for the infernal tyrant (Hades).
  7. §1183ut vindicato sancta fruereris toro — The ut-clause functions as an appositive or consecutive clause explaining the preceding hoc derat nefas (this wickedness alone was lacking). It represents Phaedra's self-mocking realization that her own suicide (nefas) was the final act needed to prove Hippolytus' innocence so that he, as a pure soul (sancta), might enjoy a vindicated marriage bed.

Cite this passage

Seneca the Younger, Phaedra §1102-1198. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi1017.phi005.humanitext-lat2:1102-1198

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

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