Humanitext Reader

Seneca the Younger · Phaedra §1199-1280

Theseus's Grief and the Gathering of Hippolytus's Body

Passage 14 of 14 · Latin

Summary

Phaedra takes her own life after urging Theseus to follow her to the underworld. Devastated by guilt, Theseus longs for eternal punishment, painstakingly reassembles Hippolytus's scattered remains, and orders a royal funeral while condemning Phaedra's body to the heavy earth.

§1199Quid facere rapto debeas gnato parens. §1200disce a noverca: condere Acherontis plagis.
What you ought to do, father, for your snatched-away son, learn from your stepmother: hide yourself in the regions of Acheron.
§1201Pallidi fauces Averni vosque, Taenarei specus, §1202unda miseris grata Lethes vosque, torpentes lacus, §1203impium rapite atque mersum premite perpetuis malis,
Jaws of pale Avernus, and you, Taenarian caves, wave of Lethe welcome to the wretched, and you, sluggish lakes, snatch away the impious one and press him down, submerged in eternal evils.
§1204nunc adeste, saeva ponti monstra, nunc vastum mare, §1205ultimo quodcumque Proteus aequorum abscondit sinu, §1206meque ovantem scelere tanto rapite in altos gurgites,
Now be present, fierce monsters of the deep, now vast sea, whatever Proteus hides in the furthest bosom of the waters, and snatch me, triumphing in so great a crime, into the deep abysses.
§1207tuque semper, genitor, irae facilis assensor meae, §1208morte facili dignus haud sum qui nova natum nece §1209segregem sparsi per agros quique, dum falsum nefas §1210exsequor vindex severus, incidi in verum scelus.
And you always, my father, easy assentor to my wrath, I am not worthy of an easy death, I who scattered my son by a novel death in pieces through the fields, and who, while I pursued false wickedness as a severe avenger, fell into a true crime.
§1211sidera et manes et undas scelere complevi meo: §1212amplius sors nulla restat; regna me norunt tria.
I have filled the stars, the shades, and the waves with my crime: no further lot remains; three kingdoms know me.
§1213In hoc redimus? patuit ad caelum via,
Did we return for this?
§1214bina ut viderem funera et geminam necem, §1215caelebs et orbus funebres una face §1216ut concremarem prolis ac thalami rogos?
Was the way to the heaven opened, that I might see two funerals and a double death, so that, unmarried and childless, I might burn the funeral pyres of my offspring and my marriage bed with a single torch?
§1217donator atrae lucis, Alcide, tuum §1218Diti remitte munus; ereptos mihi
Giver of the dark light, Alcides, send back your gift to Dis; restore to me the snatched-away shades.
§1219restitue manes, impius frustra invoco §1220mortem relictam— crudus et leti artifex, §1221exitia machinatus insolita effera, §1222nunc tibimet ipse iusta supplicia irroga.
Impious, in vain I invoke the death I left behind—cruel and maker of death, having devised unusual and wild destructions, now impose just punishments upon yourself.
§1223pinus coacto vertice attingens humum §1224caelo remissum findat in geminas trabes, §1225mittarve praeceps saxa per Scironia?
Let the pine-tree, touching the ground with its forced top, split me into twin trunks when released to the sky, or shall I be cast headlong through the Scironian rocks?
§1226graviora vidi, quae pati clausos iubet §1227Phlegethon nocentes igneo cingens vado: §1228quae poena memet maneat et sedes, scio.
I have seen worse things, which Phlegethon, girding the guilty with its fiery stream, orders those enclosed to suffer: what punishment and what seat awaits me, I know.
§1229umbrae nocentes, cedite et cervicibus §1230bis, his repositum degravet fessas manus §1231saxum, seni perennis Aeolio labor-, §1232me ludat amnis ora vicina alluens; §1233vultur relicto transvolet Tityo ferus §1234meumque poenae semper accrescat iecur; §1235et tu mei requiesce Perithoi pater: §1236haec incitatis membra turbinibus ferat §1237numquam resistens orbe revoluto rota.
Guilty shades, give way, and on my neck let the rock, placed here, here, weigh down my tired hands— the everlasting labor of the old Aeolian— let the river wash the neighboring lips and mock me; let the fierce vulture fly hither, leaving Tityus, and let my liver always grow for the punishment; and you, father of my Pirithous, rest: let the wheel, never stopping, with its revolving orb, carry these limbs in swift whirlwinds.
§1238dehisce tellus, recipe me dirum chaos, §1239recipe, haec ad umbras iustior nobis via est: §1240gnatum sequor— ne metue qui manes regis: §1241casti venimus; recipe me aeterna domo
Gape open, earth; receive me, dreadful chaos, receive me, this way to the shades is more just for us: I follow my son—fear not, you who rule the dead: we come chaste; receive me in your eternal home, never to exit.
§1242non exiturum, non movent divos preces; §1243at si rogarem scelera, quam proni forent.
Prayers do not move the gods; but if I were asking for crimes, how prone they would be!
§1244Theseu, querelis tempus aeternum manet: §1245nunc iusta nato solve et absconde ocius §1246dispersa foede membra laniatu effero.
Theseus, eternal time remains for complaints: now pay the funeral rites to your son, and quickly hide the limbs foully scattered by wild tearing.
§1247Huc, huc reliquias vehite cari corporis §1248pondusque et artus temere congestos date.
Hither, hither bring the remains of the dear body, and give the weight and the limbs gathered at random.
§1249Hippolytus hic est? crimen agnosco meum:
Is this Hippolytus?
§1250ego te peremi; neu nocens tantum semel §1251solusve fierem, facinus ausurus parens §1252patrem advocavi.
I recognize my crime: I killed you; and lest I should become guilty only once or alone, as a father about to dare a crime, I called upon my father.
munere en patrio fruor, §1253o triste fractis orbitas annis malum!
Behold, I enjoy my father's gift, o sad evil of childlessness in broken years!
§1254complectere artus, quodque de nato est super, §1255miserande, maesto pectore incumbens fove.
Embrace the limbs, and what is left of your son, wretched one, cherish, leaning upon him with mournful breast.
§1256Disiecta genitor membra laceri corporis §1257in ordinem dispone et errantes loco §1258restitue partes: fortis hic dextrae locus, §1259hic laeva frenis docta moderandis manus §1260ponenda: laevi lateris agnosco notas.
Father, arrange in order the scattered limbs of the torn body, and restore the wandering parts to their place: here is the place for the strong right hand, here the left hand, skilled in controlling the reins, must be placed: I recognize the marks of the left side.
§1261quam magna lacrimis pars adhuc nostris abest!
How great a part is still missing for our tears!
§1262Durate trepidae lugubri officio manus, §1263fletusque largos sistite, arentes genae, §1264dum membra nato genitor adnumerat suo
Endure, trembling hands, in this mournful duty, and stop your abundant weeping, dry cheeks, while the father counts the limbs to his son and shapes the body.
§1265corpusque fingit, hoc quid est forma carens §1266et turpe, multo vulnere abruptum undique?
What is this, lacking shape and hideous, torn on all sides by many wounds?
§1267quae pars tui sit dubito; sed pars est tui: §1268hic, hic repone, non suo, at vacuo loco.
What part of you it is, I doubt; but it is a part of you: here, here put it back, not in its own, but in an empty place.
§1269haecne illa facies igne sidereo nitens, §1270inimica flectens lumina? huc cecidit decor?
Is this that face, shining with starry fire, turning hostile eyes? Has beauty fallen hither?
§1271o dira fata, numinum o saevus favor!
O dreadful fates, o cruel favor of the gods!
§1272sic ad parentem natus ex voto redit?
Is it thus that the son returns to his parent according to the vow?
§1273en haec suprema dona genitoris cape, §1274saepe efferendus; interim haec ignes ferant.
Behold, take these last gifts of your father, you who must be carried out many times; meanwhile, let the fires bear these.
§1275Patefacite acerbam caede funesta domum: §1276Mopsopia claris tota lamentis sonet, §1277vos apparate regii flammam rogi; §1278at vos per agros corporis partes vagas §1279inquirite.
Open the house, bitter with deadly slaughter: let all Mopsopia sound with loud lamentations, prepare the flame of the royal pyre; and you, search through the fields for the wandering parts of the body.
istam terra defossam premat, §1280gravisque tellus impio capiti incubet.
Let the dug-up earth press down that woman, and let heavy earth lie upon her impious head.

Notes

  1. §1199Quid facere rapto debeas gnato parens — The perfect passive participle rapto (from rapio), meaning 'snatched away' or 'dead', modifies the dative gnato. The subjunctive debeas is used in an indirect question. The phrase expresses 'what you, as a parent, ought to do for your snatched-away son.'
  2. §1200condere — The second-person singular passive imperative of condo ('to hide, bury'). Here it functions as a reflexive command, 'hide yourself' or 'go bury yourself', acting as Phaedra's final urge to Theseus to commit suicide.
  3. §1206ovantem — The accusative singular present participle of ovo ('to triumph, rejoice'), modifying me. Theseus paradoxically describes himself as 'triumphing' or 'rejoicing' in his massive crime, highlighting his deep self-loathing.
  4. §1217donator atrae lucis — The phrase atrae lucis ('dark light') refers to the light of the upper world as viewed from the underworld, or the miserable life to which Theseus was returned. Hercules (Alcides), who brought Theseus back from Hades, is thus called the 'giver of dark light.'
  5. §1230bis, his — Some editions read his, his as a reduplicated demonstrative. The translation treats it as 'here, here,' indicating the location where Theseus desires Sisyphus's rock to be placed upon his own hands.
  6. §1250neu nocens tantum semel / solusve fierem — The subjunctive fierem with neu introduces a negative purpose or result clause: 'lest I should become guilty only once, or alone.' This reflects Theseus's bitter realization that by summoning Neptune's curse, he made his father an accomplice to his crime.
  7. §1256genitor — Either nominative or vocative. It marks the beginning of Theseus's tragic speech as he addresses or commands himself as 'father' to arrange the scattered, mangled limbs of his son back into their proper places.
  8. §1274saepe efferendus — The gerundive of effero, which means 'to carry out (a corpse for burial).' Since Hippolytus's body is shattered into numerous fragments, it refers with tragic irony to the physical reality that he must be 'carried out many times' for his funeral.

Cite this passage

Seneca the Younger, Phaedra §1199-1280. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi1017.phi005.humanitext-lat2:1199-1280

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

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.