§833staretque recta squalor incultus coma.
and if his unkempt hair were not standing straight up.
§834en ipse Theseus redditus terris adest.
Behold, Theseus himself, returned to earth, is present.
§835Tandem profugi noctis aeternae plagam §836vastoque manes carcere umbrantem polum, §837et vix cupitum sufferunt oculi diem.
At last I have escaped the region of eternal night and the sky that overshadows the spirits in their vast prison, and my eyes can scarcely endure the longed-for light of day.
§838iam quarta Eleusin dona Triptolemi secat §839paremque totiens libra composuit diem, §840ambiguus ut me sortis ignotae labor §841detinuit inter mortis et vitae mala.
Already the fourth time Eleusis reaps the gifts of Triptolemus, and as many times the Libra has made the day equal to the night, since an uncertain toil of unknown destiny detained me between the evils of death and life.
Only one part of life remained to me when I was dead: the awareness of evils.
finis Alcides fuit, §844qui cum revulsum Tartaro abstraheret canem, §845me quoque supernas pariter ad sedes tulit.
Alcides was my end, who, when he dragged the torn dog away from Tartarus, also carried me along with him to the upper regions.
§846sed fessa virtus robore antiquo caret §847trepidantque gressus, heu, labor quantus fuit §848Phlegethonte ab imo petere longinquum aethera §849pariterque mortem fugere et Alciden sequi.
But my exhausted strength lacks its old vigor, and my steps tremble; alas, how great a toil it was to seek the distant upper air from lowest Phlegethon, and at once to flee death and follow Alcides.
§850Quis fremitus aures flebilis pepulit meas?
What sorrowful clamor has struck my ears?
Let someone speak: is there mourning, tears, grief, and sad lamentation on the very threshold?
§853auspicia digna prorsus inferno hospite.
An omen indeed worthy of a guest from the underworld.
Phaedra holds to her obstinate plan of death and scorns our tears, she is on the brink of dying.
§856Quae causa leti? reduce cur moritur viro?
What is the cause of death? Why does she die when her husband is returned?
§857Haec ipsa letum causa maturum attulit.
This very return has brought her early death.
§858Perplexa magnum verba nescio quid tegunt.
Perplexed words conceal I know not what great secret.
§859effare aperte quis gravet mentem dolor.
Speak openly: what grief oppresses your mind?
She reveals it to none; in sorrow she conceals her secret and has resolved to carry with her the evil for which she dies.
§862iam perge, quaeso, perge: properato est opus.
Go now, I pray, go: there is need of haste.
§863Reserate clausos regii postes laris.
Unbar the closed gates of the royal house.
O partner of my bed, is it thus you receive the return of your husband and look upon the face of your long-sought spouse?
§866quin ense viduas dexteram atque animum mihi §867restituis et te quicquid e vita fugat §868expromis?
Why do you not rid your right hand of the sword, restore my spirit and reveal whatever drives you from life?
§868bEheu, per tui sceptrum imperi, §869magnanime Theseu, perque natorum indolem §870tuosque reditus perque iam cineres meos, §871permitte mortem,
Alas, by the scepter of your empire, magnanimous Theseus, and by the nature of our children, by your return, and by my ashes now, allow me death.
§871bCausa quae cogit mori?
What cause forces you to die?
§872Si causa leti dicitur, fructus perit.
If the cause of death is told, its fruit is lost.
§873Nemo istud alius, me quidem excepto, audiet.
No one else, myself indeed excluded, shall hear it.
§874Aures pudica coniugis solas timet.
The chaste wife fears only the ears of her husband.
§875Effare: fido pectore arcana occulam.
Speak: I shall hide your secrets in a faithful breast.
§876Alium silere quod voles, primus sile.
What you wish another to keep silent, be the first to keep silent.
§877Leti facultas nulla continget tibi.
No opportunity for death shall be granted to you.
§878Mori volenti desse mors numquam potest.
Death can never be lacking to one who wishes to die.
§879Quod sit luendum morte delictum indica.
Declare what crime must be expiated by death.
§880Quod vivo.
That I live.
§880bLacrimae nonne te nostrae movent?
Do our tears not move you?
§881Mors optima est perire lacrimandum suis.
It is the best death to die lamented by one's own.
She persists in silence; there is need of whip and chains; and the nurse will betray whatever she refuses to speak.
Bind her in iron, let the force of blows extract the secrets of her mind.
§885bIpsa iam fabor.
I myself will speak now.
mane.
Wait.
Why do you turn away your sad face and cover your tears, which have suddenly welled up on your cheeks, with your garment?
§888Te, te, creator caelitum, testem invoco §889et te, coruscum lucis aetheriae iubar, §890t ex cuius ortu nostra dependet domus: §891temptata precibus restiti; ferro ac minis §892non cessit animus: vim tamen corpus tulit.
You, you, creator of the heavenly ones, I call to witness, and you, glittering beam of ethereal light, from whose rising our house depends: though tempted by prayers, I resisted; my mind did not yield to sword or threats: yet my body suffered violence.
§893labem hanc pudoris eluet noster cruor.
Our blood will wash away this stain of honor.
§894Quis, ede, nostri decoris eversor fuit?
Who, speak, was the destroyer of our honor?
§895Quem rere minime,
The one you would least think.
§895bQuis sit audire expeto.
Who is it? I demand to hear.
This sword will tell, which the violator, terrified by the uproar and fearing the gathering of the citizens, left behind.
§898Quod facinus, heu me, cerno? quod monstrum intuor?
What crime, alas, do I see? What monster do I look upon?
The royal ivory of my father, carved with symbols, gleams on the hilt, the glory of the Actaean nation.
§901sed ipse quonam evasit?
But where has he himself escaped?
These servants saw him trembling in flight, driven with swift foot.
§903Pro sancta Pietas, pro gubernator poli §904et qui secundum fluctibus regnum moves, §905unde ista venit generis infandi lues?
O holy Piety, o ruler of the heavens, and you who move the second kingdom with your waves, whence came this plague of an unspeakable race?
§906hunc Graia tellus aluit an Taurus Scythes §907Colchusque Phasis? redit ad auctores genus §908stirpemque primam degener sanguis refert.
Did the Greek land nourish him, or the Scythian Taurus and the Colchian Phasis? The breed returns to its authors and the degenerate blood recalls its first stock.
§909est prorsus iste gentis armiferae furor, §910odisse Veneris foedera et castum diu §911vulgare populis corpus, o tetrum genus §912nullaque victum lege melioris soli!
This is truly the madness of that warlike race, to hate the laws of Venus and, having long kept the body chaste, to prostitute it to the public, o loathsome race, vanquished by no law of a better land!
Even the wild beasts themselves avoid the crime of Venus, and an unconscious shame preserves the laws of the species.
§915ubi vultus ille et ficta maiestas viri §916atque habitus horrens, prisca et antiqua appetens,' §917morumque senium triste et affectus graves?
Where is that countenance and the feigned majesty of the man, and the rough habit, seeking the ancient and primitive ways, and that grim austerity of morals and heavy passions?