1219-1236

Amphitryon observes that Hercules has now turned his anger against himself. Hercules resolves to hide himself deep in the Underworld after first destroying his weapons, which he blames for the murders he has committed.

1219 tumultū ... attonitō: ablative of separation after carēns (AG 401).

1220 quodque … furor: “and (a thing which madness has proper to itself),” i.e. this is how we would expect an insane person to behave. The clause looks forward to in sē ipse saevit.

1222–23 sontī … turbae: “to the guilty mob,” dative depending on decrēta, “alotted, assigned, determined by law (to belong to),” > decerno -ere.

1224 Erebō: ablative of comparison (AG 406) depending on ulterius.

1225 Tellūs: Hercules addresses a personified Earth.

1226 mānsūrus ībō: future active participle indicating purpose (AG 499.2): “I will go [intending] to remain,” unlike his last trip to the Underworld. pectus: i.e., his own heart.

1227–28 quis … poterit: potential subjunctive (AG 445), “who could?” The implied answer is “no one.” 

1228 malīs: ablative of cause with dūrus. Hercules has been hardened by his long suffering.

1229–30 hūc … hūc ... hūc: i.e., to Hercules.

1231 tibi: Hercules’ son. Note the intensely emotional anaphora: tibi … tibi … tuīs … tuōs (he probably turns from one son to another with each repetition).

1232–33 tuīs … umbrīs: dative, “for your dead spirit.”

1233–34 Lernaeīs … telīs: ablative depending on the adjective frequēns. For Lerna, see 1195n.

1235 dent: hortatory subjunctive (AG 439).

1235–36 meīs … tēlīs: dative with the adjective īnfaustās (AG 384). Hercules says his hands were “unlucky to my weapons,” i.e. they caused his weapons to murder his family. novercālēs manūs: his hands are “stepmotherly” because they have done the terrible work of Juno.