AM.        Per sāncta generis sacra, per iūs nōminis

utrumque nostrī, sīve mē altōrem vocās

seu tū parentem, perque venerandōs piīs

cānōs, senectae parce dēsertae, precor,

annīsque fessīs; ūnicum lāpsae domūs1250

firmāmen, ūnum lūmen afflīctō malīs

tēmet reservā. nūllus ex tē contigit

frūctus labōrum; semper aut dubium mare

aut mōnstra timuī; quisquis in tōtō furit

rēx saevus orbe, manibus aut ārīs nocēns,1255

ā mē timētur; semper absentis pater

frūctum tuī tāctumque et aspectum petō.

 

HER.     Cūr animam in istā lūce dētineam amplius

mōrerque nihil est; cūncta iam āmīsī bona,

mentem arma fāmam coniugem nātōs manūs,1260

etiam furōrem. nēmō pollūtō queat

animō medērī; morte sānandum est scelus.

 

AM.       Perimēs parentem.

 

HER.                                      Facere nē possim, occidam.

 

AM.       Genitōre cōram?

 

HER.                                    Cernere hunc docuī nefās.

 

AM.       Memoranda potius omnibus facta intuēns1265

ūnīus ā tē crīminis veniam pete.

 

HER.     Veniam dabit sibi ipse, quī nūllī dedit?

laudanda fēcī iussus; hoc ūnum meum est.

succurre, genitor, sīve tē pietās movet

seu trīste fātum sīve violātum decus1270

virtūtis. effer arma; vincātur meā

Fortūna dextrā.

    Amphitryon pleads for Hercules to remain alive to protect and console him. Hercules insists that he has no reason to live. Amphitryon objects that he will die if Hercules does.

    1246 sancta generis sacra: neuter substantive, literally “a family’s blessed holy things.” Fitch (1987) aptly translates “bonds.”

    1246–47 iūs nōminis / utrumque nostrī: “either right attaching to our name,” i.e., your obligation to me either as birth parent or foster parent. Utrumque is transferred from nōminis to iūs by hypallage.

    1248 venerandōs piīs: gerundive with dative of agent (AG 405).

    1249 canōs: supply capillōs: the white hair of old age should be respected.

    1249–50 senectae … / annīsque: dative objects of parce.

    1250–52 Prose order: reservā tēmet, ūnicum firmāmen lāpsae domūs, ūnum lūmen (mihi) afflīctō malīs. afflictō malīs: “to [me, a man] afflicted (dative) by evils (ablative).”

    1252 contigit: perfect > contingō -ere; supply mihi, “has come to me” (LS contingo II.B.3.b). The subject is fructus, “benefit” (1253).

    1254 quisquis: modifying rēx saevus.

    1255 manibus … arīs: ablative of means with nocēns: Amphitryon is perhaps thinking of Busiris, who sacrificed guests at the altar.

    1256–57 As suggested by the perfect tense of timuī (1254), the present tense verbs timētur and petō are used vividly to describe past events: “I was afraid … I was always seeking.” absentis … tuī: “of you when you were away,” genitive with the three objects of petō

    1258-59: Prose word order for this indirect question (AG 574) would be nihil est cur detineam… mōrerque.

    1260-61: these lines specify the bona that Hercules has lost.

    1261 etiam furōrem: after Hercules killed his family, his madness became a benefit because it prevented him from realizing his crime. Now he has lost even that small comfort. queat: potential subjunctive (AG 445).

    1261–62 pollūtō … animō: dative object of medēri (AG 367).

    1262 sānandum est: passive periphrastic (AG 500.2).

    1263 nē possim: negative purpose clause (AG 563). Hercules is worried that he if he remains alive, he would go mad and kill Amphitryon.

    1265 omnibus: dative depending memoranda, “so impressive to all” (Fitch 2018).

    1266: Prose order: pete ā tē veniam ūnīus crīminis. Seneca’s order foregrounds the emphatic word unius, “(just) one.”

    1267 Hercules speaks about himself in the third person, probably not as a sign of pomposity (although Hercules is always quite aware of his own greatness). Rather, he is looking at his personal history from the outside: can a person who has never spared anyone spare himself?

    1268 iussus: “because I was commanded,” i.e., not of my own free will. See 596n. There is a bitter contrast between iussus and meum: all of Hercules’ great Labors were done at the command of another, and the only deed that he can claim as truly his own is the murder of his family.

    1271 vincātur: hortatory subjunctive (AG 439).

    1271–72 vincātur ... dextrā: Stoic philosophers believed that suicide was a way to achieve ultimate victory over the fickle rule of Fortune in life (this romanticizing of suicide is one of many dangerously misguided “lessons” that the ancient world offers modern readers).

    sacrum sacrī n.: a holy thing; sacrifice; a sacred thing, temple

    altor altōris m.: nourisher, foster father

    veneror venerārī venerātus sum: to venerate

    cānus –a –um: white

    senecta –ae f.: old age

    dēsertus –a –um: desolate; abandoned

    ūnicus –a –um: unique

    firmāmen, -inis n.: a prop; a support

    adflīctus –a –um: dejected, afflicted

    reservō reservāre reservāvī reservātus: to reserve, preserve

    mōnstrum mōnstrī n.: monster; omen

    furō furere: to rage, be mad

    tāctus –ūs m.: touching; touch

    aspectus aspectūs m.: sight

    dētineō –ēre –uī –tentus: to hold from or back; hold

    coniūnx coniugis f.: spouse, wife

    polluō –ere –uī –ūtus: to soil, defile

    queō quīre quīvī/quiī quitus: to be able

    medeor medērī: to heal (+ dat.)

    sānō sānāre sānāvī sānātus: to heal

    perimō –ere –ēmī –ēmptus: to annihilate; prevent; kill

    genitor genitōris m.: father

    corām: personally; openly, publicly; in front of (+ abl.)

    memorandus –a –um: worthy of mention; famed

    intueor intuērī intuitus sum: to look at

    succurrō –currere –currī –cursūrum: to run under; come to mind; assist, be useful

    genitor genitōris m.: father

    violō violāre violāvī violātus: to violate

    efferō efferre extulī ēlātus: to carry out, bring out

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