AM. Quis nōmen usquam sceleris errōrī addidit?
HER. Saepe error ingēns sceleris obtinuit locum.
AM. Nunc Hercule opus est: perfer hanc mōlem malī.
HER. Nōn sīc furōre cessit extīnctus pudor,1240
populōs ut omnēs impiō aspectū fugem.
arma, arma, Thēseu, flāgitō properē mihi
subtracta reddī. sāna sī mēns est mihi,
referte manibus tēla; sī remanet furor,
pater, recēde: mortis inveniam viam.1245
Notes
Amphitryon tries to persuade Hercules not to kill himself. He argues that what Hercules did was a mistake, not a crime. Hercules again demands his weapons.
1237–38 Amphitryon argues that a mistake should not be called a crime; Hercules replies that a large enough mistake often “has reached the standing” of a crime.
1239 Hercule opus est: i.e., Hercules must now show his usual resilience in the face of misfortune. For opus est + ablative = “there is need of,” see AG 411.
1240 furōre: ablative of means (AG 408), depending on extinctus: “My sense of shame is not so far lost or erased by madness” (Fitch 2018).
1240–41 ut … fugem: substantive clause of result (AG 568), “that I would scare off,” i.e. offend.
1242–43 Prose order: flāgitō, Thēseu, arma, arma subtracta mihi properē reddī. The action that Hercules demands is expressed by an acc. + inf., arma … reddī (see LS flagito I.ε). mihi does double duty as dative of separation (AG 381) after subtracta and indirect object after reddī.
1243–45 Hercules offers two possibilities. If he is sane, it is safe to return his weapons. If he is still mad, his father should leave (to avoid being killed like the rest of the family) and Hercules will use his weapons to kill himself.
Vocabulary
usquam: anywhere
obtineō obtinēre obtinuī obtentus: to possess, obtain, attain
Herculēs –is m.: Hercules
perferō perferre pertulī perlātus: to endure
mōlēs mōlis f.: large/shapeless mass; rock
impius –a –um: disloyal, wicked
aspectus aspectūs m.: sight
Thēseus –ī m.: Theseus
flāgitō flāgitāre flāgitāvī flāgitātum: to demand
properus –a –um: quick
subtrahō –ere –trāxī –trāctus: to draw from beneath; withdraw
remaneō remanēre remānsī remānsus: to stay behind; remain