750-759

Theseus describes the punishment of the famous criminals of the Underworld, including Ixion, Sisyphus, Tantalus, Tityos, the Danaides, the daughters of Cadmus (see below), and Phineus.

See the introductory essay for the relationship between this passage and Virgil’s similar description of Underworld punishment at Aeneid 6.565–627. Note the careful arrangement of adjectives, nouns, and verbs in lines 750–52 and 759.

750 Rapitur: “is moved quickly” (LS rapio I.B), i.e. “spins.” volucrī: adjective in the ablative, “swift.” The word is used below as a noun (756). tortus: “whirled around” (LS torqueo I.B.1), but also “tortured” (ibid. II.B). rotā: ablative of means (AG 408).

751 Sīsyphiā: adjective in place of a genitive noun, as at line 72.

752 senex: Tantalus

754 fidem … dedit: “has promised.” cum: the conjunction is postponed to second position, as often in poetry. saepe: modifies dēceptō, which is dative, referring to Tantalus.

756 volucrī: noun in the dative, “to a bird” (traditionally two vultures devoured his liver). The word is adjectival above (750).

758 Cadmēidēs: three of the daughters of Cadmus, Autonoe, Agave, and Ino, either killed their own family members or attempted to. Their crime, though not their punishment, foreshadows Hercules’.