_Nero:_ If she be criminal. 865
_Prefect:_ But what her crime?
_Nero:_ The people's rage.
_Prefect:_ But who can check their rage?
_Nero:_ The one who fanned its flame.
_Prefect:_ But who that one?
_Nero:_ A woman she, to whom an evil heart
Hath nature given, a soul to fraud inclined.
_Prefect:_ But not the power to act. 870
_Nero:_ That she may be
Without the power to act, that present fear
May break her strength, let punishment at once,
Too long delayed, crush out her guilty life.
Have done at once with arguments and prayers,
And do my royal bidding: let her sail
To some far distant shore and there be slain, 875
That thus at last my fears may be at rest.
[_Exeunt._]
_Chorus_ [_attached to_ Octavia]: Oh, dire and deadly has the people's
love
To many proved, which fills their swelling sails
With favoring breeze, and bears them out to sea;
But soon its vigor languishes and dies, 880
And leaves them to the mercy of the deep.
The wretched mother of the Gracchi wept
Her murdered sons, who, though of noble blood,
Far famed for eloquence and piety, 885
Stout-hearted, learnéd in defense of law,
Were brought to ruin by the people's love
And popular renown. And Livius, thee
To equal fate did fickle fortune give,
Who found no safety in thy lictors' rods,
No refuge in thy home. But grief forbids
To tell more instances. This hapless girl, 890
To whom but now the citizens decreed
The restoration of her fatherland,
Her home, her brother's couch, is dragged away
In tears and misery to punishment,
With citizens consenting to her death! 895
Oh, blesséd poverty, content to hide
Beneath the refuge of a lowly roof!
For lofty homes, to fame and fortune known,
By storms are blasted and by fate o'erthrown!
[_Enter_ Octavia _in the custody of the palace guards, who are dragging
her roughly out into the street_.]
_Octavia:_ Oh, whither do ye hurry me? What fate
Has that vile tyrant or his queen ordained? 900
Does she, subdued and softened by my woes,
Grant me to live in exile? Or, if not,
If she intends to crown my sufferings
With death, why does her savage heart begrudge
That I should die at home? But now, alas, 905
I can no longer hope for life; behold,
My brother's bark, within whose treacherous hold
His mother once was borne; and now for me,
Poor wretch, his slighted sister-wife, it waits. 910
No more has right a place upon the earth,
Nor heavenly gods. Grim Fury reigns supreme.
Oh, who can fitly weep my evil plight?
What nightingale has tongue to sing my woes? 915
Would that the fates would grant her wings to me!
Then would I speed away on pinions swift,
And leave my grievous troubles far behind,
Leave these unholy haunts of savage men. 920
There, all alone, within some forest wide,
Among the swaying branches would I sit,
And let my grieving spirit weep its fill.
_Chorus:_ The race of men is by the fates controlled,
And none may hope to make his own secure; 925
And o'er the ever-shifting ways of life
The day which most we fear shall come to us.
But comfort now thy heart with thought of those
Of thine own house who suffered ill, and ask: 930
In what has fortune been more harsh to thee?
Thee first I name, Agrippa's noble child,
The famous mother of so many sons,
Great Caesar's wife, whose name throughout the world 935
In flaming glory shone, whose teeming womb
Brought forth so many hostages of peace:
E'en thee did exile wait, and cruel chains,
Blows, bitter anguish, and at last a death 940
Of lingering agony. And Livia, thou,
Though fortunate in husband and in sons,
Didst walk the way of sin--and punishment.
And Julia, too, endured her mother's fate;
For, though no evil deed was charged to her, 945
She fell a victim to the sword at last.
What could not once thy mighty mother do
Who ruled supreme the house of Claudius,
By him beloved, and in her son secure?
Yet she at last was subject to a slave, 950
And fell beneath a brutal soldier's sword.
For what exalted heights of royalty
Might not our Nero's mother once have hoped?
Mishandled first by vulgar sailors' hands, 955
Then slain and mangled by the bungling sword,
She lay the victim of her cruel son.
_Octavia:_ Me, too, the tyrant to the world of shades
Is sending. Why delay? Then speed my death, 960
For fate hath made me subject to your power.
I pray the heavenly gods--what wouldst thou, fool?
Pray not to gods who show their scorn of thee.
But, O ye gods of hell, ye furies dire, 965
Who work your vengeance on the crimes of men,
And thou, my father's restless spirit, come
And bring this tyrant fitting punishment.
[_To her guards._]
The death you threaten has no terrors now
For me. Go, set your ship in readiness, 970
Unfurl your sails, and let your pilot seek
The barren shores of Pandataria.
[_Exit_ Octavia _with guards_.]
_Chorus:_ Ye gentle breezes and ye zephyrs mild,
Which once from savage Dian's altar bore 975
Atrides' daughter in a cloud concealed,
This child of ours, Octavia too, we pray,
Bear far away from these too cruel woes,
And set her in the fane of Trivia.
For Aulis is more merciful than Rome,
The savage Taurian land more mild than this: 980
There hapless strangers to their gods they feed,
But Rome delights to see her children bleed.
FOOTNOTES:
[58] Reading, _quam temperet non ira_, etc.
COMPARATIVE ANALYSES
COMPARATIVE ANALYSES OF SENECA'S TRAGEDIES AND THE CORRESPONDING GREEK
DRAMAS
The _Phoenissae_, if, indeed, these fragments are to be considered as
belonging to one play, has no direct correspondent in Greek drama;
although, in the general situations and in some details, it is similar
to parts of three plays: _The Seven Against Thebes_ of Aeschylus, the
_Oedipus at Colonus_ of Sophocles, and the _Phoenician Damsels_ of
Euripides. The _Thyestes_ is without a parallel in extant Greek drama;
and the _Octavia_, of course, stands alone.
The other seven tragedies attributed by tradition to Seneca, together
with their Greek correspondents, are here presented in comparative
analyses in order that the reader may be enabled easily to compare, at
least so far as subject-matter and dramatic structure are concerned,
the Roman tragedies and their Greek originals.
Although the traditional division into acts is followed in the English
version of the several plays, it seems wise in these comparisons to
give the more minute division into prologue, episodes, and choral
interludes.
THE _OEDIPUS_ OF SOPHOCLES, AND THE _OEDIPUS_ OF SENECA
_Prologue._--Dialogue between Oedipus and the priest of Zeus, who
discloses the present plague-smitten condition of the people, and prays
the king for aid since he is so wise. The fatherly regard of Oedipus
for his people, in that he has already sent a messenger to ask the aid
of the oracle, is portrayed.
The answer of the oracle: first reference to an unexpiated sin. Short
question and answer between Oedipus and Creon, the messenger, bringing
out the facts of Laïus' death.
The irony of fate: Oedipus proposes, partly in his own interest, to
seek out the murderer. As yet there is no foreshadowing of evil in the
king's mind. At the end of the prologue Oedipus remains alone upon the
stage.
_Prologue._--In the early morning Oedipus is seen lamenting the
plague-smitten condition of his people. He narrates how he had fled
from Corinth to avoid the fulfilment of a dreadful oracle, that he
should kill his father and wed his mother. Even here he cannot feel
safe, but still fears some dreadful fate that seems threatening. He
describes with minute detail the terrors of the pestilence which
has smitten man and beast and even the vegetable world. He prays
for death that he may not survive his stricken people. Jocasta
remonstrates with him for his despair and reminds him that it is a
king's duty to bear reverses with cheerfulness.
_Parode, or chorus entry._--The chorus enlarges upon the distresses of
the city, and appeals to the gods for aid.
_Parode, or chorus entry._--The chorus appeals to Bacchus, relating
how the descendants of his old Theban comrades are perishing. It
enlarges upon the distresses of the city, and deplores the violence
of the plague. The sufferings of the people are described in minute
detail.
_First episode._--The curse of Oedipus upon the unknown murderer is
pronounced, and the charge is made by Tiresias (who long refuses to
speak but is forced to do so by Oedipus), "Thou art the man." Oedipus'
explanation of Tiresias' charge; it is a plot between the latter and
Creon. The facts of Oedipus' birth are hinted at. Tiresias prophesies
the after-life of the king, with the name but thinly veiled.
_First episode._--Creon, returned from the consultation of the
oracle at Delphi, announces that the plague is caused by the
unatoned murder of Laïus, former king of Thebes. Oedipus anxiously
inquires who the murderer is, but is told that this is still a
mystery. Creon describes the scene at Delphi in the giving of the
oracle. Oedipus declares himself eager to hunt out the murderer and
inquires why the matter has been left so long uninvestigated. He is
told that the terrors of the Sphinx had driven all other thoughts
out of the people's mind.
The irony of fate: Oedipus pronounces a dreadful curse upon the
murderer of Laïus and vows not to rest until he finds him. He
inquires where the murder took place and how. At this moment the
blind old Tiresias enters, led by his daughter, Manto. Tiresias
tries by the arts of divination (which are described with the
greatest elaboration) to ascertain the name of the murderer, but
without avail; and says that recourse must be had to necromancy, or
the raising of the dead.
_First choral interlude._--The chorus reflects upon the oracle and the
certain discovery of the guilty one. Ideal picture of the flight of the
murderer. While troubled by the charge of Tiresias, the chorus still
refuses to give it credence. After all, the seer is only a man and
liable to be mistaken. Oedipus has shown himself a wiser man by solving
the riddle of the Sphinx.
_First choral interlude._--The chorus sings a dithyrambic strain in
praise of the wonderful works of Bacchus. No reference is made to
the tragedy which is in progress.
_Second episode._--Quarrel of Oedipus and Creon based upon the charges
of the former. Oedipus' argument: The deed was done long ago, and
Tiresias, though then also a seer, made no charge. Now, when forced
by the recent oracle, the seer comes forward with Creon. This looks
like a conspiracy. Creon pleads for a fair and complete investigation.
Jocasta tries to reconcile the two, but in vain, and Creon is driven
out. Jocasta relates the circumstances of Laïus' death, which tally in
all details but one with the death of one slain by Oedipus. A terrible
conclusion begins to dawn upon the king. He tells his queen the story
of his life and the dreadful oracle, the fear of the fulfilment of
which drove him from Corinth. At the end of this episode the death
of Laïus at the hands of Oedipus is all but proved, but the relation
between the two is not yet hinted at.
_Second episode._--Creon returns from the rites of necromancy in
which he had accompanied Tiresias, and strives to avoid telling
the result of the investigation to the king. Being at last forced
to reveal all that he knows, he describes with great vividness of
detail how Tiresias has summoned up the spirits of the dead, and
among them Laïus. The latter declares that Oedipus himself is the
murderer, having slain his father and married his mother. Oedipus,
strong in the belief that Polybus and Merope of Corinth are his
parents, denies the charge, and after a hot dispute orders Creon to
be cast into prison, on suspicion of a conspiracy with Tiresias to
deprive Oedipus of the scepter.
_Second choral interlude._--Prayer for a life in accordance with the
will of heaven. Under the shadow of impending ill, the chorus seeks the
aid of God, meditates upon the doom of the unrighteous, and considers
the seeming fallibility of the oracle.
_Second choral interlude._--The chorus refuses to believe the
charge against Oedipus, but lays the blame of all these ills upon
the evil fate of Thebes which has pursued the Thebans from the
first.
_Third episode._--A messenger from Corinth brings the news of Polybus'
death, the supposed father of Oedipus. The irony of fate: the king is
lifted up with joy that now the oracle cannot be fulfilled that he
should kill his own father. Step by step the details of the king's
infancy come out, which reveal the awful truth to Jocasta. To Oedipus
the only result of the present revelation is that he is probably
base-born. Jocasta tries to deter Oedipus from further investigation.
_Third episode._--Oedipus, remembering that he had slain a man
on his way to Thebes, questions Jocasta more closely as to the
circumstances of Laïus' death, and finding these circumstances to
tally with his own experience, is convinced that he was indeed the
slayer of Laïus.
At this point a messenger from Corinth, an old man, announces to
Oedipus the death of Polybus, the king of Corinth, and the supposed
father of Oedipus. The latter is summoned to the empty throne of
Corinth. A quick succession of questions and answers brings to
light the fact that Oedipus is not the child of Polybus and Merope,
but that the messenger himself had given him when an infant to the
Corinthian pair. This announcement removes the chief support of
Oedipus against the charges of Tiresias, and now he rushes blindly
on to know the rest of the fatal truth. The shepherd is summoned
who had given the baby to the old Corinthian. He strives to avoid
answering, but, driven on by the threats of Oedipus, he at last
states that he had received the child from the royal household of
Thebes, and that it was in fact the son of Jocasta. At this last
and awful disclosure, Oedipus goes off the stage in a fit of raving
madness.
_Strophe and antistrophe._--A partial interlude, while they wait for
the shepherd who is to furnish the last link in the chain of evidence.
The chorus conjectures as to the wonderful birth of Oedipus; possibly
his father is Pan, or Apollo, or Mercury, or Bacchus.
The shepherd, arriving, also seeks to keep the dreadful truth from the
king, but a second time the passion of Oedipus forces the truth from
an unwilling witness. At last the whole story comes out, and Oedipus
realizes that he has slain his father and wed his mother.
_Third choral interlude._--The utter nothingness of human life, judged
by the fate of Oedipus, who above all men was successful, wise, and
good. It is inscrutable; why should such a fate come to him? The chorus
laments the doom of the king as its own.
_Third choral interlude._--The chorus reflects upon the dangerous
position of the man who is unduly exalted, and illustrates this
principle by the case of Icarus.
_Exode._--The catastrophe in its final manifestations. A messenger
describes the lamentations and suicide of Jocasta, the despair of
Oedipus, and the wild mood in which he inflicts blindness upon himself.
He comes upon the stage piteously wailing and groping his way. He prays
for death or banishment at the hands of Creon, who is now king. He
takes a tender farewell of his daughters and consigns them to Creon's
care.
The play ends with the solemn warning of the chorus "to reckon no man
happy till ye witness the closing day; until he pass the border which
severs life from death, unscathed by sorrow."
_Exode._--Although there is a short chorus interjected here (lines
980-97) on the inevitableness of fate, all the remainder of the
play is really the exode, showing the catastrophe in its final
manifestation. A messenger describes with horrible minuteness how
Oedipus in his ravings has dug out his eyes. At this point Oedipus
himself comes upon the stage, rejoicing in his blindness, since
now he can never look upon his shame. And now Jocasta appears,
having heard strange rumors. On learning the whole truth, she slays
herself on the stage with Oedipus' sword. The play ends as the
blind old king goes groping his way out into darkness and exile.
THE _MEDEA_ OF EURIPIDES, AND THE _MEDEA_ OF SENECA
_Prologue._--The old nurse of Medea, alone upon the stage, laments that
the Argo was ever framed and that Medea had ever fled from Colchis.
Then had she never been here in Corinth an exile and now deserted even
by her husband, Jason. In describing Medea's distracted condition,
the nurse first voices the fear of that violence which forms the
catastrophe of the play. Enter an old attendant with the two sons of
Medea, who announces a new woe--that Creon, the king, has decreed the
banishment of Medea and her children. The nurse repeats her warning
note, and urges the attendant to keep the children out of the sight of
their mother, who even now can be heard raving within, and vowing the
destruction of her children and her husband. The attendant retires with
the children.
_Prologue._--Medea, finding herself deserted by Jason, calls upon
gods and furies to grant her vengeance. She prays for destruction
to light upon her rival, and imprecates curses upon Jason. She
thinks it monstrous that the sun can still hold on his way, and
prays for power to subvert the whole course of nature. She finally
realizes that she is impotent save as she has recourse to her old
sorceries which she has long since laid aside, and resolves upon
them as a means of revenge.
_Parode, or chorus entry._--The chorus of Corinthian women comes to
the front of the palace to inquire the cause of Medea's cries, which
they have heard, and to profess their attachment to her. From time to
time Medea's voice can be heard from within as she prays for death and
imprecates curses upon Jason. The nurse at the suggestion of the chorus
undertakes to induce her mistress to come forth, that converse with her
friends may soothe her grief. The nurse goes within, leaving the chorus
alone upon the stage.
_Parode, or chorus entry._--A chorus of Corinthians chants an
epithalamium for the nuptials of Jason and Creüsa. First, in
Asclepiadean strains, they invoke the gods to be present and bless
the nuptials. The strain then changes to quick, joyful Glyconics
in praise of the surpassing beauty of the married pair. Changing
back to Asclepiads, the chorus continues in extravagant praise of
Jason and his bride, congratulates him on his exchange from Medea
to Creüsa, and finally, in six lines of hexameter, exults in the
license of the hour.
_First episode._--Medea comes forth from the palace to explain to the
chorus her position and unhappy condition. She deplores the lot of
women in general, and especially in relation to marriage, and enlists
the sympathy of the chorus in her attempt to secure some revenge for
her wrongs. They confess the justice of her cause and promise to keep
her secret.
Creon announces to Medea that she must leave his realm at once, for
much he fears that she will take her revenge upon him and upon his
house. She pleads for grace, and bewails her reputation for magic
power; she assures the king that he has nothing to fear from her, and
affects compliance with all that has taken place. Creon, while still
protesting that she cannot be trusted, yields in so far that he grants
her a single day's delay.
Medea tells the chorus that her recent compliance was only feigned, and
openly announces her intention before the day is done of slaying Creon,
his daughter, and Jason. She debates the various methods by which this
may be accomplished, and decides, for her own greater safety, upon the
help of magic.
_First episode._--Hearing the epithalamium, Medea goes into a
passion of rage. She recounts all that she has done for Jason, and
exclaims against his ingratitude. Again, with shifting feelings she
pleads Jason's cause to herself and strives to excuse him, blaming
all upon Creon. Upon him she vows the direst vengeance. Meanwhile
the nurse in vain urges prudence.
Creon now enters, manifesting in his words a fear of Medea, and
bent upon her immediate banishment. Medea pleads her innocence,
and begs to know the reason for her exile. She reviews at length
her former regal estate and contrasts with this her present
forlorn condition. She claims the credit for the preservation of
all the Argonautic heroes. Upon this ground she claims that Jason
is hers. She begs of Creon some small corner in his kingdom for
her dwelling, but the king remains obdurate. She then prays for a
single day's delay in which to say farewell to her children, who
are to remain, the wards of the king. This prayer Creon reluctantly
grants.
_First choral interlude._--The course of nature is subverted. No longer
let woman alone have the reputation for falsehood; man's insincerity
equals hers. In poetry the fickleness of both should be sung, just as
in history it is seen. Though Medea, for her love of Jason, left her
native land and braved all the terrors of the deep, she is now left all
forsaken and alone. Verily truth and honor have departed from the earth.
_First choral interlude._--Apropos of Medea's reference to the
Argonautic heroes the chorus sings of the dangers which those first
voyagers upon the sea endured; how the natural bounds which the
gods set to separate the lands have now been removed--and all this
for gold and this barbarian woman. (The chorus is nowhere friendly
to Medea, as in Euripides.) The ode ends with a prophecy of the
time when all the earth shall be revealed, and there shall be no
"Ultima Thule."
_Second episode._--Jason reproaches Medea for her intemperate speech
against the king, which has resulted in her banishment, and shows
her that he is still concerned for her interests. She retorts with
reproaches because of his ingratitude, and proceeds to recount all that
she had done for him and given up in his behalf. Jason replies that it
was not through her help but that of Venus that he had escaped all the
perils of the past, and reminds her of the advantages which she herself
had gained by leaving her barbarous land for Greece. He even holds that
his marriage into the royal family of Corinth is in her interest and
that of her children, since by this means their common fortunes will be
mended. He offers her from his new resources assistance for her exile,
which she indignantly refuses, and Jason retires from her bitter taunts.
_Second episode._--Medea is rushing out to seek vengeance, while
the nurse tries in vain to restrain her. The nurse soliloquizes,
describing the wild frenzy of her mistress, and expressing grave
fears for the result. Medea, not noticing the nurse's presence,
reflects upon the day that has been granted her by Creon, and
vows that her terrible vengeance shall be commensurate with her
sufferings. She rushes off the stage, while the nurse calls after
her a last warning.
Jason now enters, lamenting the difficult position in which he
finds himself. He asserts that it is for his children's sake that
he has done all, and hopes to be able to persuade Medea herself
to take this view. Medea comes back, and at sight of Jason her
fury is still further inflamed. She announces her intended flight.
But whither shall she flee? For his sake she has closed all lands
against herself. In bitter sarcasm she accepts all these sufferings
as her just punishment. Then in a flash of fury she recalls all her
services to him and contrasts his ingratitude. She shifts suddenly
to passionate entreaty, and prays him to pity her, to give back all
that she gave up for him, if she must needs flee; she begs him to
brave the wrath of Creon and flee with her, and promises him her
protection as of old. In a long series of quick, short passages
they shift from phase to phase of feeling, and finally Medea prays
that in her flight she may have her children as her comrades.
Jason's refusal shows how deeply he loves his sons, and here is
suggested to Medea for the first time the method of her direst
revenge. Jason now yields to her assumed penitence and grants her
the custody of the children for this day alone. When Jason has
withdrawn, she bids the nurse prepare the fatal robe which she
proposes to send to her rival by the hands of her children.
_Second choral interlude._--The chorus prays to be delivered from the
pangs of immoderate love and jealousy, from exile, and the ingratitude
of friends.
_Second choral interlude._--The chorus opens on the text, "Hell
hath no fury like a woman scorned," and continues with a prayer
for Jason's safety. It then recounts the subsequent history of the
individual Argonauts, showing how almost all came to some untimely
end. They might indeed be said to deserve this fate, for they
volunteered to assist in that first impious voyage in quest of the
golden fleece; but Jason should be spared the general doom, for the
task had been imposed upon him by his usurping uncle, Pelias.
_Third, episode._--Aegeus, in Corinth by accident, recognizes Medea,
and learns from her her present grievous condition and imminent exile.
She begs that he receive her into his kingdom as a friend under his
protection. This he promises with a mighty oath to do.
Medea, left alone with the chorus, explains to it still more in detail
her plans. She will send her sons with gifts to the new bride, which,
by their magic power, will destroy her and all who touch her. She
adds that she will also slay her two sons, the more to injure Jason.
The chorus, while protesting against this last proposal, offers no
resistance.
_Third episode._--The nurse in a long monologue recites Medea's
magic wonders of the past, and all her present preparations. Then
Medea's voice is heard, and presently she comes upon the stage
chanting her incantations. She summons up the gods of Tartara to
aid her task; recounts all the wonders which her charms can work;
describes her store of magic fires and other potent objects. Then
breaking into quicker measure, as if filled with a fuller frenzy,
she continues her incantations accompanied by wild cries and
gestures. She finally dispatches her sons to Jason's bride with the
robe she has anointed with her magic drugs and charged with her
curses. She hastens out in the opposite direction.
_Third choral interlude._--The chorus, dwelling upon Medea's proposed
place of refuge, sings the praises of Athens, sacred to the Muses. It
contrasts with this holy city the dreadful deed which Medea intends,
and again vainly strives to dissuade her.
_Third choral interlude._--The chorus notes and describes Medea's
wild bearing, and prays for her speedy departure from their city.
_Fourth episode._--Medea, sending for Jason, with feigned humility
reproaches herself for her former intemperate words to him, and begs
only that he use his influence for the reprieve of their children
from exile. To assist him in this, she proposes to send the children
themselves, bearing a gorgeous robe of golden tissue (which she has
anointed with magic poison) as a wedding present to the bride. Upon
this errand Jason retires attended by his little sons.
_Fourth choral interlude._--The chorus, with full knowledge of the
fatal robe, pictures the delight of the bride at its reception, and
laments her fearful doom.
_Fifth episode._--This episode is in four parts.
The attendant returns with the children and announces to Medea that
her gifts have prevailed for their reprieve. (The attendant retires.)
Medea contrasts the assured career of her children with her own hapless
condition; then remembers her resolve and with softening heart laments
their dreadful fate. She hastily sends them within the palace. Left
alone, she again struggles between her mother-love and her resolve
not to leave her children subject to the scorn of her foes. (She here
leaves the stage to wait for tidings from the royal house.)
Then follows a monologue by the chorus leader discussing the advantages
of childlessness. No reference is made to the passing events.
Medea returns just in time to meet a messenger who breathlessly
announces the death of Creon and his daughter. At the request of Medea
he gives a detailed account of the reception of the magic robe and
crown, the bride's delight, and her sudden and awful death, in which
her father also was involved. He urges Medea to fly at once. She
announces her intention to do so as soon as she has slain her children;
and then rushes into the house.
_Fifth choral interlude._--This consists of a single strophe and
antistrophe in which the chorus calls upon the gods to restrain Medea's
mad act. Then are heard within the house the shrieks first of the
two children, then of one, then silence, the chorus meanwhile wildly
shouting to Medea to desist from her deadly work.
_The exode._--Jason appears in search of Medea that he may avenge on
her the death of the royal pair; but most he fears for his children.
The chorus informs him that they are already slain within the palace by
their mother's hand. He prepares to force an entrance into the house.
But now Medea appears in a chariot drawn by dragons. She defies Jason's
power to harm her. Jason replies by reproaching her with all the
murderous deeds of her life, which have culminated in this crowning
deed of blood. She in turn reproaches him and his ingratitude as
the cause of all. A storm of mutual imprecations follows, and Medea
disappears with the bodies of her two sons, denying to Jason even the
comfort of weeping over their remains.
_The exode._--A messenger comes running in from the direction
of the palace, and announces that the king and his daughter are
dead. The eager questions of the chorus bring out the strange
circumstances attending this catastrophe. Medea enters in time to
hear that her magic has been successful, and ignoring the nurse's
entreaties to flee at once, she becomes absorbed in her own
reflections. And now in her words may be seen the inward struggle
between maternal love and jealous hate as she nerves herself for
the final act of vengeance. The purpose to kill her children grows
upon her, resist it as she may, until in an ecstasy of madness,
urged on by a vision of her murdered brother, she slays her first
son; and then, bearing the corpse of one and leading the other
by the hand, she mounts to the turret of her house. Here with a
refinement of cruelty she slays the second son in Jason's sight,
disregarding his abject prayers for the boy's life. Now a chariot
drawn by dragons appears in the air. This Medea mounts and is borne
away, while Jason shouts his impotent curses after her.
THE _HERCULES FURENS_ OF EURIPIDES, AND THE _HERCULES FURENS_ OF SENECA
_Prologue._--The old Amphitryon, before the altar of Jupiter, at the
entrance of the house of Hercules in Thebes, relates how Hercules
has gone to the lower world to bring thence to the realms of day the
triple-headed Cerberus. Meanwhile, Lycus, taking advantage of the
hero's absence, has slain king Creon and usurped his throne. The
father, wife, and children of Hercules he has reduced to poverty, and
holds them in durance here in Thebes, threatening to slay the sons,
Lest, when the boys attain maturer age,
They should avenge their grandsire, Creon's, death.
Amphitryon condoles with Megara, and counsels with her how they may
escape the dangers of their present lot.
_Prologue._--Juno complains that she is fairly driven out of
heaven by her numerous rivals, mortal women who have been deified
and set in the sky, either they or their offspring, by Jupiter.
Especially is her wrath hot against Hercules, against whom she has
waged fruitless war from his infancy until now. But he thrives on
hardship, and scorns her opposition. She passes in review the hard
tasks which she has set him, and all of which he has triumphantly
performed. Already is he claiming a place in heaven. He can be
conquered only by his own hand. Yes, this shall be turned against
him, for a fury shall be summoned up from hell who shall fill his
heart with madness; and in this madness shall he do deeds which
shall make him long for death.
_Parode, or chorus entry._--The chorus of Theban elders, feeble,
tottering old men, enters and bemoans the wretched fate that has
befallen their city and the household of their prince.
_Parode, or chorus entry._--A vivid picture of the dawning day,
when the stars and waning moon fade out before the rising sun; when
Toil wakes up and resumes its daily cares; when through the fields
the animals and birds are all astir with glad, new life.
But in the cities men awaken to repeat the sordid round of toil,
the greedy quest for gold and power. But, whether happily or
unhappily, all are speeding down to the world of shades. Even
before his time has Hercules gone down to Pluto's realm, and has
not yet returned.
_First episode_.--Now enters Lycus, the usurper. He insolently taunts
his victims on their helplessness, tells them that Hercules will never
return, belittles and scorns the hero's mighty deeds, and announces his
intention of killing the sons.
Amphitryon answers the slanders of Lycus against Hercules, and protests
against the proposed barbarous treatment of the children, who are
innocent of any harm. He reproaches Thebes and all the land of Greece,
because they have so ill repaid the services of their deliverer in not
coming to the rescue of his wife and children. Lycus gives orders to
burn the hated race of Hercules, even where they kneel for refuge at
the altar-side; and threatens the elders who would thwart his will,
bidding them remember that they are but as slaves in his sight. Yet the
old men valiantly defy him, and warn him that they will withstand his
attacks upon the children.
But Megara shows them how foolish it is to contend against the king's
unbounded power. Let them rather entreat his mercy. Could not exile be
substituted for death? But no, for this is worse than death. Rather,
let them all die together. Perhaps Lycus will allow her to go into
the palace and deck her children in funeral garments? This prayer is
granted, though Lycus warns them that they are to die at once. Left
alone, Amphitryon chides Jupiter because he does not care for the
children of his son:
Thou know'st not how
To save thy friends. Thou surely art a god,
Either devoid of wisdom, or unjust.
_First episode._--Megara enters and bewails the fresh woes that
are ever ready to meet her husband's home-coming. She recounts the
incidents of his long and difficult career, his heroic suffering at
Juno's bidding.
And now base Lycus has taken advantage of her husband's absence in
the lower world to kill her father, Creon, king of Thebes, and all
his sons, and to usurp the throne--
And Lycus rules the Thebes of Hercules!
She prays her husband soon to come and right these wrongs, though
in her heart she fears that he will never come again.
Old Amphitryon tries to reassure her by recalling the superhuman
valor and strength of Hercules, but without success.
Now Lycus appears, boasting of the power which he has gained, not
by long descent from a noble line, but by his own valor. But his
house cannot stand by valor alone. He must strengthen his power by
union with some princely house--he will marry Megara! Should she
refuse, he will give to utter ruin all the house of Hercules.
Meeting her at the moment, he attempts with specious arguments
to persuade her to his plan. But Megara repulses his monstrous
proposition with indignant scorn. Lycus attempts to defend his
slaughter of her father and brother as done through the exigency of
war, and pleads with her to put away her wrath; but all in vain,
and in the end he bids his attendants heap high a funeral pyre on
which to burn the woman and all her brood.
When Lycus has retired, Amphitryon in his extremity prays to heaven
for aid; but suddenly checks himself with incredulous joy, for he
hears approaching the well-known step of Hercules!
_First choral interlude._--The chorus sings in praise of the mighty
works of Hercules, describing these in picturesque detail, from the
destruction of the Nemean lion to his last adventure which has taken
him to the world of shades, whence, alas, he will never more return.
And meanwhile, lacking his protection, his friends and family are
plunged in hopeless misery.
_First choral interlude._--Verily fortune is unjust, for while
Eurystheus sits at ease, the nobler Hercules must suffer unending
hardships. His labors are briefly recapitulated. Now has he gone to
hell to bring back Cerberus. Oh, that he may conquer death as all
things else, and come back again, as did Orpheus by the charm of
his lyre.
_Second episode._--Forth from the palace, all dressed in the garb of
death, come Megara and her children. She is ready for the doom which
has been pronounced upon them. She sadly recalls the fond hopes that
she and her husband had cherished for these sons. But these bright
prospects have vanished now, for death is waiting to claim them all,
herself as well. She will fold them in a last motherly embrace, and
pour out her grief:
How, like the bee with variegated wings,
Shall I collect the sorrows of you all,
And blend the whole together in a flood
Of tears exhaustless!
But perhaps even yet her absent lord has power to intervene in her
behalf, though he be but a ghost. She prays despairingly that he will
come to aid. Amphitryon would try the favor of Jove once more in this
extremity:
I call on thee, O Jove, that, if thou mean
To be a friend to these deserted children,
Thou interpose without delay and save them;
For soon 'twill be no longer in thy power.
But at this juncture, when no help seems possible from heaven or hell,
to their amazed joy, Hercules himself appears, and in the flesh. He
perceives the mourning garments of his family, and the grief-stricken
faces of the chorus, and quickly learns the cause of all this woe. He
at once plans vengeance upon the wretch who has wrought it all. He has,
himself, forewarned by a "bird of evil omen perched aloft," entered
Thebes in secret; and now he will hide within his own palace and wait
until Lycus comes to fetch the victims whom he has doomed to death. But
first he briefly replies to Amphitryon's questions as to the success of
his errand to the lower world.
_Second episode._--Hercules enters, fresh from the lower world,
rejoicing that he again beholds the light of day, and exulting
in the accomplishment of his latest and most difficult task;
when suddenly he notices soldiers on guard, and his wife and
children dressed in mourning garments. He asks what these things
mean. Amphitryon answers briefly that Lycus has killed Creon and
his sons, usurped the throne, and now has doomed Megara and her
children to death.
Hercules leaves his home at once to find, and take vengeance on,
his enemy, though Theseus, whom he has rescued from the world of
shades, begs for the privilege himself of slaying Lycus. Left with
Amphitryon, in reply to the latter's questions, Theseus gives in
great detail an account of the lower world, its way of approach,
its topography, and the various creatures who dwell within its
bounds. After describing in particular the operations of justice
and the punishment of the condemned, he tells how Hercules overcame
Cerberus and brought him to the upper world.
_Second choral interlude._--The old men sing in envy of youth and
complaint of old age:
But now a burden on my head
Heavier than Aetna's rock, old age, I bear.
They hold that had the gods been wiser they would have given renewed
youth as a reward to the virtuous, leaving the degenerate to fall
asleep and wake no more. And yet, though oppressed by age, they still
may "breathe the strain Mnemosyne inspires," and sing unceasingly the
deeds of Hercules:
Alcides, the resistless son of Jove;
Those trophies which to noble birth belong
By him are all surpassed; his forceful hand,
Restoring peace, hath cleansed this monster-teeming land.
_Second choral interlude._--The chorus, with Theseus' words in
mind, dwell in fancy still upon the lower world. They follow
Hercules along "that dark way, which to the distant manes leads,"
and picture the thronging shades, the "repulsive glooms," and the
"weary inactivity of that still, empty universe." They pray that it
may be long ere they must go to that dread world, to which all the
wandering tribes of earth must surely come. But away with gloomy
thoughts! Now is the time for joy, for Hercules is come again. Let
animals and men make holiday, and fitly celebrate their prince's
world-wide victories, and their own deliverance from their recent
woes.
_Third episode._--Lycus enters and encounters Amphitryon without the
palace. Him he bids to go within and bring out the victims to their
death. To this Amphitryon objects on the ground that it would make him
an accomplice in their murder. Whereupon Lycus enters the palace to do
his own errand. The old man, looking after him, exclaims:
Depart; for to that place the fates ordain
You now are on the road;
while the chorus rejoices that now the oppressor is so soon to meet his
just punishment. Now the despairing cries of Lycus are heard within and
then--silence.
_Third episode._--Hercules returns to his house, fresh from the
slaying of Lycus, and proceeds to offer sacrifices of thanksgiving
to Jupiter. But in the midst of the sacrifice the madness planned
by Juno begins to come upon him. His sight is darkened, and his
reason changed to delirium. Now he catches sight of his children,
cowering in fright; he thinks they are the children of Lycus,
immediately lets fly an arrow at one of them, and seizes a second,
whom he drags from the scene. Amphitryon, standing where he can see
all that takes place, describes the wretched death of the second,
and then the third, though Megara tries to save her last remaining
child. She also falls before the blow of her husband, who thinks
in his madness that she is his cruel stepmother, Juno. Hercules,
re-entering, exults in his supposed victory over his enemies, and
then sinks down in a deep faint.
_Third choral interlude._--All is now joy and exultation. Fear has
departed, hope has come back again, and faith in the protecting care of
the gods is restored. Therefore, let all Thebes give herself up to the
rapture and triumph of this hour.
But now two specters are seen hovering over the palace, one of whom
introduces herself to the chorus as Iris, the ambassadress of Juno, and
announces that her companion is a fiend, daughter of the night. Their
mission hither is, at the command of Juno, to drive Hercules into a
madness in which he shall slay his children. The fiend, indeed, makes
a weak protest against such a mission, but speedily yields and goes
darting into the palace, where we know that she begins at once her
deadly work within the breast of Hercules.
The chorus bemoans the city's short-lived joy, and the new and terrible
disaster that has fallen upon their hero's house. Soon they hear the
mad shouts of Hercules, and know by these that the fiend has already
done her fatal work.
_Third choral interlude._--The chorus calls upon heaven, earth, and
sea to mourn for Hercules in this new disaster that has befallen
him. They pray that he may be restored to sanity. In a long
apostrophe to Sleep they pray that the soothing influences of this
god may hold and subdue him until his former mind returns to its
accustomed course. They watch his feverish tossings, and suffer
with him in the grief which he so soon must realize. They close
with a pathetic lament over the dead children.
_Exode._--A messenger hurries out of the palace, and describes the
dreadful scenes that have just been enacted there. Hercules was
offering sacrifices of purification before Jove's altar, with his three
sons and Megara beside him. All was propitious, when suddenly a madness
seized on Hercules. He ceased his present sacrifice, declaring that
he must first go to Mycenae and kill Eurystheus and his sons, and so
make an end of all his enemies at once. In fancy he mounted a chariot
and speedily arrived at Mycenae. His own sons seemed to his disordered
vision to be Eurystheus' sons; and, rushing savagely upon them, he
soon had slain them all, and Megara herself. Then did he fall into a
deep, swoonlike slumber, prostrate beside a mighty column, to which the
attendants tied him securely with cords, lest he awake and do further
mischief.
The palace doors are now thrown open, and the prostrate, sleeping
Hercules is seen. Amphitryon warns the chorus not to wake him lest they
restore him to his miseries. Soon Hercules awakes, and in his right
mind. He seems to himself to have had a dreadful dream. He looks in
wonder at the cords which bind his arms, at the fresh-slain corpses
lying near, at his own arrows scattered on the floor. He calls aloud
for someone to explain these things to him. Amphitryon advances and
informs him that in his madness, sent by Juno's hate, he has destroyed
his wife and all his sons.
And now Theseus, having heard that Lycus has usurped the throne of
Thebes, and grateful for his own deliverance from the world of shades
by Hercules, has come with an army of Athenian youth to aid his friend.
He is shocked to find the hero sitting in deepest dejection, with head
bowed low, and covered with a mourning-veil. Quickly he inquires and
learns the truth from Amphitryon. With noble and unselfish friendship,
he offers his sympathy and help to Hercules, although the latter warns
him to avoid the contagion which his own guilty presence engenders. He
bids Hercules be a man, and give over his threats of self-destruction.
Hercules gives the reasons why it is impossible for him to live. First,
Juno's inveterate hate, which attacked him in his very cradle, pursues
him still, relentlessly; but, most and worst of all, he has incurred
such odium because of the murder of his wife and children, that he will
be henceforth an outcast on the earth. No land will give him refuge
now. Why should he live? Let him die; and let Juno's cup of happiness
be full.
Theseus reminds him that no man escapes unscathed by fate. Nay, even
the gods themselves have done unlawful things, and yet live on and
do not feel the obloquy their deeds should cause. As for a place of
refuge, Athens shall be his home. There shall he obtain full cleansing
for his crimes, a place of honor, and ample provision for his wants.
All that a generous and grateful friend can give shall be his own.
Hercules accepts this offer of Theseus, reflecting also that he might
be charged with cowardice should he give up to his troubles and seek
refuge in death. He accordingly takes a mournful farewell of his dead
wife and children, commends their bodies to Amphitryon for burial,
which it is not lawful for him to give, and so commits himself to the
hands of his faithful friend:
I will follow Theseus,
Towed like a battered skiff. Whoe'er prefers
Wealth or dominion to a steadfast friend
Judges amiss.
_Exode._--Hercules wakes up in his right mind, bewildered and
uncertain where he is. His eyes fall on the murdered children,
though he does not as yet recognize them as his own. He misses
his familiar club and bow, and wonders who has been bold enough
to remove these and not to fear even a sleeping Hercules. Now he
recognizes in the corpses his own wife and children:
Oh, what sight is this?
My sons lie murdered, weltering in their blood;
My wife is slain. What Lycus rules the land?
Who could have dared to do such things in Thebes,
And Hercules returned?
He notices that Theseus and Amphitryon turn away and will not meet
his gaze. He asks them who has slain his family. At last, partly
through their half-admissions, and partly through his own surmise,
it comes to him that this dreadful deed is his own. His soul reels
with the shock, and he prays wildly for death. No attempts of his
two friends to palliate his deed can soothe his grief and shame.
At last the threat of old Amphitryon instantly to anticipate the
death of Hercules by his own leads the hero to give over his deadly
purpose.
He consents to live--but where? What land will receive a polluted
wretch like him? He appeals to Theseus:
O Theseus, faithful friend, seek out a place,
Far off from here where I may hide myself.
Theseus offers his own Athens as a place of refuge, where his
friend may find at once asylum and cleansing from his sin:
My land awaits thy coming; there will Mars
Wash clean thy hands and give thee back thy arms.
That land, O Hercules, now calls to thee,
Which even gods from sin is wont to free.
THE _HIPPOLYTUS_ OF EURIPIDES, AND THE _HIPPOLYTUS_ OF SENECA
_Prologue._--Venus complains that Hippolytus alone of all men sets her
power at naught and owns allegiance to her rival, Diana. She announces
her plan of revenge: that Phaedra shall become enamored of her stepson,
that Theseus shall be made aware of this and in his rage be led to slay
his son. If Phaedra perish too, it will but add to the triumph of the
goddess' slighted power.
Hippolytus comes in from the chase and renders marked homage to Diana.
He is warned by an aged officer of the palace "to loathe that pride
which studies not to please." Inquiring the meaning of this warning, he
is told to recognize the presence of Venus, too, and to include her in
his devotions; but from this advice he turns away in scorn.
_Prologue._--Hippolytus, in hunting-costume, appears in the court
of the palace, which is filled with huntsmen bearing nets and all
sorts of hunting-weapons, and leading dogs in leash. The young
prince, in a long, rambling speech, assigns places for the hunt,
and their duties to his various servants and companions. He ends
with an elaborate ascription of praise to his patroness Diana, as
goddess of the chase, and with a prayer to her for success in his
own present undertaking. The whole speech is in lyric strain, the
anapestic measure, most commonly employed by Seneca.
_Parode, or chorus entry._--The chorus of Troezenian women deplores the
strange malady that has befallen the young queen. They relate how
This is the third revolving day,
Since, o'erpowered by lingering pains,
She from all nourishment abstains,
Wasting that lovely frame with slow decay.
At the conclusion of the lyric part of the chorus, the queen, closely
veiled, in company with her aged nurse, is seen coming from the palace
gates.
_Parode, or chorus entry._--The technical chorus entry is entirely
lacking in this play. While the chorus may be assumed to have
entered and to have been present during the long interview between
Phaedra and her nurse, which forms the first episode, still its
presence is in no way manifested until the end of this interview.
_First episode._--Full of anxiety, the nurse strives to indulge her
mistress' every whim. Phaedra answers feebly at first, but suddenly,
to the amazement of her companion, her speech is filled with language
of the chase, and she again relapses into her mute lethargy. At last,
under the insistence of the nurse to probe her mystery, Phaedra
confesses that the wretched fate of her house pursues her, too, and
that she now feels the torments of love; and, though she does not speak
his name, the truth at last is clear that Hippolytus is the object of
her passion. The nurse recoils in horror and shame from this confession.
Phaedra describes how she has struggled against her unhappy love, but
in vain, and is now resolved on death in order to save her honor. At
this the nurse throws all her influence in the opposite scale, arguing
that, after all, the sway of Venus is universal, that it is only human
to love, and that this is no reason why one should cast his life away.
She even proposes to acquaint Hippolytus with her mistress' feelings,
and strive to win his love in return. This proposal Phaedra indignantly
rejects. The nurse then offers to fetch from the house certain philters
which will cure the queen of her malady. The queen reluctantly consents
to this, and the nurse retires into the palace.
_First episode._--Phaedra bewails her present lot, in that she has
been forced to leave her native Crete, and live in wedlock with
her father's enemy. And even he has now deserted her, gone to the
very realms of Dis, in company with a madcap friend, to seduce and
bear away the gloomy monarch's queen. But a worse grief than this
is preying on her soul. She feels in her own heart the devastating
power of unlawful love, which has already destroyed all the natural
interests of her life. She recalls her mother's unhappy passion;
but this was bearable compared with her own. For Venus has, from
deadly hatred of her family, filled her with a far more hopeless
love. She does not name the object of her passion, but, from her
guarded references, it is clear that Hippolytus, her stepson, is
meant.
The nurse urges her mistress to drive this passion from her breast,
moralizing upon the danger of delay. Has not her house already
known sinful love enough? Such love is dangerous for it cannot long
be hid. Granting that Theseus may never return to earth, can her
sin be concealed from her father? from her grandsires, both gods of
heaven? And what of her own conscience? Can she ever be happy or
at peace with such a sin upon her soul? She pictures her mistress'
passion in all its hideousness. Besides, it is most hopeless, since
Hippolytus, woman-hater that he is, can never be brought to respond
to it. Phaedra yields to these arguments and entreaties of the
nurse, and says that now she is resolved upon death as her only
refuge. Hereupon the nurse (the usual rôle) begs her not to take
this desperate course, and undertakes to bend Hippolytus to their
will.
_First choral interlude._--The chorus prays that love may never come
upon its breast with immoderate power, and relates instances of the
resistless sway of Venus and her son.
_First choral interlude._--The chorus sings at length upon the
universal and irresistible sway of love.
_Second episode._--Phaedra, standing near the doors of the palace,
suddenly becomes agitated, and utters despairing cries. The chorus,
inquiring the cause of these, is told to listen. At first there is
only a confused murmur from within; but this soon resolves itself into
the angry denunciations of Hippolytus and the pleading tones of the
nurse. By these Phaedra learns that the nurse has indeed revealed the
fatal secret to Hippolytus under an oath that he will not betray the
truth to anyone, and that the youth has received the announcement with
horror and scorn. He breaks forth into bitter reproaches against all
womankind. He regrets that his lips are sealed by his oath, else would
he straightway reveal to Theseus all his wife's unfaithfulness.
Phaedra, on her side, reproaches the nurse for betraying her secret.
She angrily dismisses her, and, after exacting an oath of silence from
the chorus, goes out, reiterating her resolve to die, and suggests that
she has one expedient left by which her name may be preserved from
infamy, and her sons from dishonor.
_Second episode._--On the inquiry of the chorus as to how the queen
is faring, the nurse describes the dreadful effect which this
malady of love has already produced upon her. Then the palace doors
open, and Phaedra is seen reclining upon a couch, attended by her
tiring-women. She rejects all the beautiful robes and jewels which
they offer, and desires to be dressed as a huntress, ready for the
chase.
The nurse prays to Diana to conquer the stubborn soul of Hippolytus
and bend his heart toward her mistress. At this moment the youth
himself enters and inquires the cause of the nurse's distress.
Thereupon ensues a long debate, in which the nurse chides
Hippolytus for his austere life and argues that the pleasures of
life were meant to be enjoyed, and that no life comes to its full
fruition unless youth is given free rein. The young man replies by
a rhapsody on the life of the woods, so full of simple, wholesome
joys, and so free from all the cares of life at court and among
men. He compares this with the Golden Age, and traces the gradual
fall from the innocence of that time to the abandoned sin of the
present. He concludes with laying all the blame for this upon woman.
Phaedra now comes forth, and, seeing Hippolytus, falls fainting,
but is caught in the young man's arms. He attempts to reassure her
and inquires the cause of her evident grief. After much hesitation,
she at last confesses her love for him and begs him to pity her.
With scorn and horror he repulses her and starts to kill her with
his sword; but, deciding not so to stain his sword, he throws the
weapon away and makes off toward the forest.
The nurse now plans to save her mistress by inculpating Hippolytus.
She accordingly calls loudly for help, and tells the attendants who
come rushing in that the youth has attempted an assault upon the
queen, and shows his sword in evidence.
_Second choral interlude._--The chorus prays to be wafted far away from
these scenes of woe; and laments that the hapless queen had ever come
from Crete, for then she would not now be doomed by hopeless love to
self-inflicted death.
_Second choral interlude._--The chorus dwells upon and praises the
beauty of Hippolytus, and discourses upon the theme that beauty has
always been a dangerous possession, citing various mythological
instances in proof of this.
_Third episode._--A messenger hurriedly enters with the announcement
that the queen has destroyed herself by the noose. The chorus,
though grieved, manifests no surprise at this, and is divided as to
a plan of action. And now enters Theseus, who demands the cause of
the lamentations of the servants, which may be heard from within the
palace. He learns from the chorus the fact and manner, but not the
cause, of Phaedra's death.
The palace doors are now thrown open and the shrouded body of the queen
is discovered within. Theseus, in an agony of lamentations, seeks to
know the cause of his queen's death. He at length discovers a letter
clasped in her dead hand, by which he is informed that Phaedra has
slain herself in grief and shame because her honor has been violated
by the king's own son, Hippolytus. Thereupon Theseus curses his son,
and calls on Neptune to destroy him, offering this as one of the three
requests which, in accordance with the promise of the god, should not
be denied.
Here enters Hippolytus, hearing the sound of his father's voice. He
looks in amazement upon the corpse of Phaedra, and begs his father
to explain her death. Theseus, supposing that his son conceals a
guilty conscience, makes no direct answer, but inveighs against the
specious arts of man. This strange speech, and still more the manner
of his father, now show Hippolytus that he himself is connected in his
father's mind with Phaedra's death; and he seeks to know who has thus
calumniated him. The wrath of Theseus now breaks over all bounds. He
charges his son with the dishonor and murder of his wife, and with
withering scorn taunts him with his former professions of purity.
Hippolytus protests his innocence, but Theseus continues obdurate, and
produces the fatal letter in proof of his statements. Then the youth
realizes the terrible mesh of circumstances in which he is taken; but,
bound by his oath of secrecy, he endures in silence. After Theseus has
pronounced the doom of exile upon him, and retired within the gates, he
himself goes forth to seek his comrades and acquaint them with his fate.
_Third episode._--Theseus, just returned to earth from hades, and
with all the horrors of the lower world still upon him, briefly
refers to his dreadful experiences and his escape by the aid of
Hercules. Then, hearing the sounds of lamentation, he asks the
cause. He is told by the nurse that Phaedra, for some reason which
she will not disclose, has resolved on immediate self-destruction.
Rushing into the palace, he encounters Phaedra just within. After
urgent entreaties and threats from Theseus, she confesses that she
is determined to die in order to remove the stain upon her honor;
and without mentioning the name of him who has ruined her, she
shows the sword which Hippolytus has left behind in his flight.
This is at once recognized by Theseus, who flies into a wild
passion of horror, rage, and bitter scorn. He vows dire vengeance
upon his son, which shall reach him wherever he may flee; and ends
by claiming from Neptune, as the third of the boons once granted
him, that the god will destroy Hippolytus.
_Third choral interlude._--The chorus reflects upon the precarious life
of man, lauds the golden mean, and prays for the blessings of life
without conspicuous fame. No man can hope for continued security in
life, when such a youth as Hippolytus is driven off by Theseus' ire. It
laments that no longer will his steeds, his lyre, his wonted woodland
haunts know the well-loved youth; and reproaches the gods that they did
not better screen their guiltless votary.
_Third choral interlude._--The chorus complains that while nature
is so careful to maintain the order of the heavenly bodies, the
atmospheric phenomena, the seasons, and the productiveness of
wealth, for the affairs of men alone she has no care. These go all
awry. Sin prospers and righteousness is in distress. Verily, it
does not at all profit a man to strive to live uprightly, since all
the rewards of life go to the vain and profligate. While the case
of Hippolytus is not mentioned, it is clearly in mind throughout.
_Exode._--The last words of the chorus are interrupted by the approach
of a messenger who hastily inquires for the king. As the latter comes
forth from the palace, the messenger announces the death of his son.
At the king's request he gives a detailed account of the disaster: how
Hippolytus was driving his fiery coursers along the shore, when Neptune
sent a monstrous bull from out the sea, which drove the horses to a
panic of fear; how the car was at length dashed against a ragged cliff,
and Hippolytus dragged, bruised and bleeding, by the maddened horses;
how, though yet living, he could not long survive. Theseus expresses
pleasure at his son's sufferings, and bids that he be brought into his
presence that he may behold his punishment.
The chorus interjects a single strophe, acknowledging Venus as the
unrivaled queen of heaven and earth.
Diana now appears to Theseus and reveals to him the whole truth,
explaining the infatuation of the queen, the fatal letter, and the
wiles of Venus. The father is filled with horror and remorse. Diana
tells him that he may yet hope for pardon for his sin, since through
the wiles of Venus, which she herself could not frustrate, the deed was
done.
Here the dying Hippolytus is borne in by his friends. In his agony he
prays for death; but by the voice of his loved goddess he is soothed
and comforted. After a touching scene of reconciliation between the
dying prince and his father, the youth perishes, leaving Theseus
overcome with grief.
_Exode._--A messenger, hurrying in, announces to Theseus the
death of his son. Theseus receives the news calmly and asks for a
detailed account. The messenger relates how Hippolytus had yoked
his horses to his car and was driving madly along the highway by
the sea, when suddenly the waves swelled up and launched a strange
monster in the form of a bull upon the land. This monster charged
upon Hippolytus, who fronted the beast with unshaken courage. But
in the end the horses became unmanageable through fright, and
dragged their master to his death among the rocks. The body of the
hapless Hippolytus has been torn in pieces and scattered far and
wide through the fields; and even now attendants are bringing these
in for burning on the pyre. Theseus laments, not because his son is
dead, but because it is through his, the father's, act.
The chorus expatiates upon the fact that the blows of fate fall
heavily upon men of exalted condition, but spare the humble. The
great Theseus, once so mighty a monarch, but now so full of woe, is
an example of this truth. It has not profited him to escape from
hades, since now his son has hastened thither.
But now their attention is turned to Phaedra who appears, wailing
aloud, and with a drawn sword in hand. She rails at Theseus as
the destroyer of his house, weeps over the mangled remains of
Hippolytus, confesses to Theseus that her charge against his son
was false, and ends by falling upon the sword.
Theseus, utterly crushed by the weight of woe that has fallen upon
him, prays only that he may return to the dark world from which he
has just escaped.
The chorus reminds him that he will find ample time for mourning,
and that he should now pay due funeral honors to his son. Whereat
Theseus bids all the fragments be hunted out and brought before
him. These he fits together as best he can, lamenting bitterly as
each new gory part is brought to him.
He ends by giving curt command for the burial of Phaedra, with a
prayer that the earth may rest heavily upon her.
_THE MAIDENS OF TRACHIN_ OF SOPHOCLES, AND THE _HERCULES OETAEUS_ OF
SENECA
_Prologue._--In the courtyard of her palace in Trachin, Deianira
recounts to her attendants and the chorus of Trachinian maidens how her
husband had won her from the river god, Acheloüs, and how, during all
these years, she has lived in fear and longing for her husband, who has
been kept constantly wandering over the earth by those who hold him in
their power; and even now he has been for many months absent, she knows
not where.
An old servant proposes that she send her son, Hyllus, abroad to seek
out his father. This the youth, who enters at this juncture, readily
promises to do, especially on hearing from his mother that the oracle
declares this is the year in which his father shall end his life,
Or, having this his task accomplished,
Shall, through the coming years of all his life,
Rejoice and prosper.
_Prologue._--Hercules, about to sacrifice to Cenaean Jove after
having conquered Eurytus, king of Oechalia, recounts at length his
mighty toils on earth, and prays that now at last he may be given
his proper place in heaven. He dispatches his herald, Lichas, home
to Trachin, to tell the news of his triumph, and to conduct the
train of captives thither.
_Parode, or chorus entry._--The chorus prays to Helios, the bright
sun-god, for tidings of Hercules, for Deianira longs for him, and
"ever nurses unforgetting dread as to her husband's paths." Hercules
is tossed upon the stormy sea of life, now up, now down, but ever
kept from death by some god's hands. Deianira should, therefore, be
comforted:
For who hath known in Zeus forgetfulness
Of those he children calls?
_Parode, or chorus entry._--The place of the chorus entry, which
should be filled by the chorus proper, composed of Aetolian
maidens, is taken by the band of captive Oechalian maidens. They
bewail their lot and long for death; they dwell upon the utter
desolation of their fatherland, and upon the hard-heartedness of
Hercules who has laid it waste.
Iole, their princess, joins in their lamentations, recalls the
horrors of her native city's overthrow, and looks forward with
dread to her captivity.
_First episode._--Deianira confides to the chorus her special cause for
grief: she feels a strong presentiment that Hercules is dead; for, when
he last left home, he left a tablet, as it were a will, disposing of
his chattels and his lands,
and fixed a time,
That when for one whole year and three months more
He from his land was absent, then 'twas his
Or in that self-same hour to die, or else,
Escaping that one crisis, thenceforth live with life unvexed.
At this moment, however, a messenger enters and announces the near
approach of Hercules accompanied by his spoils of victory.
_First episode._--During the interval just preceding this episode,
the captives have been led to Trachin, Deianira has seen the beauty
of Iole, and learned of Hercules' infatuation for her. She has by
this news been thrown into a mad rage of jealousy, and counsels
with her nurse as to how she may take vengeance upon her faithless
husband, while the nurse vainly advises moderation.
The nurse at last suggests recourse to magic, professing herself
to be proficient in these arts. This suggests to Deianira the use
of that blood of Nessus which the dying centaur had commended to
her as an infallible love-charm. She takes occasion to relate at
length the Nessus incident. She at once acts upon her decision to
use the charm; and speedily, with the nurse's aid, a gorgeous robe
is anointed with the blood, and this is sent by Lichas' hand to
Hercules.
_First choral interlude._--The chorus voices its exultant joy over this
glad and unexpected news.
_First choral interlude._--The chorus of Aetolian women, who
have followed Deianira from her girlhood's home to this refuge
in Trachin, now tender to her their sympathy in her present
sufferings. They recall all their past intercourse with her, and
assure her of their undying fidelity.
This suggests the rarity of such fidelity especially in the courts
of kings, and they discourse at large upon the sordidness and
selfishness of courtiers in general. The moral of their discourse
is that men should not aspire to great wealth and power, but should
choose a middle course in life, which only can bring happiness.
_Second episode._--Lichas, the personal herald of Hercules, now enters,
followed by Iole and a company of captive women. He explains to
Deianira how Hercules had been driven on by petty persecutions to slay
Iphitus, the son of Eurytus, treacherously; how he had for this been
doomed by Zeus to serve Omphale, queen of Lydia, for a year; and how in
revenge he has now slain Eurytus, and even now is sending home these
Oechalian captives as spoil; Hercules himself is delaying yet a little
while in Euboea, until he has sacrificed to Cenaean Jove.
Deianira looks in pity upon the captives praying that their lot may
never come to her or hers; and is especially drawn in sympathy to one
beautiful girl, who, however, will answer no word as to her name and
state.
As all are passing into the palace, the messenger detains Deianira and
tells her the real truth which Lichas has withheld: that this seemingly
unknown girl is Iole, daughter of Eurytus; that it was not in revenge
but for love of Iole that Hercules destroyed her father's house, and
that he is now sending her to his own home not as his slave, but
mistress, and rival of his wife.
Lichas, returning from the palace, on being challenged by the messenger
and urged by Deianira to speak the whole truth, tells all concerning
Hercules' love for Iole.
Deianira receives this revelation with seeming equanimity and
acquiescence.
_Second episode._--Deianira comes hurrying distractedly out of the
palace, and relates her discovery as to the horrible and deadly
power of the charm which she has sent to her husband.
While she is still speaking, Hyllus rushes in and cries out to
his mother to flee from the wrath of Hercules, whose dreadful
sufferings, after putting on the robe which his wife had sent to
him, the youth describes at length. He narrates also the death
of Lichas. The suffering hero is even now on his way by sea from
Euboea, in a death-like swoon, and will soon arrive at Trachin.
Deianira, smitten with quick repentance, begs Jupiter to destroy
her with his wrathful thunderbolts. She resolves on instant
self-destruction, though Hyllus and the nurse vainly try to
dissuade her, and to belittle her responsibility for the disaster;
and in the end she rushes from the scene, Hyllus following.
_Second choral interlude._--The chorus briefly reverts to the battle of
Acheloüs and Hercules for the hand of Deianira.
_Second choral interlude._--The chorus, contemplating the changing
fates of their prince's house, is reminded of the saying of
Orpheus, "that naught for endless life is made." This leads to an
extended description of Orpheus' sweet music and its power over all
things, both animate and inanimate, and suggests the story of his
unsuccessful attempt to regain Eurydice.
Returning to the original theme, the chorus speculates upon the
time when all things shall fall into death, and chaos resume her
primeval sway.
It is startled out of these thoughts by loud groans, which prove to
be the outcries of Hercules, borne home to Trachin.
_Third episode._--Deianira tells to the chorus the story of how Nessus,
the centaur, had once insulted her, and for this had been slain by
Hercules with one of his poisoned arrows; how, also, the centaur in
dying had given her a portion of his blood, saying this would be a
charm able to restore to her her husband's wandering love. She now
resolves to use this charm. She anoints a gorgeous robe with the blood
which she has preserved through all these years, and bids Lichas carry
this to her lord as a special gift from her. He is to wear it as he
offers his sacrifices to Cenaean Jove, Lichas departs upon this mission.
_Third episode._--Hercules in his ravings warns Jove to look well
to his heavens, since now their defender is perishing. The giants
will be sure to rise again and make another attempt upon the skies.
He bitterly laments that he, who has overcome so many monsters,
must die at last, slain by a woman's hand, and that woman not Juno,
nor even an Amazon:
Ah, woe is me,
How often have I 'scaped a glorious death!
What honor comes from such an end as this?
His burning pains coming on again, he cries out in agony, and
describes the abject misery and weakness that have come upon him.
Are these the shoulders, the hands, the feet, that were once so
strong to bear, so terrible to strike, so swift to go? He strives
to apprehend and tear away the pest that is devouring him, but it
is too deep-hidden in his frame. He curses the day that has seen
him weep and beseeches Jove to smite him dead with a thunderbolt.
Alcmena enters, and, while she herself is full of grief, she
strives to soothe and comfort her suffering son. He falls into a
delirium, and thinks that he is in the heavens, looking down upon
Trachin. But soon he awakes, and, realizing his pains once more,
calls for the author of his misery, that he may slay her with his
own hands.
Hyllus, who has just entered from the palace, now informs his
father that Deianira is already dead, and by her own hand; that
it was not her fault, moreover, but by the guile of Nessus, that
Hercules is being done to death. The hero recognizes in this the
fulfilment of an oracle once delivered to him:
By the hand of one whom thou hast slain, some day,
Victorious Hercules, shalt thou lie low.
And he comforts himself with the reflection that such an end as
this is meet, for
Thus shall no conqueror of Hercules
Survive to tell the tale.
He now bids Philoctetes prepare a mighty pyre on neighboring Mount
Oeta, and there take and burn his body, still in life. Hyllus he
bids to take the captive princess, Iole, to wife. He calls upon his
mother, Alcmena, to comfort her grief by pride in her great son's
deeds on earth, and the noble fame which he has gained thereby.
_Third choral interlude._--The chorus prays for the early and safe
return of Hercules from where he lingers:
Thence may lie come, yea, come with strong desire,
Tempered by suasive spell
Of that rich unguent, as the monster spake.
_Third choral interlude._--The chorus bids all nature mourn the
death of Hercules. Verily the earth is bereft of her defender, and
there is no one left to whom she may turn if again harassed by
monsters. They speculate upon the place of the departed Hercules.
Shall he sit in judgment among the pious kings of Crete in hades,
or shall he be given a place in heaven? At least on earth he shall
live in deathless gratitude and fame.
_Fourth episode._--Deianira discovers by experiment, now that it is too
late, the destructive and terrible power of the charm which she has
sent, and is filled with dire forebodings as to the result.
Her lamentations are interrupted by Hyllus, who comes hurrying in; he
charges his mother with the murder of his father, and curses her. He
then describes the terrible sufferings that have come upon the hero
through the magic robe, and how Hercules, in the madness of pain, has
slain Lichas, as the immediate cause of his sufferings. He has brought
his father with him from Euboea to Trachin. Deianira withdraws into the
palace, without a word, in an agony of grief.
_Fourth choral interlude._--The chorus recalls the old oracle that
after twelve years the son of Zeus should gain rest from toil, and sees
in his impending death the fulfilment of this oracle. They picture the
grief of Deianira over her act, and foresee the great changes that are
coming upon their prince's house.
_Fifth episode._--The nurse rushes in from the palace, and tells how
Deianira has slain herself with the sword, bewailing the while the
sufferings which she has unwittingly brought on Hercules; and how
Hyllus repents him of his harshness toward his mother, realizing that
she was not to blame.
_Fifth choral interlude._--The chorus pours out its grief for the
double tragedy. And now it sees Hyllus and attendants bearing in the
dying Hercules.
_Exode._--Hercules, awaking from troubled sleep, laments the calamity
that has befallen him; he chides the lands which he has helped, that
now they do not hasten to his aid; and prays Hyllus to kill him with
the sword, and so put him out of his misery.
He denounces Deianira because she has brought suffering and destruction
upon him which no foe, man or beast, has ever been able to bring. He
curses his own weakness, and laments that he must weep and groan like a
woman.
He marvels that his mighty frame, which for years has withstood so many
monsters, which he recounts at length, can now be so weak and wasted.
Reverting to his wife, he bids that she be brought to him that he may
visit punishment upon her.
Hyllus informs his father that Deianira has died by her own hand, for
grief at what she has unwittingly brought upon her dear lord. It was,
indeed, through Nessus' guile that the deed was done.
Hercules, on hearing this, recognizes the fulfilment of the oracle;
Long since it was revealéd of my sire
That I should die by hand of none that live,
But one who, dead, had dwelt in hades dark.
He exacts an oath of obedience from Hyllus, and then bids him bring
his father to Mount Oeta, and there place him upon a pyre for burning.
Hyllus reluctantly consents in all but the actual firing of the pyre.
The next request is concerning Iole, that Hyllus should take her as his
wife. This mandate he indignantly refuses to obey, but finally yields
assent. And in the end Hercules is borne away to his burning, while the
chorus mournfully chants its concluding comment:
What cometh no man may know;
What is, is piteous for us,
Base and shameful for them;
And for him who endureth this woe,
Above all that live hard to bear.
_Exode._--Philoctetes enters, and, in response to the questions of
the nurse, describes the final scene on Oeta's top. There a mighty
pyre is built, on which Hercules joyfully takes his place. There he
reclines, gazing at the heavens, and praying his father, Jupiter,
to take him thither, in compensation for his service on the earth.
His prayer seems to be answered, and he cries aloud:
"But lo, my father calls me from the sky,
And opens wide the gates. O sire, I come!"
And as he spake his face was glorified.
He presents his famous bow and arrows to Philoctetes, bidding him
for this prize apply the torch and light the pyre, which his friend
most reluctantly does. The hero courts the flames, and eagerly
presses into the very heart of the burning mass.
In the midst of this narrative, Alcmena enters, bearing in her
bosom an urn containing the ashes of Hercules. The burden of her
lament is that so small a compass and so pitiful estate have come
to the mighty body of her son, which one small urn can hold. But
when she thinks upon his deeds, her thoughts fly to the opposite
pole:
What sepulcher, O son, what tomb for thee
Is great enough? Naught save the world itself.
Then she takes up in quickened measures her funeral song of
mourning in the midst of which the deified Hercules, taking shape
in the air above, speaks to his mother, bidding her no longer
mourn, for he has at last gained his place in heaven.
The chorus strikes a fitting final note, that the truly brave are
not destined to the world below:
But when life's days are all consumed,
And comes the final hour, for them
A pathway to the gods is spread
By glory.
THE _TROADES_ OF EURIPIDES, AND THE _TROADES_ OF SENECA
_Prologue._--Neptune appearing from the depths of the sea, briefly
recounts the story of the overthrow of Troy, which he laments, states
the present situation of the Trojan women, dwells upon the especial
grief of Hecuba, and places the blame for all this ruin upon Minerva:
But, oh my town, once flourishing, once crowned
With beauteous-structured battlements, farewell!
Had not Minerva sunk thee in the dust,
On thy firm base e'en now thou mightst have stood.
To him appears Minerva, who, though she had indeed helped the Greeks
to their final triumph over Troy, had been turned against them by the
outrage of Cassandra on the night of Troy's overthrow. She now makes
common cause with Neptune, and plans for the harassing of the Greek
fleet by storm and flood on the homeward voyage. The Greeks are to be
taught a lesson of reverence:
Unwise is he, whoe'er of mortals storms
Beleaguered towns, and crushed in ruins wastes
The temples of the gods, the hallowed tombs
Where sleep the dead; for he shall perish soon.
[The two gods disappear.]
Hecuba, lying prone upon the ground before Agamemnon's tent, gives
voice to her sufferings of body and of spirit; laments her accumulated
losses of home, friends, station, liberty; blames Helen for all, and
calls upon the chorus of captive women to join her in lamentation.
_Prologue._--Hecuba bewails the fall of Troy, and draws from it a
warning to all who are high in power:
For of a truth did fortune never show
In plainer wise the frailty of the prop
That doth support a king.
She graphically describes the mighty power and mighty fall of her
husband's kingdom, and portrays the awe with which the Greeks
behold even their fallen foe. She asserts that the fire by which
her city has been consumed sprang from her, the brand that she
had dreamed of in her dream before the birth of Paris. She dwells
horribly upon the death of Priam which she had herself witnessed.
But still the heavenly powers are not appeased.
The captives are to be allotted to the Greek chiefs, and even now
the urn stands ready for the lots.
Hecuba next calls upon the chorus of Trojan women to join her in
lamenting their fallen heroes, Hector and Priam.
_Parode, or chorus entry._--The chorus with Hecuba indulges in
speculation as to the place of their future home, speaking with hope of
some Greek lands, and deprecating others.
_Parode, or chorus entry._--The chorus, under the direction of
Hecuba as chorus leader, in true oriental fashion, bewails the
downfall of Troy, and in particular the death of Priam and Hector.
_First episode._--Talthybius, the herald, enters and announces that the
lots have been drawn, and reveals to each captive her destined lord:
that Cassandra has fallen to Agamemnon, Andromache to Pyrrhus, Hecuba
to Ulysses. At news of this her fate, Hecuba is filled with fresh
lamentations, counting it an especial hardship that she should fall
to the arch-enemy of her race. The herald also darkly alludes to the
already accomplished fate of Polyxena,
At the tomb raised to Achilles doomed to serve.
Hecuba does not as yet catch the import of these words.
Cassandra now enters, waving a torch, and celebrates in a mad refrain
her approaching union with Agamemnon. Hecuba remonstrates with her for
her unseemly joy; whereupon Cassandra declares that she rejoices in the
prospect of the vengeance upon Agamemnon which is to be wrought out
through this union. She contrasts the lot of the Greeks and Trojans
during the past ten years, and finds that the latter have been far
happier; and even in her fall, the woes of Troy are far less than
those that await the Greek chieftains. She then prophesies in detail
the trials that await Ulysses, and the dire result of her union with
Agamemnon:
Thou shalt bear me
A fury, an Erinys from this land.
Hecuba here falls in a faint, and, upon being revived, again recounts
her former high estate, sadly contrasts with that her present
condition, and shudders at the lot of the slave which awaits her:
Then deem not of the great
Now flourishing as happy, ere they die.
_First episode._--Talthybius announces that the shade of Achilles
has appeared with the demand that Polyxena be sacrificed upon the
hero's tomb.
Enter Pyrrhus and Agamemnon, the former demanding that his father's
request be carried out, the latter resisting the demand as too
barbarous to be entertained. It is finally agreed to leave the
decision to Calchas. He is accordingly summoned, and at once
declares that only by the death of the maiden can the Greeks be
allowed to set sail for home. And not this alone, but Astyanax also
must be sacrificed--hurled from the lofty Scaean tower of Troy.
_First choral interlude._--The chorus graphically describes the wooden
horse, its joyful reception by the Trojans into the city, their sense
of relief from danger, and their holiday spirit; and at last their
horrible awakening to death at the hands of the Greeks within the walls.
_First choral interlude._--The chorus maintains that all perishes
with the body; the soul goes out into nothingness:
For when within the tomb we're laid,
No soul remains, no hov'ring shade.
Like curling smoke, like clouds before the blast,
This animating spirit soon has passed.
The evident purpose of these considerations is to discount the
story that Achilles' shade could have appeared with its demand for
the death of Polyxena.
_Second episode._--The appearance of Andromache with Astyanax in her
arms, borne captive on a Grecian car, is a signal for general mourning.
She announces her own chief cause of woe:
I, with my child, am led away, the spoil
Of war; th' illustrious progeny of kings,
Oh, fatal change, is sunk to slavery.
Her next announcement comes as a still heavier blow to Hecuba:
Polyxena, thy daughter, is no more;
Devoted to Achilles, on his tomb,
An offering to the lifeless dead, she fell.
Andromache insists that Polyxena's fate is happier than her own; argues
that in death there is no sense of misery:
Polyxena is dead, and of her ills
Knows nothing;
while Andromache still lives to feel the keen contrast between her
former and her present lot.
Hecuba is so sunk in woe that she can make no protest, but advises
Andromache to forget the past and
honor thy present lord,
And with thy gentle manners win his soul;
this with the hope that she may be the better able to rear up Astyanax
to establish once more some day the walls and power of Troy.
But the heaviest stroke is yet to fall. Talthybius now enters and
announces with much reluctance that Ulysses has prevailed upon the
Greeks to demand the death of Astyanax for the very reason that he may
grow up to renew the Trojan war. The lad is to be hurled from a still
standing tower of Troy. The herald warns Andromache that if she resist
this mandate she may be endangering the boy's funeral rites. She yields
to fate, passionately caressing the boy, who clings fearfully to her,
partly realizing his terrible situation. The emotional climax of the
play is reached, as she says to the clinging, frightened lad:
Why dost thou clasp me with thy hands, why hold
My robes, and shelter thee beneath my wings
Like a young bird?
She bitterly upbraids the Greeks for their cruelty, and curses Helen as
the cause of all her woe, and then gives the boy up in an abandonment
of defiant grief:
Here, take him, bear him, hurl him from the height,
If ye must hurl him; feast upon his flesh:
For from the gods hath ruin fall'n on us.
And now what more can happen? Surely the depth of misfortune has been
sounded. In the voice of Hecuba:
Is there an ill
We have not? What is wanting to the woes
Which all the dreadful band of ruin brings?
_Second episode._--Andromache appears with Astyanax and recounts a
vision of Hector which she has had, in which her dead husband has
warned her to hide the boy away beyond the reach of threatening
danger. After discussion with an old man as to the best place of
concealment, she hides Astyanax in Hector's tomb which is in the
near background.
Enter Ulysses, who reluctantly announces that Calchas has warned
the Greeks that they must not allow the son of Hector to grow to
manhood; for if they do so, the reopening of the Trojan war will
be only a matter of time, and the work will have to be done all
over again. He therefore asks Andromache to give up the boy to
him. Then ensues a war of wits between the desperate mother and
the crafty Greek. She affects not to know where the boy is--he is
lost. But if she knew, no power on earth should take him from her.
Ulysses threatens death, which she welcomes; he threatens torture,
which she scorns. She at last states that her son is "among the
dead." Ulysses, taking these words at their face meaning, starts
off gladly to tell the news to the Greeks, but suddenly reflects
that he has no proof but the mother's word. He therefore begins to
watch Andromache more narrowly, and discovers that her bearing is
not that of one who has put her grief behind her, but of one who is
still in suspense and fear. To test her, he suddenly calls to his
attendants to hunt out the boy. Looking beyond her he cries: "Good!
he's found! bring him to me." Whereat Andromache's agitation proves
that the boy is indeed not dead but in hiding. Where is he hid?
Ulysses forces her to choose between the living boy and the dead
husband; for, unless her son is forthcoming, Hector's tomb will be
invaded and his ashes scattered upon the sea. To her frantic prayer
for mercy he says:
Bring forth the boy--and pray.
Follows a _canticum_, in which Andromache brings Astyanax out of
the tomb and sets him in Ulysses' sight:
Here, here's the terror of a thousand ships!
and prays him to spare the child. Ulysses refuses, and, after
allowing the mother time for a passionate and pathetic farewell to
her son, he leads the boy away to his death.
_Second choral interlude._--The chorus first tells of the former fall
of Troy under Hercules and Telamon; and then refers to the high honors
that had come to the city through the translation of Ganymede to be the
cupbearer of Jove, and through the special grace of Venus. But these
have not availed to save the city from its present destruction.
_Second choral interlude._--The chorus discusses the various places
to which it may be its misfortune to be carried into captivity. It
professes a willingness to go anywhere but to the homes of Helen,
Agamemnon, and Ulysses.
_Third episode._--Menelaüs appears, announcing that the Greeks have
alotted to him Helen, his former wife, the cause of all this strife, to
do with as he will. He declares his intention to take her to Greece,
and there destroy her as a warning to faithless wives.
Hecuba applauds this decision, and thinks that at last heaven has sent
justice to the earth:
Dark thy ways
And silent are thy steps to mortal man;
Yet thou with justice all things dost ordain.
Helen, dragged forth from the tent at the command of Menelaüs, pleads
her cause. She lays the blame for all upon Hecuba and Priam:
She first, then, to these ills
Gave birth, when she gave Paris birth; and next
The agéd Priam ruined Troy and thee,
The infant not destroying, at his birth
Denounced a baleful firebrand.
Blame should also fall upon Venus, since through her influence Helen
came into the power of Paris.
Hecuba refutes the excuses of Helen. She scouts the idea that Venus
brought Paris to Sparta. The only Venus that had influenced Helen was
her own passion inflamed by the beauty of Paris:
My son was with surpassing beauty graced;
And thy fond passion, when he struck thy sight,
Became a Venus.
As for the excuse that she was borne away by force, no Spartan was
aware of that, no cries were heard. Hecuba ends by urging Menelaüs to
carry out his threat. This, he repeats, it is his purpose to do.
_Third episode._--Helen approaches the Trojan women, saying that
she has been sent by the Greeks to deck Polyxena for marriage with
Pyrrhus, this being a ruse to trick the girl into an unresisting
preparation for her death. This news Polyxena, though mute,
receives with horror.
Andromache bitterly cries out upon Helen and her marriages as the
cause of all their woe. But Helen puts the whole matter to this
test:
Count this true,
If 'twas a Spartan vessel brought me here.
Under the pointed questions of Andromache she gives up deception,
and frankly states the impending doom of Polyxena to be slaughtered
on Achilles' tomb, and so to be that hero's spirit bride. At this
the girl shows signs of joy, and eagerly submits herself to Helen's
hands to be decked for the sacrificial rite.
Hecuba cries out at this, and laments her almost utter
childlessness; but Andromache envies the doomed girl her fate.
Helen then informs the women that the lots have been drawn and
their future lords determined; Andromache is to be given to
Pyrrhus, Cassandra to Agamemnon, Hecuba to Ulysses.
Pyrrhus now appears to conduct Polyxena to her death, and is
bitterly scorned and cursed by Hecuba.
_Third choral interlude._--The chorus sadly recalls the sacred rites in
Troy and within the forests of Mount Ida, and grieves that these shall
be no more. They lament the untimely death of their warrior husbands,
whose bodies have not received proper burial rites, and whose souls
are wandering in the spirit-world, while they, the hapless wives, must
wander over sea to foreign homes. They pray that storms may come and
overwhelm the ships, and especially that Helen may not live to reach
the land again.
_Third choral interlude._--The chorus enlarges upon the comfort of
company to those in grief. Hitherto they have had this comfort; but
now they are to be scattered, and each must suffer alone. And soon,
as they sail away, they must take their last, sad view of Troy, now
but a smouldering heap; and mother to child will say, as she points
back to the shore:
See, there's our Troy, where smoke curls high in air,
And thick, dark clouds obscure the distant sky.
_Exode._--Enter Talthybius, with the dead body of Astyanax borne upon
the shield of Hector. He explains that Pyrrhus has hastened home,
summoned by news of insurrection in his own kingdom, and has taken
Andromache with him. He delivers Andromache's request to Hecuba that
she give the boy proper burial, and use the hollow shield as a casket
for the dead.
Hecuba and the chorus together weep over the shield, which recalls
Hector in his days of might, and over the poor, bruised body of the
dead boy, sadly contrasting his former beauty with this mangled form.
They then wrap it in such costly wrappings as their state allows, place
him upon the shield, and consign him to the tomb.
Talthybius then orders bands of men with torches to burn the remaining
buildings of Troy; and in the light of its glaring flames and with
the crashing sound of its falling walls in their ears, Hecuba and her
companions make their way to the waiting ships, while the messenger
urges on their lagging steps.
_Exode._--The messenger relates with much detail to Hecuba,
Andromache and the rest, the circumstances of the death of Astyanax
and Polyxena: how crowds of Greeks and Trojans witnessed both
tragedies, how both sides were moved to tears at the sad sight, and
how both victims met their death as became their noble birth.
Andromache bewails and denounces the cruel death of her son, and
sadly asks that his body be given her for burial; but she is told
that this is mangled past recognition.
But Hecuba, having now drained her cup of sorrow to the dregs, has
no more wild cries to utter; she almost calmly bids the Grecians
now set sail, since nothing bars their way. She longs for death,
complaining that it ever flees from her, though she has often been
so near its grasp.
The messenger interrupts, and bids them hasten to the shore and
board the ships, which wait only their coming to set sail.
THE _AGAMEMNON_ OF AESCHYLUS, AND THE _AGAMEMNON_ OF SENECA
_Prologue._--A watchman, stationed upon the palace roof at Argos,
laments the tedium of his long and solitary task; and prays for the
time to come when, through the darkness of the night, he shall see the
distant flashing of the beacon fire, and by this sign know that Troy
has fallen and that Agamemnon is returning home. And suddenly he sees
the gleam for which so long he has been waiting. He springs up with
shouts of joy and hastens to tell the queen. At the same time he makes
dark reference to that which has been going on within the palace, and
which must now be hushed up.
_Prologue._--The ghost of Thyestes coming from the lower regions
recites the _motif_ of the play: how he had been most foully dealt
with by Agamemnon's father, Atreus, and how he had been promised
revenge by the oracle of Apollo through his son Aegisthus, begotten
of an incestuous union with his daughter. The ghost announces that
the time for his revenge is come with the return of Agamemnon from
the Trojan war, and urges Aegisthus to perform his fated part.
_Parode, or chorus entry._--A chorus of twelve Argive elders sings of
the Trojan War, describing the omens with which the Greeks started on
their mission of vengeance. They dwell especially upon the hard fate
which forced Agamemnon to sacrifice his daughter. And in this they
unconsciously voice one of the motives which led to the king's own
death.
_Parode, or chorus entry._--The chorus of Argive women complains
of the uncertain condition of exalted fortune, and recommends the
golden mean in preference to this.
_First episode._--Clytemnestra appears with a stately procession
of torch-bearers, having set the whole city in gala attire, with
sacrificial incense burning on all the altars. The chorus asks the
meaning of this. Has she had news from Troy? The queen replies that
this very night she has had news, and describes at length how the
signal fires had gleamed, and thus the news had leaped from height to
height, all the long way from Troy to Argos.
And this sure proof and token now I tell thee,
Seeing that my lord hath sent it me from Troy.
She expresses the hope that the victors in their joy will do nothing to
offend the gods and so prevent their safe return:
May good prevail beyond all doubtful chance!
For I have got the blessing of great joy.
With these words she covers up the real desires of her own false heart,
while at the same time voicing the principle on which doom was to
overtake the Greeks.
The chorus receives Clytemnestra's news with joy and prepares to sing
praises to the gods, as the queen with her train leaves the stage.
_First episode._--Clytemnestra, conscious of guilt, and fearing
that her returning husband will severely punish her on account of
her adulterous life with Aegisthus, resolves to add crime to crime
and murder Agamemnon as soon as he comes back to his home. She is
further impelled to this action by his conduct in the matter of her
daughter, Iphigenia, and by his own unfaithfulness to her during
his long absence. Throughout this scene the nurse vainly tries to
dissuade her.
Clytemnestra is either influenced to recede from her purpose by
the nurse, or else pretends to be resolved to draw back in order
to test Aegisthus who now enters. In the end, the two conspirators
withdraw to plan their intended crime.
_First choral interlude._--The chorus sings in praise of Zeus, who has
signally disproved the skeptic's claim that
The gods deign not to care for mortal men
By whom the grace of things inviolable
Is trampled under foot.
The shameful guilt of Paris is described, the woe of the wronged
Menelaüs, and the response of all Greece to his cry for vengeance. But,
after all, the chorus is in doubt as to whether the good news can be
true--when a herald enters with fresh news.
_First choral interlude._--The chorus sings in praise of Apollo
for the victory over Troy. To this are added the praises of Juno,
Minerva, and Jove. In the end the chorus hails the approach of the
herald Eurybates.
_Second episode._--The herald describes to the chorus the complete
downfall of Troy, which came as a punishment for the sin of Paris and
of the nation which upheld him in it. At the same time the sufferings
of the Greeks during the progress of the war are not forgotten.
Clytemnestra, entering, prompted by her own guilty conscience, bids
the herald tell Agamemnon to hasten home, and take to him her own
protestation of absolute faithfulness to him:
who has not broken
One seal of his in all this length of time.
The herald, in response to further questions of the chorus, describes
the great storm which wrecked the Greek fleet upon their homeward
voyage.
_Second episode._--Eurybates announces to Clytemnestra the return
and approach of Agamemnon, and describes the terrible storm which
overtook the Greeks upon their homeward voyage. At the command of
the queen victims are prepared for sacrifice to the gods, and a
banquet for the victorious Agamemnon. At last the captive Trojan
women headed by Cassandra are seen approaching.
_Second choral interlude._--The chorus sings of Helen as the bane of
the Trojans:
Dire cause of strife with bloodshed in her train.
And now
The penalty of foul dishonor done
To friendship's board and Zeus
has been paid by Troy, which is likened to a man who fosters a lion's
cub, which is harmless while still young, but when full grown "it shows
the nature of its sires," and brings destruction to the house that
sheltered it.
_Second choral interlude._--A chorus of captive Trojan women sings
the fate and fall of Troy; while Cassandra, seized with fits of
prophetic fury, prophesies the doom that hangs over Agamemnon.
_Third episode._--Agamemnon is seen approaching in his chariot,
followed by his train of soldiers and captives. The chorus welcomes
him, but with a veiled hint that all is not well in Argos. Agamemnon
fittingly thanks the gods for his success and for his safe return, and
promises in due time to investigate affairs at home.
Clytemnestra, now entering, in a long speech of fulsome welcome,
describes the grief which she has endured for her lord's long absence
in the midst of perils, and protests her own absolute faithfulness
to him. She explains the absence of Orestes by saying that she has
intrusted him to Strophius, king of Phocis, to be cared for in the
midst of the troublous times. She concludes with the ambiguous prayer:
Ah Zeus, work out for me
All that I pray for; let it be thy care
To look to that thou purposest to work.
Agamemnon, after briefly referring to Cassandra and bespeaking kindly
treatment for her, goes into the palace, accompanied by Clytemnestra.
_Third episode._--Agamemnon comes upon the scene, and, meeting
Cassandra, is warned by her of the fate that hangs over him; but
she is not believed.
_Third choral interlude._--The chorus, though it sees with its own eyes
that all is well with Agamemnon, that he is returned in safety to his
own home, is filled with sad forebodings of some hovering evil which it
cannot dispel.
_Third choral interlude._--Apropos of the fall of Troy, the chorus
of Argive women sings the praises of Hercules whose arrows had been
required by fate for the destruction of Troy.
_Exode._--Clytemnestra returns and bids Cassandra, who still remains
standing in her chariot, to join the other slaves in ministering at the
altar. But Cassandra stands motionless, paying no heed to the words of
the queen, who leaves the scene saying:
I will not bear the shame of uttering more.
Cassandra now descends from her chariot and bursts into wild and
woeful lamentations. By her peculiar clairvoyant power she foresees
and declares to the chorus the death of Agamemnon at the hands of
Clytemnestra and Aegisthus, as well as the manner of it; she also
foretells the vengeance which Orestes is destined to work upon the
murderers. Her own fate is as clearly seen and announced, as she passes
through the door into the palace.
Soon the chorus hears the death cry of Agamemnon, that he is
"struck down with deadly stroke." They are faint-heartedly and with
a multiplicity of counsel discussing what it is best to do when
Clytemnestra, with blood-stained garments and followed by a guard of
soldiers, enters to them from the palace. The corpses of Agamemnon
and Cassandra are seen through the door within the palace. The queen
confesses, describes, and exults in the murder of her husband. The
chorus makes elaborate lamentation for Agamemnon, and prophesies that
vengeance will light on Clytemnestra. But she scorns their threatening
prophecies. In the end Aegisthus enters, avowing that he has plotted
this murder and has at last avenged his father, Thyestes, upon the
father of Agamemnon, Atreus, who had so foully wronged Thyestes. The
chorus curses him and reminds him that Orestes still lives and will
surely avenge his father.
_Exode._--Cassandra, either standing where she can see within
the palace, or else by clairvoyant power, reports the murder of
Agamemnon, which is being done within.
Electra urges Orestes to flee before his mother and Aegisthus shall
murder him also. Very opportunely, Strophius comes in his chariot,
just returning as victor from the Olympic games. Electra intrusts
her brother to his care, and betakes her own self to the altar for
protection.
Electra, after defying and denouncing her mother and Aegisthus, is
dragged away to prison and torture, and Cassandra is led out to her
death.
INDEX
INDEX OF MYTHOLOGICAL SUBJECTS
[References are to the lines of the Latin text. If the passage is
longer than one line, only the first line is cited. Line citations to
passages of especial importance to the subject under discussion are
starred. A few historical characters from the _Octavia_ are included in
the Index. The names of the characters appearing in these tragedies are
printed in large capitals, with the name of the tragedy in which the
character occurs following in parentheses.]
ABSYRTUS, a son of Aeëtes, and brother of Medea. Medea, fleeing with
Jason from Colchis, slew her brother and scattered his mangled remains
behind her, in order to retard her father's pursuit, _Med._ 121, 125,
*131, 452, 473, 911; his dismembered ghost appears to the distracted
Medea, _ibid._ 963.
ABYLA, see CALPE.
ACASTUS, son of Pelias, king of Thessaly. He demands Jason and Medea
from Creon, king of Corinth, for vengeance on account of the murder of
his father through the machinations of Medea, _Med._ 257, 415, 521, 526.
ACHELŌUS, the river-god of the river of the same name. He fought with
Hercules for the possession of Deianira, changing himself into various
forms, _H. Oet._ *299; defeated by Hercules, _ibid._ *495.
ACHERON, one of the rivers of hades, _Thy._ 17; described by Theseus,
_H. Fur._ 715.
ACHILLES, son of Peleus and Thetis, and one of the celebrated Greek
heroes in the Trojan War. He was connected by birth with heaven
(Jupiter), the sea (Thetis), and the lower world (Aeacus), _Tro._ 344;
educated by Chiron, the centaur, _ibid._ 832 hidden by his mother in
the court of Lycomedes, king of Scyros, in the disguise of a girl's
garments, in order to keep him from the war, _ibid._ 213; while there,
became the father of Pyrrhus by Deïdamia, daughter of the king, _ibid._
342; his activities in the early period of the Trojan War, _ibid._
182; wounds and cures Telephus, _ibid._ *215; overthrows Lyrnessus and
Chrysa, taking captive Briseïs and Chryseïs, _ibid._ 220; effect of
his anger on account of the loss of Briseïs, _ibid._ 194 318; example
of the taming power of love, _Oct._ 814; slays Memnon and trembles at
his own victory, _Tro._ *239; slays Penthesilea, the Amazon, _ibid._
243; works dire havoc among Trojans in revenge for death of Patroclus,
_Agam._ 619; slays Hector and drags his dead body around walls of Troy,
_Tro._ 189; is slain by Paris, _ibid._ 347; his ghost appears to the
Greeks on the eve of their homeward voyage, and demands the sacrifice
of Polyxena upon his tomb, _ibid._ *170.
ACTAEON, a grandson of Cadmus, who accidentally saw Diana bathing in a
pool near Mt. Cithaeron. For this he was changed by the angry goddess
into a stag, and in this form was pursued and slain by his own dogs,
_Oed._ *751; _Phoen._, 14.
ACTE, the mistress of Nero who displaced Poppaea, _Oct._ 195.
ADMĒTUS, see ALCESTIS.
ADRASTUS, king of Argos. He received the fugitive Polynices at his
court, gave him his daughter in marriage, and headed the expedition of
the Seven against Thebes, in order to reinstate his son-in-law upon the
throne, _Phoen._ 374.
AEACUS, son of Jupiter and Europa, father of Peleus; on account of his
just government on earth he was made one of the judges of spirits in
hades, _H. Oet._ 1558; _H. Fur._ 734. See under JUDGES IN HADES.
AEĒTES, king of Colchis, son of Phoebus and Persa, and father of Medea,
_Med._ 210; grandeur, extent, and situation of kingdom described,
_ibid._ 209; wealth of his kingdom, _ibid._ 483; had received a
wonderful gold-wrought robe from Phoebus as proof of fatherhood; this
Medea anoints with magic poison, and sends to Creüsa, _ibid._ 570; he
was despoiled of his realm through the theft of the golden fleece,
_ibid._ 913.
AEGEUS, see THESEUS.
AEGISTHUS (_Agamemnon_), son of an incestuous union between Thyestes
and his daughter. His birth was the result of Apollo's advice to
Thyestes, that only thus could he secure vengeance upon the house of
Atreus, _Agam._ 48, 294; at opening of play he recognizes that the
fatal day is come for which he was born, _ibid._ 226; lived in guilty
union with Clytemnestra, wife of Agamemnon, _ibid. passim._
AEGOCEROS, a poetic expression for the more usual _Capricornus_, the
zodiacal constellation of the Goat, _Thy._ 864.
AEGYPTUS, see DANAÏDES.
AESCULAPIUS, son of Apollo and the nymph Coronis; he was versed in
the knowledge of medicine, was deified, and had the chief seat of his
worship at Epidaurus, _Hip._ 1022.
AETNA, a volcano in Sicily, _Phoen._ 314; its fires were used as a
type of raging heat, _Hip._ 102; _H. Oet._ 285; considered as the seat
of the forge of Vulcan, _H. Fur._ 106; supposed to be heaped upon the
buried Titan's breast, _Med._ 410.
AGAMEMNON (_Troades_, _Agamemnon_), king of Mycenae, son of Atreus,
brother of Menelaüs, commander of the Greek forces at Troy. He and
Menelaüs used by Atreus to entrap Thyestes, _Thy._ 325; tamed by the
power of love, _Oct._ 815; took captive Chryseïs, daughter of the
priest of Apollo, _Agam._ 175; compelled to give her up, he took from
Achilles by force his maiden Briseïs, _ibid._ 186; attempts to dissuade
Pyrrhus from the sacrifice of Polyxena to Achilles' ghost, _Tro._ *203;
inflamed by love for Cassandra, _Agam._ 188, 255; his power magnified
as the great king who has come unscathed out of a thousand perils,
_ibid._ 204; his homeward voyage and wreck of his fleet described,
_ibid._ *421; returns to Mycenae and hails his native land, _ibid._
782; his murder described by Cassandra who either beholds it through
the palace door, or sees it by clairvoyant power, _ibid._ *867. See
CASSANDRA, CLYTEMNESTRA, IPHIGENIA, PYRRHUS.
AGĀVE, a daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia, mother of Pentheus, king
of Thebes. She, with her sisters, in a fit of Bacchic frenzy, slew
Pentheus on Mt. Cithaeron, rent away his head, and bore it back to
Thebes, _Oed._ 1006; _Phoen._ 15, 363; her shade appears from hades,
raging still, _Oed._ 616. See PENTHEUS.
AGRIPPINA I, daughter of M. Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia, the daughter
of Augustus, mother of the emperor Caligula. She died in exile at
Pandataria, _Oct._ *932.
AGRIPPINA II (_Octavia_), daughter of the preceding, wife of Cn.
Domitius Ahenobarbus, and mother of Nero. She married the emperor
Claudius, whom she murdered by poison, _Oct._ 26, 45, 165, 340; she
was the stepmother of Octavia, and the cause of all her woes, _ibid._
22; plotted the murder of Silanus, the betrothed lover of Octavia, and
forced the latter into marriage with Nero, _ibid._ 150; she sought in
all this her own power and world-wide sway, _ibid._ 155, 612; murdered
by her own son, Nero, _ibid._ 46, 95, 165; her murder briefly
described and attributed to Poppaea's influence, _ibid._ 126; described
in full detail, _ibid._ *310, *600; former high estate and pitiable
death contrasted, _ibid._ 952; her ghost appears to curse Nero for his
impieties, _ibid._ *593.
AJAX, son of Oïleus, called simply Oïleus; his death described, _Med._
660; for his blasphemous defiance of the gods he was destroyed by
Pallas and Neptune in the great storm which wrecked the Greek fleet on
its homeward voyage, _Agam._ *532.