Seneca – Medea 2
Medea 978-1027
IASON. quīcúmque regum cládibus fidús dolēs,
concúrre, ut ipsam scéleris auctōrem hórridī
capiámus: hūc, hūc fórtis, armīferí, cohors 980
conférte tēla, vértite ex īmó domum.
MEDEA. iam iám recēpī scéptra, germānúm, patrem,
spoliúmque Colchī pécudis aurātaé tenent;
rediére regna, rápta virginitás redit,
ō plácida tandem númina, ō festúm diem, 985
ō núptiālem! váde, perfectum ést scelus,
vindícta nōndum: pérage, dum faciúnt manus,
quid núnc morāris, ánime? quid dubitás potēns?
iam cécidit īra. paénitet factí, pudet,
quid, mísera, fēcī? mísera? paeniteát licet, 990
fēcí— voluptās mágna mē invītám subit,
et écce crescit, dérat hōc ūnúm mihi,
spectátor iste. níl adhuc factí reor:
quicquíd sine istō fécimus scelerís perit.
IASON. ēn ípsa tectī párte praecipitī ímminet. 995
hūc rápiat ignēs áliquis, ut flammís cadat
suís perusta.
MEDEA. cóngere extrēmúm tuīs
nātís, Iāsōn, fúnus, ac tumulúm strue:
coniúnx socerque iústa iam functís habent,
ā mé sepultī; nátus hic fātúm tulit, 1000
hic té vidente dábitur exitió parī.
IASON. per númen omne pérque communés fugās
torósque, quōs nōn nóstra violāvít fidēs,
iam párce nātō. sí quod est crīmén, meum est:
mē dédo mortī; nóxium mactá caput. 1005
MEDEA. hāc quá recūsās, quá dolēs, ferrum éxigam.
ī núnc, superbe, vírginum thalamós pete,
relínque mātrēs.
IASON. únus est poenaé satis.
MEDEA. sī pósset ūnā caéde satiārī haéc manus,
nūllám petīsset. út duōs perimám, tamen 1010
nimium ést dolōrī númerus angustús meō.
in mátre sī quod pígnus etiam núnc latet,
scrutábor ense víscera et ferro éxtraham.
IASON. iam pérage coeptum fácinus, haud ultrá precor,
morámque saltem súpplicīs dōná meīs. 1015
MEDEA. perfruére lentō scélere, nē properá, dolor:
meús dies est; témpore acceptō útimur.
IASON. infésta, mēmet périme.
MEDEA. miserērí iubes.
bene ést, peractum est. plúra nōn habuí, dolor,
quae tíbi litārem. lúmina hūc tumida állevā, 1020
ingráte Iāson, cóniugem agnōscís tuam?
sīc fúgere soleō, pátuit in caelúm via:
squāmósa geminī cólla serpentés iugō
summíssa praebent, récipe iam nātós, parēns;
ego ínter aurās álitī currú vehar. 1025
IASON. per álta vāde spátia sublimī aéthere,
testáre nūllōs ésse, quā veherís, deōs.
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Notes
Meter is iambic trimeters. The acute accent shows the incidence of a primary ictus (or ‘beat’), of which there are three to a line.
978 fidus, -a, -um: loyal, faithful. clādibus is ablative, complement of dolēs979 concurre: Jason is calling for supporters of his cause to join the fightarmiferī is vocative plural; cohors fortis stands as an appositive to it (voc. fem. sing.) – the collocation in inelegant981 conferō, conferre, contulī, collātum: to bring togetherex īmō – i.e., overturn it from its foundations98 Medea claims that her revenge allows her to regain everything she has lost.germānus, -a, -um: born of the same parent; as a noun = “brother”983 spolium, -ī, n.: the pelt or spoils of an animalaurātus, -a, -um: gilded, golden 984 rediēre = rediērunt, perf. od redeō, ‘return’, of which redit is present 985 tandem with plācida, “propitious at last”festus, -a, -um: festal, joyous986 nuptiālem, understand diem; nuptiālis, -e: of a wedding, nuptial987 vindicta, -ae, f.: vengeanceperago, peragere, perēgī, peractum: to carry out, finish; perage addressed to herself – understand vindictam988 moror, morārī, morātus sum: to delay; morāris is second person singular, present indicative989 pudet: “causes shame” (impersonal construction)990 licet + subjunctive = “although”991 mē subit, “comes over me”992 dērat = dēerat, “was lacking”993 reor, rērī, rātus sum: to consider, reckon, calculate, deemfactī, partitive with nīl; with adhūc understand factum994 sceleris, partitive with quicquid: “whatever crime”; perit is perfect: “has perished”996 rapiat: the subjunctive is jussive: “Let someone … ”997 perūro, perūrere, perussī, perustum: to burn upsuīs calls for the the fires to be brought from the still burning palace998 struō, struere, struxī, structum: to lay out, build, construct, erect999 functī, -ōrum here = “the dead”; functīs is dativeiusta, -ōrum are the customary funeral rites; they already have them in thattheir bodies were burned in the destruction of the palace1003 nostra fidēs — he persists in his profession of fidelity to her1004 parcō, parcere, pepercī: to act sparing, spare (+ dative); quod after sī = “anything”1005 noxius, -a, -um: hateful, injurious; mactā is an imperative1006 hāc quā: “in this place where …”. exigō, exigere, exēgī, exactum here = to drive, plunge1007 ī, imperative of eō, “go”. thalamōs, “bridal chambers”, by metonymy = “weddings”1008 poenae genitive with satis1010 petīsset = petīvisset, a past contrary-to-fact conditionalperimō, perimere, perēmī, peremptum: to annihilate, destroy; the ut-clause is concessive: “Though I …”nimium with angustus1012 in mātre, i.e., in her womb; pignus = “token”, i.e., trace of a child of Jason’s; sī quod = “if any”1013 scrutābor, scrutābārī, scrutābātus sum: to search out, examine carefully1015 dōnā is an imperative; supplicīs for suppliciīs, dative1016 perfruere, imperative of perfruor, perfruī, perfructus sum, “to enjoy thoroughly”1017 meus because Creon had given her this day.utor, utī, usus sum, “to use”, takes an ablative complement — tempore utimur: “we use the time …” 1018 miserērī, infinitive: “to feel pity” – understand mē1020 litō, litāre: to sacrifice, to slaughter1021 allevō, allevāre, allevāvī, allevātum: to lift up, raise up; lūmina = oculōs1023 squāmōsus, -a, -um full of scales, scaly1025 āles, ālitis (adj.): winged1027 testor, testārī, testātus sum: to give evidence
