Thyestes: Lines 68-83

When will I be allowed to flee the gods on high?

I’ll be rolling out an additional paywall passage over the weekends of other stuff I’ve been translating which I generally find cool but doesn’t fit into the weekly rotation. This passage is from the opening lines of Seneca’s Thyestes. I’ll be rolling out a reader for the play, but you can already find a translation of it which I published a few years ago. It is an excellent play and perhaps my favorite of Seneca’s plays.

VMBRA TANTALI: Ad stagna et amnes et recedentes aquas
labrisque ab ipsis arboris plenae fugas.
abire in atrum carceris liceat mei 70
cubile, liceat, si parum uideor miser,
mutare ripas: alueo medius tuo,
Phlegethon, relinquar igneo cinctus freto.
Quicumque poenas lege fatorum datas
pati iuberis, quisquis exeso iaces
pauidus sub antro iamque uenturi times
montis ruinam, quisquis auidorum feros
rictus leonum et dira Furiarum agmina
implicitus horres, quisquis immissas faces
semiustus abigis, Tantali uocem excipe 80
properantis ad uos: credite experto mihi,
amate poenas. Quando continget mihi
effugere superos?

Vocabulary

Ā, ab (prep. + abl.)- from, away from; by

Abigō, ere, abēgī, abāctus- to drive away, repel

Abeō, īre, iī/īvī, itum- to go away, depart

Ad (prep. + acc.)- to, toward

Agmen, agminis, n.- troop, line, multitude

Alveus, ī, m.- riverbed, channel, hollow

Amō, āre, āvī, ātus- to love, cherish

Amnis, amnis, m.- river, stream

Antrum, ī, n.- cave, cavern

Aqua, ae, f.- water

Arbor, arboris, f.- tree

Ater, atra, atrum- black, dark, gloomy

Auidus, a, um- greedy, hungry, eager

Carcer, carceris, m.- prison, enclosure

Cingō, ere, cinxī, cinctus- to surround, encircle

Contingō, ere, contigī, contāctus- to happen, befall

Crēdō, ere, crēdidī, crēditus (+dat.)- to believe, trust

Cubīle, cubīlis, n.- bed, couch, resting place

Dō, dare, dedī, datus- to give, assign

Dīrus, a, um- awful, dire, dreadful

Effugiō, ere, effūgī- to escape, flee from

Excipiō, ere, excēpī, exceptus- to receive, listen to

Exedō, ere, exēdī, exēsus- to eat away, hollow out

Expertus, a, um- having experienced, expert

Facēs, facis, f.- torch, firebrand

Fātum, ī, n.- fate, destiny

Ferus, a, um- wild, fierce, savage

Fretum, ī, n.- strait, sea, flood

Fuga, ae, f.- flight, escape

Furia, ae, f.- Fury

Horreō, ēre, horruī- to shudder at, dread

Iaceō, ēre, iacuī- to lie down

Iam (adv.)- already, now

Igneus, a, um- fiery, burning

Immittō, ere, immīsī, immissus- to let in, hurl against

Implicō, āre, āuī, ātus- to entangle, grip

Ipse, ipsa, ipsum- self, very

Iubeō, ēre, iussī, iussus- to order, command

Labrum, ī, n.- lip

Lex, lēgis, f.- law

Leo, leonis, m.- lion

Liceō, ēre, licuī, licitum- to be permitted, be allowed

Medius, a, um- middle, center of

Miser, misera, miserum- wretched, miserable

Mons, montis, m.- mountain

Mūtō, āre, āvī, ātus- to change

Parum (adv.)- little, not enough

Patior, patī, passus sum- to suffer, endure

Pavidus, a, um- trembling, terrified

Phlegethōn, ontis, m.- Phlegethon (river of fire)

Plēnus, a, um- full

Poena, ae, f.- punishment, penalty

Properans, properantis- hastening, hurrying

Quando (adv.)- when

Quicumque, quaecumque, quodcumque- whoever, whatever

Quisquis, quidquid- whoever, whatever

Recēdō, ere, recessī, recessus- to recede, withdraw

Relinquō, ere, relīquī, relictus- to leave behind, abandon

Rictus, ūs, m.- open mouth, jaws

Rīpa, ae, f.- bank (of a river)

Ruīna, ae, f.- ruin, fall, collapse

Semiustus, a, um- half-burned, scorched

Sī (conj.)- if

Stagnum, ī, n.- pool, pond, swamp

Sub (prep. + abl./acc.)- under

Superī, ōrum, m. pl.- those above, the gods

Tantalus, ī, m.- Tantalus

Timeō, ēre, uī- to fear

Veniō, īre, vēnī, ventum- to come

Videō, ēre, vīdī, vīsus- to see; (pass.) to seem

Vox, vōcis, f.- voice, word