Seneca

“ The culpability of each of us is great, do not hesitate for long, if there be any difference in our guilt, let it be mine, which shall be adjudged the greater! Select me, send through my breast, the flaming fires of thy three-forked lightning if as a father I only wish to bury my sons and deliver them over to "fire" at last? I myself must be burnt, if nothing moves the Gods, and no deity is willing to search out the wicked for punishment with his lightnings, let eternal night remain to us, and hide these tremendous crimes with its prolonged darkness! ”

“ Does not Thyestes bewail his sons yet? Why does he hang back so long? The flames already beneath the caldron, are fetching up the foam! Let the separated limbs break up into pieces! Their blood shall defile the paternal hearth! The feast will now be prepared, nor wilt thou arrive to witness a scene of, crime, to which thou canst be any stranger—thou shalt have a day set apart for thy special enjoyment, and thou shalt thoroughly satisfy thy hungry cravings, with the viands prepared at thy meals—fill then thy empty interior, and blood mixed with wine, shall be quaffed in thy very presence ”

“ The harmonious system of the universe seems upside down! There never will be again the regular rising and setting of Phœbus. Aurora, the harbinger of dewy morn, is at her wits' end with this disturbed system of illumination of her kingdom, accustomed as she is to hand over the horses of the Sun to Phœbus himself, for she knows not how to dip the already weary steeds, nor how to immerge their manes foaming with sweat, in the refreshing sea. ”

“ Nothing, after all, is stronger than the affection arising out of blood-relationship—whilst feuds carried on by those who are aliens in blood, only grow more inveterate by time! When anger brought about by grievous events, caused the rupture between these brothers, the cry of war was heard! When the skirmishing light horsemen were on the move, amidst much champing of bits; here, there, everywhere, the naked sword flashed as it was flourished about, by ardent warriors, whom fierce Mars urges on, as with repeated onslaught, the rival combatants seek out for fresh slaughter. ”

“ To hold a kingdom is a matter of chance, but to give one, an act of virtue!
THY. Oh may the Gods reward thee with similar benefits, oh! my brother! to those which thou art now so lavishly showering down upon me, but do let my present squalor decline to exchange itself for that diadem, with which thou art now proposing to dignify my head, and permit these unlucky hands of mine to be excused the task of carrying the sceptre! Let me rather go and hide myself away, amongst the busy crowd of mankind! ”

“ Let the mad wrath of the parents continue and let it descend for ever to their distant offspring, and lest ancient crimes should lose their stinging remembrances, and become more endurable, let a fresh one crop up, but not one only, but one doubled in its severity! And whilst their crimes are being punished, let matters get worse, and let the kingdom fall from the hands of the proud brothers, only to be reclaimed by them, as exiles and rivals! ”

“ Cannot my hatred work out its ends through my own agency? Thou art playing me false, soul of mine, thou art flinching—if thou sparest thy children, thou art sparing thyself! And Agamemnon shall know of, and be an instrument in, my scheme, and Menelaus too, shall be at his father's commands and be made acquainted with my project! Out of all this proposed combination of wickedness too, any notion of mine respecting the uncertainty of their birth (as to legitimacy) will be cleared up: if they refuse to advocate war, and are willing to endorse and carry out my hatred ”

“ But the whole of Argos ought at this moment to be resounding with the din of thy arms, and every warship muster and be afloat in the two seas; by this time, it might be expected, too, that the fields and cities were blazing with the conflagrations thou hast set up, and the drawn sword flashing on all sides; all the Argolic land should be sounding again with the stamping hoofs of thy cavalry. Let not the forests afford a retreat for the enemy, or fortifications constructed on the lofty summits of mountains—leaving Mycenæ behind, let all my subjects sound the trumpet of war. ”

“ Minos, the judge of Hell, will never be without employment so long as the race of Pelops lasts.
MEG. Come on, thou despicable Ghost, and stir up this criminal abode, with the very rage of the Furies; let them engage in strife, with every venomous determination, and let the sword be perpetually at work with one, or the other; let there be no bounds to their animosity, and the blindest rage inflame their hearts. ”

“ Whosoever has protected or countenanced this hateful brother of mine, the powerful following of the illustrious dynasty of Pelops, shall slay with merciful slaughter! Let every living man rush upon me, even provided he serves my brother in a similar manner! Come, soul of mine! Do what no posterity would hail as proper! but what in sooth, they may never forget—Some atrocious bloody deed must be done, which my brother would rather be done by himself against me, but it is impossible thoroughly to revenge wickedness unless thou surpassest it in degree! ”

“ Earth! how canst thou permit thyself to bear such abominable wickedness? Why dost thou not plunge thyself and us into the infernal Styx? Why! that great gulf being opened, dost thou not snatch away the kingdom and the king along with it, and consign us to the gloom of empty Chaos? Why dost thou not turn the entire city Mycenæ upside down, tearing up every living abode, from its lowest foundations. ”

“ THY. Rely on me, grand things only tickle the imagination under the assumed proportions of imposingness; poverty, after all, is not so distressing as it is represented; when I sat on the throne, I was in a perpetual state of dread, and feared that a sword was continually about to enter my side, Oh! what a desirable thing it is, to be able to take things as they come—for a man to enjoy his food in security, even when lying on the ground! Great crimes do not usually abound in the humble cot, and one's food is appreciated, and although served on a small table, there is security with it. ”

“ Who has drawn me forth from my miserable abode in Tartarus, where my food was snatched away, as it neared my hungry mouth? which of the Gods has spitefully summoned Tantalus to see the abodes of the living again? Has any new punishment been discovered more horrible than dying with burning thirst? and with water, too, around me, and within my reach, or worse even than insatiable hunger with nothing to appease its pangs. I wonder whether the slippery stone of Sisyphus is intended to be worn on my shoulders, or the wheel of Ixion to whirl my limbs round and round with its rapid motion ”

“ Let adultery be but a very trivial consideration with them in their wicked palace! Let the binding confidence between brothers, every friendship, every trust and all that is holy and sacred amongst kindred be trampled on—defied! And let heaven itself claim no immunity from the effects of thy crimes! Why do the stars shine in the heavens? why does their light continue its task of giving ornament to the world? As a matter of right? No! let night be rendered as black as possible, let no daylight emanate from the heavens! Let us throw the household Gods into disorder ”

“ He has fraudulently possessed himself of the traditional emblem of our dynasty, and he has brought about endless disaster upon our royal house! There is in the royal mews of Pelops, a noble wool-bearing animal, a mysterious Ram, the bellwether of an illustrious flock, whose dense fleece hangs down over its entire body, and profusely loaded with gold, and from whose back the wool is taken, which adorns the golden sceptre, which every newly-appointed king of the house of Tantalus dons, when he ascends the throne. The possessor of this valuable heir-loom is the man who rules the kingdom ”

“ Is there no limit to human wickedness?
ATR. A limit is certainly due to crime, when thou art merely committing crime as a crime, but not when thou art associating that crime with vengeance—and this vengeance appears small to my mind. I ought to pour out from their wounds before thy very eyes that thou mightest drink their reeking blood, whilst life still remained within them! ”

“ I am simply trifling with my anger, whilst I hurry matters on with idle words—I inflicted the wounds with the thrusts of my sword—I slew them before the altar—I pacified the Lares, with the slaughter, which I vowed, should be offered, and cutting up the limbs of their dead bodies, I divided them myself, into small portions, and plunged some of them into the hissing caldron, other portions I decided should be roasted, the fluidities therefrom dripping down before a slow fire: I cut the limbs away from the bodies, before life was quite extinct ”

“ I think it is more likely that the Polar stars will swoop down from the heavens and hide themselves in the broad ocean-depths, or that the impetuous waters of the Sicilian straits should calm down suddenly, or the growing corn to ripen, submerged in the Ionian seas. One would rather expect to see sombre Nox, lighting up the Earth, instead of Phœbus, or to see water mixing kindly with fire. Life itself fraternizing, amicably, cheek by jowl, with bitter Mors, or for the winds to enter into some anomalous arrangement, and treaty of peace, with the ocean waves! ”

“ My hair, although besmeared with perfumed grease (an unguent scented with the amomum) , is still prone to stand on end amidst sudden terrors, and the tears trickle down my unwilling face, (not willing to betray the weakness which gives rise to them,) irrepressible sighs interrupt my utterance, grief delights in tears to which it is no stranger (as a relief to pent-up sorrow) . Over the miserable the desire to weep assumes an imperious sway—surely, I am at liberty to indulge in my tristful lamentations—surely, again, I can liberate myself from my present gorgeous apparel. ”

“ Would that real night might show itself!—They tremble, and their minds are struck down with intense fear, lest every conceivable thing should be involved, and lapse shattered in one fatal ruin and that again, inexplicable chaos should overwhelm both the Gods, and mankind, and again render undistinguishable, the Earth, the Seas, and the fiery element, and nature hide the wandering planets, and the stars of the painted heavens.—Nor will the ruler of the stars, Sol, when he rises, directing the seasons with his eternal torches ever afford us again any clearly defined Summer and Winter! ”

“ Here and there a tree droops downwards, with its heavily laden boughs, bending again with the weight of its fruit, and swaying to and fro, plays the part of tempter with its patulous openings—Although hungry and impatient of delay, he fails to reach them, being disappointed as often as he makes the attempt—he averts his eyes, and closes his mouth, trying to stifle his hunger, by closing his teeth, by shutting it in, as it were! ”

“ I have always detected in him, a certain indomitableness of character; he is a man not to be bent! he must be broken! therefore, before he has time to gather up his strength or prepare for opposition, he must be sought out at once, lest indeed he should seek to find me in a state of unpreparedness—Either he will kill me or he will perish by my hand, the crime is so finely balanced between us, that he will win, who is the foremost in its perpetration! ”

“ He is a king, who fears nothing—he is a king who desires nothing unjustly; and this is the sort of royalty, which he bestows upon himself! Any man, who likes, can reign, powerful often, with a tottering roof to his palace! ”

“ And we, miserable mortals out of all the numerous peoples of the world, are thought to be deserving of such a fate, that fate will overwhelm us all—the very hinges of the universe being broken (the seasons being scattered) . We have arrived at our last stage of time, oh, miserable! that we should have ever been created for such a hard lot, whether we have lost the Sun without our own faults, or whether we have driven away that Sun by our own crimes! ”

“ I shall persevere with my revenge, and I will cause the father to partake to repletion of his own offspring, and lest by any means misgivings should prevail, fortunately the day-time has passed away—push on, I say, whilst the heavens are void of light! I wish, indeed, that I could prevent the Gods from retiring, and keep them, here, even against their will, that they might all witness this revengeful entertainment! ”

“ Whom the lance of the furious soldier, nor the drawn sword has not held in pusillanimous subjection; who, placed on a secure throne, watches everything beneath him with serenity and willingly bows to his lot, nor needs not to desire death! ”

“ But then every grove lowers its rich and luscious fruit (wealth) , nearer and nearer, and the ripe apples leap about friskily above his head surrounded by the leaves languidly yielding to their capers, and they excite his hunger more and more and this urges him to make futile efforts to seize them with his hands, that when he has held these forth in vain, he seems reconciled to such frequent disappointments, and the entire autumn during which this fruitless task is exacted, passes away, and with it, disappears the gracefulness of the groves ”