Hercules furens nulla superiorum fabularum inferior est, sive ipsam scriptionis oeconomiam sive argumenti et gravitatem et varietatem sive denique spectes funestas et atroces rerum conversiones, quales sibi proprie vindicant Tragoediae. Quid enim afflicto sene cum Herculis deserta familiola ad aras sedente et turpem mortem ob oculos cernente miserabilius? Qui non ita pridem filio totius orbis victore superbus erat. Sed quam subita quamque insperata haec mutatio? In articulo ipso mortis versante Amphitryone cum suis, adest saluus Hercules: caeditur Lycus, qui ad mactandum desolatas Herculis reliquias toto ferebatur impetu: quodque tanto studio in alios parabat, id in ipsius caput recidit. At haec liberatio Herclidarum, quam subita et atroci clade commutatur? Mittit enim Iuno ad dementandum Herculem Furias. Ergo qui modo suis ἀλεξίκακος καὶ σωτήριος appellabatur iam fit Ate ac pestis funesta. Actus enim furore misere suos liberos cum coniuge occidit. Quo spectaculo quid calamitosius aut immanius fingi queat? Nihil itaque iam Herculi praeter laqueum vel rei vel spei vel animi supererat. Sed poeta, ne παρὰ τὸ πρέπον virum tot victoriis inclitum induceret se ipsum strangulantem ac vitae casibus turpiter succumbentem, caute praevidit. Facit enim ut subito adsit Theseus, qui afflictissimum et iam de morte sibi consciscenda cogitantem amicum consoletur ac confirmet a turpique proposito revocet. Hanc fabulam Seneca latine expressit elegantissime, ita ut certasse de palma cum nostro Euripide videatur. De argumenti ratione nihil mutavit, personas easdem servavit: variavit tamen nonnihil oeconomiam, idque summo ingenio ac summa arte.

Raging Hercules is in no respect inferior to any of the earlier plays, whether you consider the very structure of the writing, or the seriousness and variety of the plot, or finally the fatal and dreadful reversals of events, such as tragedies properly claim for themselves. For what is more pitiful than the distressed old man sitting at the altar with the abandoned little family of Hercules and seeing a shameful death before its eyes? He who not so long ago was proud of his son, conqueror of the whole world. But how sudden and how unexpected is this change? When Amphitryon with his loved ones is at the very moment of death, Hercules arrives safe: Lycus is slain, he who was rushing with full force to slaughter the abandoned remnants of Hercules: and what he was preparing with such zeal against others, this fell back on his own head. But this liberation of the Heraclids, by how sudden and dreadful a disaster is it changed? For Juno sends the Furies to drive Hercules mad. Therefore he who just now was called by his people ἀλεξίκακος καὶ σωτήριος [averter of evil and savior] now becomes ruin and a deadly plague. Driven by madness, he wretchedly kills his own children together with his wife. What more disastrous or more monstrous thing could be imagined than this spectacle? Therefore nothing, whether of circumstance, of hope, or of spirit, now remained for Hercules except the noose. But the poet carefully provided that he not introduce παρὰ τὸ πρέπον [contrary to what is fitting] a man famous for so many victories strangling himself and shamefully yielding to the blows of life. For he brings it about that suddenly Theseus arrives, who consoles and encourages his most distressed friend, already thinking of inflicting death upon himself, and calls him back from the shameful resolve. This play Seneca expressed most elegantly in Latin, so that he seems to have competed for the palm of victory with our Euripides. He changed nothing of the import of the plot, he preserved the same characters: however, he somewhat changed the arrangement, and this with the greatest talent and the greatest skill.

Porro Herculis exemplo, qui veluti perpetua quadam laborum catena illigatus immensas per omnem vitam aerumnas exantlavit nec aliud inde praemii consecutus est quam odia invidiam calumnias et poenam, adumbrat Poeta mortalium ingratitudinem summam erga bene de se meritos viros: praeterea virtutis viam, quae aspera difficilis et ardua (ut Hesiodus canit [Works and Days 290-2]) multorum odiis et invidiae est obnoxia. Ita Alcibiades Themistocles Solon Lycurgus Theseus pro ingentibus beneficiis in suas civitates iniurias probra exilia rettulerunt. Quin etiam evidenti imagine describit calamitates et infelicitatem tyrannorum, qui non aequitate et iustitia imperium administrant, sed libidine et crudelitate civium animos abs se alienant odiumque publicum sibi contrahunt. Hinc fingit, extincto Lyco ab Hercule, cives laetantes tripudiantes quod viderent ducem suum sublatum esse e medio: cuius interitum alioqui si bonus fuisset, non solum acerbe et familiariter tulissent, sed etiam vindicassent armis. Addit autem causam, quae homines ad saevitiam et insolentiam plerumque subuehat: nempe χρυσὸν καὶ εὐτυχίαν, cum non cogitant, ut noster ait, τὸν πότμον εἶναι παλίῤῥουν [cf. Herc. 739], id est reflua lubricaque fata esse, quibus nihil perpetuo in suo maneat statu. Tam res est invisa tyrannis. Nam Aristotele† teste, homo animal est τῇ φύσει ἐλεύθερον καὶ μισοῦν τὸ δοῦλον.

†[I have found no passage stating this in Aristotle, nor does the phrase occur in these terms elsewhere.]

Further, by the example of Hercules, who, as if bound by a certain perpetual chain of labors, endured through his whole life immense hardships and obtained from that no other reward than hatreds, envy, accusations, and punishment, the Poet shadows forth the extreme ingratitude of mortals toward men who have deserved well of them: furthermore, the path of virtue, which is rough, difficult, and steep (as Hesiod sings) is subject to the hatreds and envy of many. Thus Alcibiades, Themistocles, Solon, Lycurgus, Theseus, for great benefits toward their own states, received in return injuries, reproaches, exiles. More than that, also by a clear image he describes the calamities and misfortune of tyrants, who administer rule not by fairness and justice, but alienate the minds of citizens from themselves by their lust and cruelty and draw upon themselves public hatred. Hence he depicts, when Lycus has been killed by Hercules, citizens rejoicing and dancing because they were seeing their leader removed from their midst: whose death otherwise, if he had been good, they would have borne not only bitterly and personally, but also would have avenged with arms. But he adds a cause, which for the most part drives men to cruelty and arrogance: namely χρυσὸν καὶ εὐτυχίαν [gold and good fortune], when they do not think, as our author says, τὸν πότμον εἶναι παλίῤῥουν, that is, that fates are reversible and slippery, by which nothing perpetually remains in its own state. So hateful a thing is tyranny. For with Aristotle as witness, man is an animal τῇ φύσει ἐλεύθερον καὶ μισοῦν τὸ δοῦλον [by nature free and hating what is slavish].

In Theseo boni amici exemplum est illustrissimum, qui tanto studio fide et constantia afflicto Herculi adest. Insani autem Herculis miserabile spectaculum ad moderationem et modestiam vocat eos qui rerum suarum successu elati ita res suas constabilitas arbitrantur ut eae non possint mutari. Quid enim illustrius, quid invictius Hercule? Quis umquam tot victoriis claruit? At ille in hoc dramate parricida furiosus abiectissimus lacrimans fractus inducitur: ita ut etiam decrepiti senis consolatione opus habeat, quem prius non hydrae, non leones Cerberi Caci Geryones terruerant. Isti ergo Hercules, terrores orbis ac victoriosa capita, huius nostri Herculis exemplo σωφρονεῖν merito discere debent.

In Theseus is a most illustrious example of a good friend, who with so great zeal, loyalty, and constancy is present to help the distressed Hercules. But the pitiable spectacle of the mad Hercules calls to moderation and restraint those who, lifted up by the success of their affairs, judge their affairs so firmly fixed that they cannot be changed. For what is more illustrious, what more unconquered than Hercules? Who ever shone with so many victories? But that man in this drama is brought in as a parricide, mad, most abject, weeping, broken: so that he has need even of a decrepit old man’s consolation, this man whom before neither hydras, nor lions, nor Cerberuses, nor Cacuses, nor Geryones had terrified. Therefore those Herculeses, terrors of the world and victorious beings, by the example of this our Hercules, ought deservedly to learn σωφρονεῖν [to be moderate/self-controlled].

[627] Argumentum Actus primi.

In prologo, sub persona Amphitryonis parasceue est ad futuras turbas et processionem epitaseon. Is enim cum Megara et Herculis liberis ad aram Iovis Agoraei miserabiliter omniumque rerum indigus sedens queritur de Lyci crudelitate in se et omnem Herculis progeniem, quam iste funditus delere conabatur. 2 Megaram exposita violentia et iniuriis Lyci abiectaque cum pueris socerum appellat de effugio et vitando praesente periculo, quam senex consolatur iubetque bono esse animo: fortunam enim lubricam esse nec in eodem semper persistere statu. 3 Chorus senum Thebanorum audita morte Herculis querulus commiserescit afflictas fortunas Herculearum reliquiarum. 4 Secunda huius Actus pars hic incipit, quae tota consumitur contionibus: quarum prima est Lyci, tyrannica crudelis et cum vituperatione Herculis coniuncta. Secunda Amphitryonis, qua magna libertate nomen et famam Herculis defendit: ipsumque Lycum dehortatur a necandis liberis Herculis. Invehitur quoque in ipsam civitatem ut ingratam et beneficiorum Herculis immemorem, quae scilicet neglectui habeat Herculis tam praeclare meriti herois liberos. Nihil autem proficit quominus saevus tyrannus innocentes crudeliter extinguere paret. Unde Chorus senum offensus tam manifesta impietate negat se laturum tyrannidem peregrini latronis. Postremo Megara ad mortem fortiter oppetendam multis argumentis senem hortatur quandoquidem ea omnino evitari non possit. Vix ergo summis precibus liberis sepultura et ornatu in funere sollemni a tyranno impetratis intro se recipiunt ut ad mortem se expeditos faciant. 5 Chorus commemorandis Herculis rebus gestis occupatur.

Argument of the First Act.

In the prologue, through the character Amphitryon, there is preparation for future disturbances and the development of complications. For he, with Megara and the children of Hercules, sitting miserably at the altar of Jupiter Agoraeus and in need of all things, complains of the cruelty of Lycus toward himself and all the offspring of Hercules, which that man was trying to destroy utterly. 2 Megara, having set forth the violence and abuses of Lycus, and disheartened, together with her children appeals to her father-in-law about escape and avoiding the present danger; whom the old man consoles and orders to be of good spirit, for (he says) fortune is slippery and does not always remain in the same state. 3 The Chorus of Theban old men, having heard of the death of Hercules, lamenting pities the afflicted fortunes of the remnants of Hercules. 4 The second part of this Act here begins, which is wholly consumed in speeches: of which the first is that of Lycus, tyrannical, cruel, and combined with reproach of Hercules. The second is that of Amphitryon, in which with great freedom he defends the name and fame of Hercules and urges Lycus not to kill the children of Hercules; he also inveighs against the city itself as ungrateful and forgetful of the benefits of Hercules, which indeed holds in neglect the children of Hercules, a hero so oustandingly deserving; but he accomplishes nothing that would inhibit the savage tyrant from preparing to destroy the innocent cruelly. Whence the Chorus of old men, offended by such manifest impiety, says that it will not endure the tyranny of a foreign robber. Finally Megara urges the old man with many arguments to meet death bravely, since it cannot at all be avoided. Therefore having scarcely, with the greatest prayers, obtained from the tyrant burial and adornment in a solemn funeral for the children, they withdraw inside to make themselves ready for death. 5 The Chorus is occupied with recounting the deeds of Hercules.

Argumentum Actus secundi.

Megara cum liberis et Amphitryone egrediens foras ac iam funereo cultu expedita ad caedem repetit querelas iustoque dolori liberius indulget, omni videlicet spe quam olim de successu et flore liberorum conceperat excussa. Ac tandem absentis Herculis opem implorat, ut cui nusquam ulla auxilii spes affulgeret. Senex vero ad Iovem vocem intendit. Senes Thebani autem egregia sententia monent ut praecisa omni longioris vitae spe id aevi quod datur suaviter et laeti transigamus, cum videamus res humanas tam fallaces ac lubricas esse. 2 Hercules praeter spem et subito ab inferis reversus suos pullatos videt omnemque rem ex iis resciscit, nempe iniurias et vim Lyci, Thebanorum autem ingratitudinem et perfidiam. Unde graviter commotus et Lycum et reliquos memorabili clade se ulturum dicit. Cuius impetum et festinationem moderatur prudentissimus pater, monens eum ne temere se in periculum praecipitet, sed tuto ac caute agat et lente (iuxta proverbium) festinet. [628] Cuius consilio libens paret Hercules et intro se recipit, captaturus occasionem interimendi Lyci. 3. Chorus commune senum ἦθος exprimit, qui ut plurimum solent incusare senectam et beatam dicere iuventam. deos etiam culpat, qui nulla nota bonos a malis secreverint, sed utrisque ex aequo brevia vivendi spatia concesserint. Deinde Herculis victoriam, inoptatos* reditus se hymnis prosecuturum dicit.

*[correction of typographic error in optatos]

Argument of the Second Act.

Megara, coming out with the children and Amphitryon and now prepared in funeral dress for slaughter, repeats her complaints and more freely gives way to a just grief, all the hope which she had once conceived about the success and flourishing of the children having been cast off. And at last she implores the help of absent Hercules, since for her nowhere did any hope of help shine forth. But the old man directs his voice to Jupiter. The Theban old men, however, in a notable maxim advise that, when all hope of longer life is cut off, we may pass pleasantly and happily that span of life which is given, since we see human affairs to be so deceptive and slippery. 2 Hercules, beyond expectation and suddenly returned from the underworld, sees his family clothed in funereal black and learns the whole matter from them, namely the abuses and violence of Lycus and the ingratitude and treachery of the Thebans. Whence, greatly moved, he says that he will avenge Lycus and the rest with a memorable destruction; whose rush and haste his most prudent father moderates, warning him not rashly to throw himself into danger, but to act safely and cautiously and hasten slowly (as the proverb has it). And Hercules willingly obeys his advice and withdraws inside, intending to seize the opportunity of killing Lycus. 3 The Chorus expresses the common ἦθος [character] of old men, who for the most part are accustomed to blame old age and call youth blessed; it also blames the gods, who have separated the good from the bad by no mark but have granted to both equally short spans of life. Then it says that it will treat with hymns the victory of Hercules and his unexpected return.

Argumentum Actus tertii.

Lycus tracturus ad necem Megaram cum liberis, ignoransque intus Herculem esse, incidit inopinato in medios gladios ac ipsam perniciem trucidaturque ab Hercule, insultante et plaudente Choro. 2 Chorus praeter gratulationem et eulogium Herculeae virtutis et incolumitatis, nihil habet. Invitat enim non solum cives Thebanos, sed ipsas quoque nymphas et Musas, ad laetitiam ac cantus propter oppressum tyrannum collaudatque Iovem, ut cuius concubitu cum Alcmena sit victoriosus ille Hercules editus. 3 Haec secunda huius Actus pars repente mutatis rebus funesta continet. Furiae enim, collega Iride, in Herculem se armant quem mente spoliant ut per insaniam liberos cum coniuge occidat sicque Iunonis odio litet. 4 Chorus lamentis prosequitur Herculis calamitatem, qui iam furiatus ad necem suorum tendebat, quem modo ut felicem hymnis celebrarat: τοιάδε* τίς ἐστι πάντων μεταβολή.†

*[τοιάδη printed in error]

†[This phrase as a whole appears to be Stiblinus’s own composition, although πάντων μεταβολὴ often occurs in Greek texts.]

Argument of the Third Act.

Lycus, intending to drag Megara with the children to their death and not knowing Hercules is inside, falls unexpectedly into the midst of swords and into destruction itself, and is slaughtered by Hercules, with the Chorus exulting and applauding. 2 The Chorus contains nothing other than congratulation and praise of the valor and invulnerability of Hercules, For it invites not only the Theban citizens but also the nymphs themselves and the Muses to joy and songs because of the suppression of the tyrant, and it praises Jupiter, since by his union with Alcmena that victorious Hercules had been brought forth. 3 This second part of this Act, with things suddenly having been changed, contains deadly events. For the Furies, with Iris as companion, arm themselves against Hercules, whom they strip of reason, so that through madness he kills the children with his wife and thus makes an offering to the hatred of Juno. 4 The Chorus reacts to the calamity of Hercules with lamentations, who now maddened was heading toward the killing of his family, the man whom just now it had celebrated as happy with hymns: τοιάδε τίς ἐστι πάντων μεταβολή [such is the alteration of all things].

Argumentum Actus quarti.

Nuntius Choro exponit Herculis taeterrima parricidia quae in uxore et liberis per furorem commiserat post Lyci caedem. Nam ne quid tot defuncto laboribus et periculis [629] in hac vita sincerum ac liquidum esset, in carissimam coniugem quoque et dulcissima pignora saevire eum coegit aeternum Iunonis odium. 2 Chorus et Amphitryon facinoris inauditi immanitate attoniti plorant ac gemunt, Hercule iam in somnum prolapso, quodque summis malis fieri solet, prae dolore stupent. 3 Hercules excitus somno ac priori menti redditus quidnam fiat miratur: cum et tela sparsim iacere et se vinculis implicatum videret. Vix ergo seipsum capit. Tandem coram aspicit et caesos liberos et uxorem harumque rerum patratorem se ex Amphitryone esse cognoscit. Unde querelam acerbissimam orditur inutilisque facti subit poenitentia, quae necem spontaneam ac laqueos suadet, ut se infamiae et foeditati secuturae vitae eriperet. Thesei praeterea conspectum pro more male consciorum fugit.

Argument of the Fourth Act.

A messenger sets forth to the Chorus the most horrible kin-murders of Hercules, which he had committed upon his wife and children through madness after the killing of Lycus. For lest anything in this life be pure and clear for him who had finished so many labors and dangers, the eternal hatred of Juno compelled him to rage even against his dearest wife and sweetest children. 2 The Chorus and Amphitryon, stunned by the enormity of the unheard-of crime, weep and groan, Hercules now having fallen into sleep, and, as is accustomed to happen in the greatest evils, they are stupefied from grief. 3 Hercules, roused from sleep and restored to his former mind, wonders what is happening, since his weapons lie scattered and he sees himself bound in chains. Scarcely, therefore, does he grasp himself. At last he sees before him both the slain children and his wife and learns from Amphitryon that he himself is the perpetrator of these things. Whence he begins a most bitter lament, and a feeling of repentance for his useless deed comes upon him, which urges him toward voluntary death and the noose, so that he may snatch himself from the disgrace and foulness of the life to follow. Moreover he avoids the sight of Theseus, according to the custom of those conscious of wrongdoing.

Argumentum Actus quinti.

Theseus Atheniensium dux, Herculis comes individuus, cum in periculo amicum versari audivisset, cum exercitu Thebas venit atque ibi miserandam caedem aspicit. Herculem vero obstupidum et de nece sibi consciscenda cogitantem conspectusque hominum propter consceleratam conscientiam fugitantem vix tandem permovet ut aperto vultu se aspiceret. 2 Hercules vitae suae miserias, quas partim fatis et numinis odio, partim veteri generis sui scelerationi et Atae acceptas refert, exponit cum querela de sequentis vitae infamia, ignominia, et turpitudine. Ex quibus omnibus concludit nihil amplius reliquum esse nisi ut quam ocissime ex hac vita discedat, addens clausulae loco amaram turpiter invidae Iunonis suggillationem. Contra Theseus consolatoria oratione iacentem et penitus consternatum Herculem erigere ac sublevare conatur, invitans eum liberaliter in regni consortium. 3 Hercules animum recipit utcumque ac deosculata suorum cadavera patri sepelienda mandat et post multam querelam ac amaras lacrimas cum Theseo proficiscitur, commendans seni afflictam ac parricidio funestatam domum.

Argument of the Fifth Act.

Theseus, leader of the Athenians and inseparable companion of Hercules, because he had heard his friend was in danger, comes to Thebes with an army and there beholds the pitiable slaughter. But as for Hercules, who is stunned and thinking about killing himself and is avoiding the sight of men because of guilty self-awareness, he scarcely at last moves him to look upon him with uncovered face. 2 Hercules sets forth the miseries of his life, which he attributes partly to fate and the hatred of divine power, partly to the ancient guilt of his race and to Ate, with complaint about the disgrace, dishonor, and shame of the life to follow. From all these considerations he concludes that nothing more remains except that he depart from this life as quickly as possible, adding as a conclusion a bitter mockery of shamefully envious Juno. On the other hand Theseus, with a consolatory speech, tries to raise and support Hercules, who is lying low and utterly overwhelmed, inviting him generously into a share of his kingdom. 3 Hercules recovers his spirit somehow and, having kissed the bodies of his family, entrusts them to his father to be buried, and after much lament and bitter tears he sets out with Theseus, entrusting to the old man the house afflicted and polluted by kin-murder.