Thyestes 1096-1112

2 October 2007 in translation by Sam | No comments

Tantalus had murdered his son Pelops and served him as a banquet to the gods. For this crime, he was sent to the underworld where he was sentenced to eternal hunger and thirst. Pelops, restored to life, bore Atreus and Thyestes. Because Thyestes had committed adultery with Atreus’ wife, Atreus was unsure of the legitimacy of his sons Agamemnon and Menelaus. To reconcile themselves, Atreus invites Thyestes and his sons to a banquet. Atreus murders Thyestes’ sons and serves them to the dim-witted Thyestes at the banquet, and after Atreus reveals the deed to Thyestes, the following dialogue ensues at the end of the play.

(Seneca, Thyestes 1096–1112, my own translation. The text is R. J. Tarrant’s 1985/1998 edition (APA).)

At.: Nunc meas laudo manus,
nunc part vera est palma; perdideram scelus,
nisi sic doleres. liberos nasci mihi
nunc credo, castis nunc fidem reddi toris.		 Atreus: Now I praise my hands,
now the true palm is won. If you hadn’t been hurt,
my crime would have been worthless. Now I believe that the sons are my issue,
and now my bed has returned to being chaste and faithful.
Th.: Quid liberi meruere? Thyestes: What was my sons’ guilt?
At.: Quod fuerant tui. Atreus: That they were yours.
Th.: Natos parenti— Thyestes: A father’s sons…
At.: Fateor, et, quod me iuvat,
certos.		 Atreus: True, and it makes me happy to say,
certainly yours.
Th.: Piorum praesides testor deos. Thyestes: I call as witnesses the gods who protect the pious!
At.: Quid coniugales? Atreus: What of the gods who protect marriage?
Th.: Scelere quis pensat scelus? Thyestes: Who repays crime with crime?
At.: Scio quod queraris; scelere praerepto doles,
nec quod nefandas hauseris angit dapes,
quod non pararis. Fuerat hic animus tibi
instruere similes inscio fratri cibos
et adiuvante liberos matre aggredi
similique leto sternere. hoc unum obstitit:
tuos putasti.		 Atreus: I know why you’re complaining: it hurts you to be beaten to a crime.
It’s not that you gobbled up an unholy banquet,
but that you didn’t prepare it for me!
You meant to feed your innocent brother a similar meal,
to attack my children, with their mother’s help,
and put them to a similar death. Only one thing stood in your way—
you thought they were yours!
Th.: Vindices aderunt dei;
his puniendum vota te tradunt mea.		 Thyestes: The gods of vengeance shall come;
my prayers give you over to them to be punished.
At.: Te puniendum liberis trado tuis. Atreus: I give you over to your children to be punished.

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