by Seneca
229
439 two watches . . . Plough: these details identify the time as just past mid-
night.
445 igniting those Greek ships: Hector sets fire to the Greek ships in the Iliad,
Books 15 – 16.
447 the fake Achilles . . . armour: in Book 16 of the Iliad Achilles’ friend
Patroclus borrows his armour and goes into battle wearing it; Hector kills
him and takes the armour.
455 If only the whole city had been flattened: Astyanax, the baby son, will be
thrown from the one remaining tall tower of Troy.
521 laid down: the word used — depositum — is a kind of pun, since it also con-
notes a person who is ‘dead’ or ‘buried’ (from depositus, lit. ‘put down’).
555 Orestes: Agamemnon’s son. The point is that the son of the losing hero
would always have had to be killed; if the Greeks had lost, Agamemnon’s
son would have been the one.
Agamemnon
did: Agamemnon has already had to endure the loss of his
child — Iphigeneia—whom he killed himself.
570 even divine ones: the reference is to Thetis, divine mother of Achilles, who
tried to pretend that her son was a woman, to protect him from the war
(see note to line 211). Her trick was exposed by Ulysses, who offered
armour as a present to Achilles; he eagerly accepted, as (supposedly) no
woman would.
664 But you sold him to us: Achilles and the other Greek leaders ‘sold’ the body
of Hector to Priam, when he came to give ransom for his son’s corpse.
670 even those that blessed you: refers to the temple of Minerva (Athena), dese-
crated by the rape of Cassandra by Ajax.
705 Come out here: there is a shift to lyric metre here; Andromache is singing
as she calls her son out.
720 Priam . . . threats of fierce Hercules: Priam’s father, Laomedon, promised
to give a gift of mares to Hercules in exchange for building his city’s walls.
Laomedon reneged on the promise, and Hercules came to kill him — but,
in Seneca’s version of the myth, spared the boy Priam’s life (a detail
which does not appear in early versions of the story).
753 you killed even Greeks: Ulysses plotted the death of Palamedes,
a Greek.
755 fighting by night: Ulysses was famous for his night-time expedition into
the Trojan camp with Diomedes, described in the Iliad, Book 10.
778 Trojan Games: a Roman institution, which supposedly originated at
Troy.
782 honour foreign temples . . . dance: refers to the games held in honour of
Cybele, the mother-goddess from Asia Minor.
824 twice over: Hercules’ bow, made on Mount Oeta, was used by Hercules
himself in the first destruction of the walls of Troy, and then by
Philoctetes in the final sack of Troy by the Greeks.
* * *
230
notes to trojan women, pages 127–141
830 Chiron: the centaur who acted as tutor to the boy Achilles.
843 Mysteries: a secret religious cult in honour of Ceres (Demeter) and
Persephone.
857 Sparta . . . Argos . . . Mycenae . . . Neritos . . . Zacynthos . . . Ithaca:
Sparta was the home of Helen; Argos and Mycenae were the
kingdom of Agamemnon; Zacynthos, Neritos, and Ithaca belonged to
Ulysses.
976 The boy from Scyros: Pyrrhus.
978 the king of kings: Agamemnon.
991 who got Achilles’ spoils: Ulysses, who was awarded Achilles’ armour after
his death.
1003 you like my family’s blood: Pyrrhus has already killed Hecuba’s old hus-
band, Priam.
1034 Phrixus . . . Helle: a brother and sister who ran away from their jealous
stepmother on a golden ram sent by Jupiter (see note to Medea,
line 471).
1039 Pyrrha and her husband: the only survivors of a great flood sent by
Jupiter to punish the human race.
1103 the boy jumped down to Priam’s kingdom: the Latin line is metrically
incomplete — a rare phenomenon in Seneca. The feeling of a gap clearly
mirrors the sense: Astyanax is suddenly broken off. ‘Priam’s kingdom’
is both Troy and, now, the land of the dead.
1104 Colchis: the kingdom of Medea, who killed her children: here it forms
the first in a series of three famously barbaric places — none of which
have seen behaviour as barbaric as that of Ulysses.
1106 Busiris: an Egyptian king who sacrificed on his altars all strangers who
entered his kingdom.
1108 Diomedes: a Thracian king who fed his horses on human flesh.
1109 your body: Andromache suddenly addresses her dead son.
1117 Still so like his father!: because Hector’s body, too, was mangled after
death.
1134 Hermione: daughter of Helen.
HERCULES FURENS
1 only his sister: one of Juno’s grievances is that Jupiter has cheated on her
so often that she is now only his sister, not his wife.
6 the Bear: Ursa Major, who is identified with the nymph Callisto, who was
seduced by Jupiter then turned into a bear by Juno. All the constellations
cited by Juno here are reminders of Jupiter’s extramarital affairs.
9 the Bull: Taurus, identified with the mythical bull — Jupiter in
disguise — who carried Europa to Crete.
* * *
notes to hercules furens, pages 141–144
231
10 Pleiades: three of the Pleiades, daughters of Atlas, slept with Jupiter.
12 Orion: not traditionally said to be a son of Jupiter, so his inclusion here is
puzzling.
13 Perseus: the son of Zeus by Danae, conceived by a shower of gold: hence,
‘golden’.
14 Gemini: Castor and Pollux, sons of Zeus by Leda.
15 those whose birth made the wandering island stop: allusion to the birth of
Apollo and Diana: their mother, Leto, gave birth on the island of Delos,
which had hitherto had no fixed place in the ocean; it stopped for her to
give birth.
16 Bacchus: the child of Zeus by Semele, Bacchus became one of the
Olympian gods.
18 Ariadne’s crown: Ariadne, abandoned by Theseus, was found and loved by
Bacchus, who put a crown of stars for her in the sky.
22 Alcmena: the mother of Hercules. Jupiter had promised that Hercules
would win immortality after performing the labours.
24 the night he was conceived: on the night of Hercules’ conception, Jupiter
ran three nights into one.
33 He wins!: Seneca delays the actual name of the monster-killing hero
whom Juno hates: Hercules.
38 the two dark-painted peoples: refers to the tradition — which goes back to
Homer, Odyssey 1. 23 — that there are two lands of Aethiopia: one situated
where the sun rises and one where it sets; both peoples supposedly had
dark skins because they were near to the sun.
46 the Lion and the Hydra: Hercules wears the skin of the Nemean
Lion and uses arrows dipped in the poison of the Hydra — both monsters
he has defeated.
48 prizes back to earth: the twelfth labour of Hercules — in many versions of
the story — was to capture Cerberus, the guard-dog of the underworld,
and bring him back up to the upper world.
52 Hades’ brother: Jupiter, Hades, and Neptune are all brothers.
&nbs
p; 54 Styx: one of the rivers in the underworld, Styx is also used metonymically
for the whole underworld kingdom.
71 He raised . . . the world: Hercules temporarily took over the task of bearing
up the world from Atlas, who usually carried it.
82 the monstrous giant: Typhoeus, who was imprisoned under Mount Etna
(the volcanic activity of that mountain was supposedly caused by his
struggles).
83 [And let the lofty moon . . . monsters.]: this line is omitted by some editors,
on the grounds that it contradicts Juno’s earlier: ‘No more monsters!’
132 Ursa Major . . . Plough: the Great Bear is actually the same constellation
as the Plough (known in the United States as the Big Dipper).
* * *
232
notes to hercules furens, pages 144–148
134 Mount Oeta’s heights: the place where Hercules will die, as described in
Seneca’s Hercules Oetaeus.
135 Pentheus’ death: the king of Thebes, who was killed by his own mother
when she was worshipping Dionysus on Mount Cithaeron — an instance
of family murder under divinely imposed madness which foreshadows
Hercules’ own actions.
137 Apollo’s sister: Diana, the moon-goddess.
139 the Thracian king: alludes to the story of Philomela, raped by her sister’s
husband Tereus, in Thrace; she was turned into a nightingale.
182 The brutal sisters . . . spinning: the three Fates, sisters who spin the threads
of destiny or fate for all mortals.
215 as a newborn baby: Juno sent snakes to kill Hercules while he was still in
his cradle.
223 the speedy hind: one of Hercules’ labours was to capture the Ceryneian
hind, sacred to Diana.
224 The terrifying lion: Hercules killed the Nemean lion, another monstrous
animal.
226 those awful Thracian stables: Hercules had to capture the man-eating
horses of the Thracian giant-king, Diomedes. Seneca’s formulation
suggests that Hercules also fed the king to the horses.
228 the bristly wild boar: another labour: the capture of the wild Erymanthian
boar.
230 the bull: monstrous Cretan bull.
232 triple-bodied shepherd: Hercules killed Geryon, a giant with three heads
and three bodies, and stole his cattle.
236 countries singed by the noon-time heat: Hercules visited Libya and
Gibraltar.
238 highway for the rushing ocean: the Straits of Gibraltar.
240 golden spoils: the apples of the Hesperides, guarded by a hundred-headed
dragon or snake.
241 in Lerna: the Lernaean Hydra had nine heads, which grew back when cut
off; Hercules killed it by scorching each neck after decapitation.
243 the birds: the Stymphalian Birds were man-eating birds with poisonous
dung; Hercules shot them down with his arrows.
245 ever-virgin queen: Hercules took the girdle of the Amazon queen,
Hippolyta.
248 Augean stable: Hercules’ most disgusting labour was to muck out the
dung-encrusted Augean stables in a single day.
261 an army jumped up: Cadmus, founder of Thebes, planted dragon-teeth,
and soldiers sprang up (see note to Medea, line 169).
262 Amphion: the singer who restored the walls of Thebes through the power
of music (see note to Oedipus, line 611).
* * *
notes to hercules furens, pages 148–153
233
269 this stranger: Lycus.
285 Mount Tempe: Hercules supposedly opened the Vale of Tempe, cracking
the mountains apart.
293 self-forgetful dead: the dead have forgotten themselves because they have
drunk the waters of Lethe, river of forgetfulness.
300 Ceres: the mother-goddess associated with the harvest, who had a mystery
cult at Eleusis.
319 the dry beach: Amphitryon seems to allude to an otherwise unknown
incident in Hercules, life: apparently he managed to escape from the
notorious quicksands of Syrtes.
340 machismo: Lycus uses the word virtus ‘manly courage’, ‘heroism’, which
is also a primary characteristic of Hercules himself. The play is, among
other things, a sustained meditation on what virtus really is.
357 Hercules’ real father: a gibe at Hercules, suggesting that he is not really the
son of Jupiter but of his adoptive human father, Amphitryon.
377 Euripus: the changeability of the shifting waters of Euripus was
proverbial.
387 mothers . . . suffered: reference to Jocasta, mother of Oedipus; Ino, who
plotted against Phrixus; and Agave, who killed her son Pentheus.
388 that mixed-up man . . . son: Oedipus.
389 the brothers’ two camps . . . flames: this refers to the two sons of Oedipus,
Polyneices and Eteocles, who fought and killed one another in a dispute
over the throne of Thebes. When their bodies were put on the funeral
pyre the flames divided, so that even in death the brothers could not be
reconciled.
390 That proud mother: Niobe, daughter of Tantalus (see note to Medea, line 954).
392 Cadmus himself: founder of the Theban dynasty, changed to a snake by
Bacchus.
451 Apollo served as shepherd: Apollo was enslaved to Admetus, and worked as
his shepherd at Pherae.
453 on a wandering island: see note to line 15.
455 A dragon: according to some versions of the myth, Juno sent the
dragon Python after Leto when she was pregnant; Apollo took revenge by
killing the dragon.
458 father’s thunderbolt . . . thundering father: Bacchus’ mother, Semele, was
burned up by Jupiter’s thunderbolt (see note to line 16), but Bacchus
‘soon’ stood beside his father in battle, to fight against the Giants.
Amphitryon’s point is that vulnerability in babyhood does not prevent
later heroism, or later deification.
460 lie hidden in a cavern: Jupiter’s mother, Rhea, hid him in a cave on Mount
Ida as a baby to protect him from his father Cronos, who had a habit of
swallowing his children.
* * *
234
notes to hercules furens, pages 153–158
464 do not say that he suffers: Amphitryon’s position is similar to the central
Stoic tenet that virtue alone is sufficient for happiness. A perfectly wise,
brave, and virtuous man must, in Stoic thought, be happy — regardless of
the misery or torment of his external circumstances.
465 the lion skin fell from his shoulders: this refers to the story that Hercules
was enslaved by the queen of Lydia, Omphale, and she made him wear
women’s clothes while she dressed in his lion skin.
478 virgin girls: Hercules raped Eurytus’ daughter, Iole. This part of the
legend is usually put chronologically later, after Hercules is married to his
second wife, Deianira. There are many other stories of Hercules’ sexual
exploits; for instance, he had sex with all fifty daughters of Thespius
(a feat sometimes called the thirteenth labour).
487 Eryx . . . Antaeus . . . Busiris . . . Cycnus . . . Geryon: Amphitryon lists
tyrants and oppressors defeated by Hercules. Most of the characters
on the list were cruel and violent to strangers. Antaeus challenged
strangers to fight, and always won; Eryx did the same; Cycnus also
monster Geryon was killed by Hercules when he went to steal his cattle
(on Eurystheus’ orders).
490 you gave one wife to Jove: Amphitryon ‘lent’ his wife Alcmena to Jupiter,
on the night Hercules was conceived.
495 Labdacus: grandson of Cadmus, and grandfather of Oedipus; a king of
Thebes, often treated as representative of the Theban royal family.
498 daughters of King Danaus: the fifty Danaids (see note to Medea,
line 749).
529 snaky heads: refers to the Hydra, the many-headed serpent killed by
Hercules.
530 the sisters: the Hesperides; Hercules stole their apples.
565 The king who rules so many souls . . . terrified to die: During Hercules’ attack
on the city of Pylos the gods Neptune, Apollo, and Hades tried to defend
the city. The Chorus suggests that, having defeated Hades once, Hercules
can do so again.
571 Orpheus . . . Eurydice back: the mythical singer and son of Apollo and the
muse Calliope tried to win back his dead wife Eurydice by singing for
Hades and Persephone (see note to Medea, line 625).
599 king of the second realm: Neptune.
603 this horrible wonder: Cerberus, the guard-dog of the underworld, whom
Hercules has brought up to the light with him.
604 she: Juno.
639 Lycus will tell Dis: the conceit is that Lycus himself will soon be dead, and
can pass the news on to the king of the underworld (Dis).
658 Natural Law: an unusual invocation — fas omne mundi, lit. ‘all right of the
world’.
* * *
notes to hercules furens, pages 158–165
235
659 King of the Limitless Realm: Hades, lord of the underworld — which
constantly expands to contain new inhabitants.
660 your mother . . . Etna: Proserpine’s mother, Ceres, searched for her all
over the world when she was stolen by Hades; she used the fires of Mount
Etna to light torches so as to continue searching by night.
683 Meander: a river in modern Turkey, famous for its many turns — hence
‘meander’.
723 his brother: Hades and Jupiter/Jove are brothers; Jove looks stern only in
some aspects, when he thunders, whereas Hades/Dis looks stern all the
time.
