The Tragedies of Seneca / Translated into English Verse, to Which Have Been Appended Comparative Analyses of the Corresponding Greek and Roman Plays, and a Mythological Index

by Lucius Annaeus Seneca

The frightened Lares turn their gaze from me.265

Yet this shall be, this awful thing shall be,

Ye gods, which ye do fear to think upon.

Attendant: What then is this which thou dost meditate?

Atreus: Some greater evil lurks within my soul,

And, monstrous, swells beyond all human bounds,

My sluggish hands impelling to the deed.

I know not what it is; but this I know,

That 'tis some monstrous deed. So let it be.270

Haste thee and do this deed, O soul of mine!