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

ACT I

[On the Cenaean promontory of the island of Euboea.]

Hercules [about to sacrifice to Cenaean Jove]: O sire of gods, from whose almighty hand

Both homes of Phoebus feel thy darting bolt:

Rule now serene, for I have 'stablished peace

Wherever Nereus checks the spreading lands.

Now let thy thunders rest; for treacherous kings5

And savage tyrants are in ruin laid.

Whatever merited thy blasting darts

Have I o'erthrown and crushed. But, father, why