May the ruler of the heaven dwellers who often shakes the world with his deadly thunderbolts and terrifies our mind with sacred lightning,—may he prepare to overwhelm the head of the impious chief with flames.[44] We have seen in the sky, where Bootes[45] stiff with cold slowly draws his wagons in the eternal change of night, the glowing splendor of the comet expand its baneful light.[46] Behold, even the very atmosphere is contaminated by the ominous breath of the savage chief;[47] the stars foretell new calamities to the nations which the impious leader rules.
When long ago Tellus, furious at Jove, was a mother,[48] she did not produce a monster as fierce as this infamous Nero. This curse, more dreadful than Typhon, this enemy of gods and man, has driven the celestial deities from their temples and the citizens from their fatherland; he has deprived my brother of life; he has shed the blood of his own mother; yet he sees the light, he enjoys life, and continues to draw his deadly breath.[49] Alas, Jupiter, thou noble father of the world, why dost thou vainly hurl with thine own royal hand so many times at random? Why dost thou hesitate to act against such a baneful monster? May Nero, the pretender, the true descendant of Domitius[50] pay the penalty for his crimes—Nero, the tyrant of the world which he burdens with a disgraceful yoke—Nero, who defiles the very name of Augustus with his blemished character.
NURSE: I acknowledge that he is unworthy of thee but submit to fate and fortune, daughter, and do not, I implore thee, arouse the wrath of thy angry husband. Perhaps some avenging god will appear and a joyful day will dawn.
OCTAVIA: For a long time our home has been beset with the heavy wrath of the gods. Pitiless Venus first exacted punishment for the madness of my wretched mother who was united in incestuous marriage, regardless of me, of her husband, and forgetful of the laws.[51] With her hair flowing and entwined with serpents, that avenging Erinys came to the fatal marriage couch and quenched in blood the torches snatched from the marriage chamber. Anger aroused the heart of the fierce leader to disgraceful murder. Our unhappy mother perished by the sword, and her death continually saddens me. She has led forth to death her own husband and son; she has betrayed and destroyed our home.
NURSE: Cease renewing filial sorrows by thy weeping. Do not disturb the spirit of thy mother who has paid heavy penalties for her own madness.
CHORUS: What rumor do we now hear? Falsely believed and repeated in vain so many times, may it lose credence; may the new wife not enter the bridal apartments; may the former wife, the child of Claudius, retain her own Penates; may she give birth to pledges of love in which a peaceful universe may rejoice and Rome preserve an eternal glory.