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Transcriber’s Notes:

Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).

Additional Transcriber’s Notes are at the end.

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A TRANSLATION OF OCTAVIA, A LATIN TRAGEDY, WITH NOTES AND INTRODUCTION


  BY ELIZABETH TWINING HALL, A. B., 1900

  THESIS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN THE GRADUATE SCHOOL

  UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

  1901

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UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

_May 29_ 190_1_

THIS IS TO CERTIFY THAT THE THESIS PREPARED UNDER MY SUPERVISION BY

_Elizabeth Hall_

ENTITLED _Translation of Octavia, a Latin Tragedy with Notes and
Introduction_

IS APPROVED BY ME AS FULFILLING THIS PART OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE
DEGREE OF _A.M._

  _Herbert J Barton_
  HEAD OF DEPARTMENT OF _Latin_.




INTRODUCTION


Octavia is the only extant tragedy in fabula praetexta or historical
Roman tragedy in Roman scene and setting. It is remarkably true to
fact, and almost every statement may be verified by reference to the
ancient historians.

It deals with the sad story of Octavia, the daughter of Claudius and
Messalina. Married against her will when only twelve years old to Nero,
a lad of sixteen, she was after five years divorced by her husband on
a charge of barrenness in favor of Poppaea Sabina, and in 62 A.D. was
banished to a desert island there to be executed.

The play is a well rounded whole, all the parts are well worked out,
and the characters are vivid and lifelike. There is a force and majesty
in the tragedy which carries the reader through without pause. The sad
story of Octavia forms the plot, but the poet has interwoven political
motives and represents the people as taking Octavia’s part. This only
serves to hasten her death, for Nero eagerly seizes upon this as a
pretext to condemn her.

There are five acts in the play, and each is closed by chants from
the chorus which serve to explain the action further. There are many
references to history and mythology, but the atmosphere is distinctly
Roman. At no time do three actors appear on the stage in the same
scene. The characters are exactly as one would expect from a close
study of history and are delineated with marvelous skill and fidelity.

The versification is confined to iambic meters in the dialogues, while
the choruses, though they form a very prominent feature, are restricted
to anapestic systems somewhat loosely constructed.

The play is really a bitter impeachment of Nero and was composed
shortly after his death in 68 A.D. The tragedy of Octavia for a long
time was supposed to be written by Seneca and was handed down to
posterity with his genuine dramas, but later authorities ascribe its
authorship possibly to Curiatius Maternus. There is unmistakable
evidence in the words of the play that it was composed after Nero’s
death, and this would render the authorship of Seneca entirely out of
the question since he died three years before Nero.

There is perceptible the strong influence of Greek tragedy, but
the plot and setting are distinctly original. Octavia has the
characteristics of tragedy as laid down by Aristotle, that the aim is
to purify the passions by means of action exciting pity for the actors
and fear for the hearers, and that the leading characters must partly
occasion their own misfortunes. Octavia conforms to the old Greek idea
of the unities of time, place, and action. The place of action is
confined to the palace of Nero; the action may be considered as taking
place in one day and night; and the action forms a whole of which
each part has its proper place and the parts follow one another in
logical order.




CAST OF CHARACTERS


  NERO, THE EMPEROR
  SENECA, THE TUTOR OF NERO
  PREFECT
  MESSENGER
  OCTAVIA, THE DIVORCED WIFE OF NERO
  POPPAEA, THE MISTRESS OF NERO
  NURSE OF OCTAVIA
  NURSE OF POPPAEA
  AGRIPPINA, MOTHER OF NERO
  CHORUS




OCTAVIA, A TRAGEDY.


_OCTAVIA_: Already glorious Aurora[1] chases the wandering stars from
the sky. Titan,[2] with radiant hair, rises and returns a clear day to
the world. Come, thou[3] who art burdened by so many great misfortunes,
utter once more thy sad lamentations. Surpass the kingfishers[4] and
the swift nightingales, for thy fate is more grievous than theirs.
O, mother, for whom I have always mourned, the first cause of my
misfortunes, (if any consciousness exists in the shades) hear the
sad lamentations of thy daughter. Would that Clotho[5] had broken my
threads with her own aged hand before I saw thy features sprinkled with
loathsome blood.[6] O, day always fatal to me, from that time thou
hast been to me more hateful than the lower regions. I have endured
commands, hostility, and fierce glances from my cruel stepmother.[7]
That gloomy Erinys[8] has brought to my bridal room Stygian[9] fires
and has destroyed thee, wretched father,[10] whom recently the
whole world beyond the Ocean obeyed, before whom retreated the
Britains,[11] ignorant of our leaders and their own rights. Woe to me,
father, that I am overwhelmed by the treachery of thy wife, and that
thou liest prostrate, and that thy conquered home and daughter obey the
tyrant.

_NURSE_: If anyone is captivated, astonished, and stupefied by
the first gleam of deceptive royalty, he will see, overthrown by a
sudden attack of concealed Fortune, a recently powerful home and the
progeny of Claudius who ruled the world and commanded the ocean which
reluctantly received his fleets.[12] Behold, he who first placed the
yoke upon the Britains[13] and covered unknown seas with such great
fleets, and was safe among barbarous tribes and savage seas, perished by
his wife’s crime.[14] Soon she died by the hand of her own son whose
brother met death by poison. The unhappy sister and wife sorrows;
restrained indignation cannot conceal the grievous affliction of a
cruel husband whom she in her innocence always escapes, while the
passionate husband burns with a mutual hatred. In vain my fidelity and
loyalty to soothe her sorrowing mind. Pitiless grief frustrates my
plans; the mind’s generous ardor cannot be subdued but gathers strength
for evils. Alas, what an infamous crime our terror foresees. O, may the
gods avert it.

_OCTAVIA_: My fortunes are comparable to no evils,[15] even if I
should recall thy sorrows, Electra.[16] Thou wast permitted to mourn
thy father and to avenge the crime by the vengeance of a brother whom
thy loyalty rescued and thy fidelity protected.[17] Fear prevents me
from lamenting my parents removed by a cruel destiny, and forbids me to
weep for the death of a brother who had been my only hope and the brief
solace for so many misfortunes. Now I remain in my sorrow the shadow of
a great name.[18]

_NURSE_: Listen, I hear the voice of my sad foster daughter. Does
slow old age hesitate to go to the wedding chamber?

_OCTAVIA_: O, nurse, thou faithful witness of my grief, see my tears.

_NURSE_: What day, wretched daughter, will free thee from such sorrow?

_OCTAVIA_: The day which will send me to the Stygian shades.

_NURSE_: I hope that these forebodings of thine may be long in
realization.

_OCTAVIA_: Not thy prayers but the fates rule my destiny.

_NURSE_: A pitying god will give better opportunities to thee in thy
sorrow. Soon thou wilt quietly win over thy husband with caressing
obedience.

_OCTAVIA_: I could conquer the savage lion and the fierce tiger sooner
than the merciless heart of a barbarous tyrant. He hates men of noble
descent, he scorns both gods and men, and not yet does he meet the
fate which his infamous mother by a dreadful crime bestowed upon him.
Although he may be ashamed to have gained this unacknowledged empire by
the kindness of his ill-omened mother, yet she will bear this title of
honor[19] after death for endless generations.

_NURSE_: Restrain the thoughts of thy raging mind; repress those rashly
spoken words.

_OCTAVIA_: However much I may endure the inevitable, never can
my misfortunes be ended except by sorrowful death. With a mother
murdered and a father removed through crime, deprived of a brother,
overwhelmed by my woes and grief, distasteful to my husband, and
submissive to my slaves, I do not enjoy a pleasant life. My heart is
always trembling, not from fear of death--to die would be a joy--but
from dread of crime[20] of which I hope I may never be accused. For
it is a punishment worse than death for me in my misery to see those
swollen features and to endure the fierce glances of a tyrant[21] and
the kisses of an enemy, not even whose courteous nod I cannot endure
after the murder of my brother[22] whose empire the wicked assassin
rules and over which he rejoices. How often the sorrowful apparition of
my brother appears to my vision when quiet relaxes my limbs and sleep
weighs down my eyes wearied by weeping. Now he arms his feeble hands
with smoky torches and with hostile intent seeks the presence of his
own brother;[23] now in fear and trembling he flees into my apartment;
his enemy follows and violently pierces us with his sword as we cling
together.

Then tremulous dread drives away sleep and renews my wretched sorrow
and fear. Besides all these woes, there is the haughty mistress[24]
resplendent with the spoils of our home--the mistress whose son
rewarded her by placing her upon that fatal bark.[25] More cruel than
the waves of the sea, he destroyed[26] her by his sword after the
failure of the shipwreck in the peaceful waters. After such a great
crime, how can I hope to escape? A victorious and unfriendly woman[27]
threatens my marriage couch. Burning with hatred toward me, she
demands, as a reward for her dishonor, the head of the lawful wife.
Come forth from the shades and aid thy appealing daughter, father,[28]
or open the Stygian depths to the sundered earth whither I may be borne
headlong.

_NURSE_: In vain, wretched daughter, dost thou invoke the spirit of
thy father who in the lower world has no thought for his child. He
could prefer the progeny of foreign blood[29] to his own son and he
married in disgraceful nuptials the daughter of his own brother.[30]
From thence is begun a long series of crime, murder, treachery, desire
for dominion, and thirst for royal blood. The noble son-in-law[31] was
betrayed by his wife’s father and perished in the bridal chamber lest
he become powerful by his union with thee. Alas, that such a crime
should be! Silanus, given as a reward to Agrippina who falsely accused
him, has taken his own life. Then there entered the conquered home the
hostile son-in-law[32] and yet an own son, a youth of infamous genius,
capable of any crime, and influenced by the wily stepmother who gave
him to thee in marriage although thou wast timid and reluctant.

This fierce and victorious woman, carried away by her great success,
has dared to menace the sacred empire of the world. Who can recall the
many crimes, and infamous desires, and beguiling treachery of a woman
who seeks power through the steps of every crime? Then sacred Loyalty
fled with trembling step; cruel Erinys with deadly tread entered
the deserted halls, polluted with baneful fires the sacred Penates,
violated Justice, and broke every law of Nature. The unnatural wife
mixed poison for her husband; he perished; then soon, she, too, fell by
the hand of her own son. Thou, too, art fallen, Britannicus, unhappy
youth whom we forever mourn, recently the star of the universe and the
protector of a mighty home; now, woe to me, thou art only light ashes
and a sorrowful shade. Even the cruel stepmother shed tears when I
placed thy body upon the funeral pyre and when the cruel flame played
round thy godlike limbs and features.[33]

_OCTAVIA_: Let it destroy me too lest this tyrant perish by my hand.

_NURSE_: Nature has not given such strength to thee.

_OCTAVIA_: Grief, sadness, misery, anguish, and mourning will give it.

_NURSE_: Thou hadst better conquer pitiless Nero by obedience.

_OCTAVIA_: For what purpose? That he may restore to me my brother whom
he has murdered?

_NURSE_: That thou, thyself, mayst be safe; that thou by thy progeny,
mayst keep from ruin the former home of thy father.

_OCTAVIA_: The home of the emperor desires another offspring. The
dreadful death of my brother distracts me.

_NURSE_: Such great favor of the citizens toward him should soothe thy
mind.[34]

_OCTAVIA_: It alleviates my sorrows but does not free me from them.

_NURSE_: The power of the people is great.

_OCTAVIA_: But the power of the ruler is greater.

_NURSE_: He will have regard for his wife.

_OCTAVIA_: His mistress forbids this.[35]

_NURSE_: But as everyone knows, she is hated by all.

_OCTAVIA_: But dear to my husband.

_NURSE_: Not yet his wife, however.

_OCTAVIA_: Soon she will be a wife and at the same time a mother.

_NURSE_: Youthful ardor rages at first but easily languishes just as
the warmth of a little flame; not long does it continue in disgraceful
love, but unceasing love for a chaste wife remains. The first slave[36]
who dared to dishonor thy couch long swayed the emperor’s mind, but now
she fears--

_OCTAVIA_: Undoubtedly someone preferred to herself.

_NURSE_: Humble, submissive, and confessing her fault, she heaps up
votive offerings by which she shows her own fear. Cupid, the fickle god
of love, will abandon her, and although beautiful in form and haughty
in her resources she will enjoy but brief happiness. Juno, the queen
of the gods, endured sorrows similar to thine when Jupiter, the lord
of the heavens and father of the gods, changed himself into every
form; now he took the wings of the swan;[37] now, the horns of the
Sidonian bull;[38] now he flowed in golden showers.[39] The stars of
Leda shine in the sky; Bacchus[40] resides on paternal Olympus; the
god Alcides[41] is the husband of Hebe,[42] nor fears the wrath of
Juno although she has been his lifelong enemy. Yet the wise compliance
and suppressed rage of the proud wife conquered. Great Juno alone now
retains the Thunderer securely on the heavenly couch, nor allured by
mortal beauty does Jupiter leave the lofty halls. Thou, too, a second
Juno on earth, sister[43] and wife of Augustus, mayst thus vanquish thy
heavy sorrows.

_OCTAVIA_: The cruel seas will be united with the stars; fire with
water; the heavens with the gloomy under world; genial light with
darkness; day with dewy night, before my spirit, always mindful of my
murdered brother, will be united with the abandoned soul of my infamous
husband.

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