Plautus: Amphitruo

In faciem versus Amphitruonis Iuppiter,
dum bellum gereret cum Telobois hostibus,
Alcmenam uxorem cepit usurariam.
Mercurius formam Sosiae servi gerit
absentis: his Alcmena decipitur dolis.
postquam rediere veri Amphitruo et Sosia,
uterque deluduntur in mirum modum.

Jupiter, turned into Amphitryon’s appearance,
while he was waging war with the enemy Teleboans,
took Alcmene, his wife, on loan.
Mercury bears the form of Sosia the slave,
who is absent: by these wiles Alcmene is deceived.
after the true Amphitryon and Sosia returned,
each is deluded in a marvelous manner.

hinc iurgium, tumultus uxori et viro,
donec cum tonitru voce missa ex aethere
adulterum se Iuppiter confessus est.

hence a quarrel, a tumult for wife and husband,
until, with thunder, a voice sent from the aether
Jupiter confessed himself an adulterer.

ARGVMENTVM II

ARGUMENT 2

Amore captus Alcumenas Iuppiter
Mutavit sese in formam eius coniugis,
Pro patria Amphitruo dum decernit cum hostibus.
Habitu Mercurius ei subservit Sosiae.
Is advenientis servum ac dominum frustra habet.

Seized by love for Alcumena, Jupiter
Changed himself into the form of her husband,
While Amphitryon is contending with the enemies for the fatherland.
In the guise of Sosia, Mercury subserves him.
He baffles the arriving servant and master.

Turbas uxori ciet Amphitruo, atque invicem
Raptant pro moechis. Blepharo captus arbiter
Vter sit non quit Amphitruo decernere.
Omnem rem noscunt.

Amphitruo rouses troubles for his wife, and in turn
They drag one another off as adulterers. Blepharo, taken as arbiter,
Which one is Amphitruo he cannot decide.
All the matter they come to know.

geminos Alcumena enititur.

Alcmene brings forth twins.

PROLOGVS

PROLOGUE

MERCVRIVS DEVS

MERCURY THE GOD

Vt vos in vostris voltis mercimoniis
emundis vendundisque me laetum lucris
adficere atque adiuvare in rebus omnibus
et ut res rationesque vostrorum omnium
bene <me> expedire voltis peregrique et domi

Since you, in your own merchandise for buying and for selling,
wish to make me glad with profits
and to aid me in all affairs,
and that the affairs and accounts of all of you
you wish <me> to expedite well both abroad and at home

5
bonoque atque amplo auctare perpetuo lucro
quasque incepistis res quasque inceptabitis,
et uti bonis vos vostrosque omnis nuntiis
me adficere voltis, ea adferam, ea uti nuntiem
quae maxime in rem vostram communem sient—

5
to augment with good and ample, perpetual profit,
both the things you have begun and the things you will begin,
and that with good messages you and all yours
you wish me to affect, those I will bring, those that I may announce
which would be most to your common interest—

10
nam vos quidem id iam scitis concessum et datum
mi esse ab dis aliis, nuntiis praesim et lucro—:
haec ut me voltis adprobare adnitier,
[lucrum ut perenne vobis semper suppetat]
ita huic facietis fabulae silentium

10
for you indeed already know that it has been conceded and granted
to me by the other gods, that I preside over messages and profit—:
that I may strive to approbate these things, as you wish me to,
[so that perpetual profit may always be at hand for you]
thus you will make silence for this play

15
itaque aequi et iusti hic eritis omnes arbitri.
Nunc cuius iussu venio et quam ob rem venerim
dicam simulque ipse eloquar nomen meum.
Iovis iussu venio, nomen Mercurio est mihi.
pater huc me misit ad vos oratum meus,

15
and so here you all will be equitable and just arbiters.
Now at whose order I come and for what reason I have come
I will say, and at the same time I myself will declare my name.
By Jove’s order I come; my name is Mercury.
my father sent me hither to you to entreat,

20
tam etsi, pro imperio vobis quod dictum foret,
scibat facturos, quippe qui intellexerat
vereri vos se et metuere, ita ut aequom est Iovem;
verum profecto hoc petere me precario
a vobis iussit, leniter, dictis bonis.

20
and although, by imperial authority, whatever should be said to you,
he knew you would do, since he had understood
that you revere and fear himself, as is right, Jove;
but indeed he ordered me to ask this from you by entreaty,
gently, with good words.

25
etenim ille, cuius huc iussu venio, Iuppiter
non minus quam vostrum quivis formidat malum:
humana matre natus, humano patre,
mirari non est aequom, sibi si praetimet;
atque ego quoque etiam, qui Iovis sum filius,

25
For indeed he, at whose command I come here, Jupiter,
fears harm no less than any one of you does:
born of a human mother, of a human father,
it is not right to marvel if he is afraid for himself;
and I too as well, who am the son of Jove,

30
contagione mei patris metuo malum.
propterea pace advenio et pacem ad vos affero:~
iustam rem et facilem esse oratam a vobis volo,
nam iusta ab iustis iustus sum orator datus.
nam iniusta ab iustis impetrari non decet,

30
by the contagion of my father I fear harm.
therefore I come in peace and bring peace to you:~
I want the thing asked from you to be just and easy,
for for just things from just men I am a just orator appointed.
for it is not seemly that unjust things be obtained from just men,

35
iusta autem ab iniustis petere insipientia est;
quippe illi iniqui ius ignorant neque tenent.
nunc iam huc animum omnes quae loquar advortite.
debetis velle quae velimus: meruimus
et ego et pater de vobis et re publica;

35
but to seek the just from the unjust is foolishness;
for indeed those iniquitous men are ignorant of right and do not hold it.
now then, turn your mind hither, all of you, to what I shall speak.
you ought to will the things which we will: we have deserved
both I and my father of you and of the republic;

40
nam quid ego memorem,—ut alios in tragoediis
vidi, Neptunum Virtutem Victoriam
Martem Bellonam, commemorare quae bona
vobis fecissent,— quis bene factis meus pater,
deorum regnator *** architectus omnibus?

40
for why should I make mention,—as I have seen others in tragedies
Neptune, Virtue, Victory,
Mars, Bellona, to commemorate what good things
they had done for you,— what benefits my father,
the ruler of the gods, *** the architect for all?

45
sed mos numquam illi fuit patri meo,~
ut exprobraret quod bonis faceret boni;
gratum arbitratur esse id a vobis sibi
meritoque vobis bona se facere quae facit.
Nunc quam rem oratum huc veni primum proloquar,

45
but my father never had the custom,
to reproach the good with the good he did;
he judges that as gratitude to himself from you,
and that you deserve the good he does for you.
Now first I will preface what matter I have come here to petition,

50
post argumentum huius eloquar tragoediae.
quid? contraxistis frontem, quia tragoediam
dixi futuram hanc?

50
afterwards I will set forth the argument of this tragedy.
what? have you contracted your brow, because a tragedy
I said this would be?

deus sum, commutavero.
eandem hanc, si voltis, faciam ex tragoedia
comoedia ut sit omnibus isdem vorsibus.

I am a god, I will change it.
this same one, if you wish, I will make from tragedy
into comedy, so that it may be with all the same verses.

55
utrum sit an non voltis? sed ego stultior,
quasi nesciam vos velle, qui divos siem.
teneo quid animi vostri super hac re siet:
faciam ut commixta sit: <sit> tragicomoedia.
nam me perpetuo facere ut sit comoedia,

55
Do you want it to be or not? But I am rather foolish,
as if I did not know you wish it, since I am a god.
I grasp what your mind is about this matter:
I will make it so that it is mixed: <let it be> a tragicomedy.
for me to make it a comedy all the way through,

60
reges quo veniant et di, non par arbitror.
quid igitur? quoniam hic servos quoque partes habet,
faciam sit, proinde ut dixi, tragicomoedia.
nunc hoc me orare a vobis iussit Iuppiter,
ut conquaestores singula in subsellia

60
for a comedy to which kings and gods come, I do not think it fitting.
what then? since here a slave too has roles,
I will make it, just as I said, a tragicomedy.
now this Jupiter ordered me to beg from you,
that co-investigators be assigned, one for each bench,

65
eant per totam caveam spectatoribus,
si cui favitores delegatos viderint,
ut is in cavea pignus capiantur togae;
sive qui ambissint palmam histrionibus
sive cuiquam artifici, si per scriptas litteras

65
let the investigators go through the whole cavea among the spectators,
if they see favorers delegated for anyone,
so that in the cavea pledges of their togas may be taken;
or if anyone should canvass the palm for the actors,
or for any artificer, if through written letters

70
sive qui ipse ambissit seu per internuntium,
sive adeo aediles perfidiose cui duint,
sirempse legem iussit esse Iuppiter,
quasi magistratum sibi alterive ambiverit.
virtute dixit vos victores vivere,

70
whether someone himself has canvassed or through an inter-nuncio,
or even if the aediles should perfidiously give to anyone,
Jupiter has ordered the law to be the same,
as if he had canvassed for a magistracy for himself or for another.
he said that you live as victors by virtue,

75
non ambitione neque perfidia: qui minus
eadem histrioni sit lex quae summo viro?
virtute ambire oportet, non favitoribus.
sat habet favitorum semper qui recte facit,
si illis fides est quibus est ea res in manu.

75
not by ambition nor by perfidy: why any the less
should there be the same law for the actor as for the highest man?
one ought to canvass by virtue, not by favorers.
he who does rightly always has enough favorers,
if there is faith with those in whose hand that matter is.

80
hoc quoque etiam mihi <pater> in mandatis dedit,
ut conquaestores fierent histrionibus:
qui sibi mandasset delegati ut plauderent
quive quo placeret alter fecisset minus,
eius ornamenta et corium uti conciderent.

80
This too my <father> gave me in mandates,
that co-investigators be appointed for the actors:
whoever had commissioned delegates to applaud for him,
or had made another be less pleasing by some device,
that they should cut up his ornaments and his hide.

85
mirari nolim vos, quapropter Iuppiter
nunc histriones curet; ne miremini:
ipse hanc acturust Iuppiter comoediam.
quid? admirati estis? quasi vero novom
nunc proferatur, Iovem facere histrioniam;

85
I would not wish you to marvel, why Jupiter now should care about actors; do not marvel:
Jupiter himself is going to act this comedy.
What? Are you amazed? As though in truth something novel were now being proffered,
that Jupiter should do acting;

90
etiam, histriones anno cum in proscaenio hic
Iovem invocarunt, venit, auxilio is fuit.
[praeterea certo prodit in tragoedia.]
hanc fabulam, inquam, hic Iuppiter hodie ipse aget,
et ego una cum illo. nunc <vos> animum advortite,

90
also, when the actors here last year on the proscenium
invoked Jupiter, he came, he was of help.
[besides, he certainly comes forth in tragedy.]
this play, I say, here Jupiter himself today will act,
and I together with him. now <you> turn your mind,

95
dum huius argumentum eloquar comoediae.
Haec urbs est Thebae. in illisce habitat aedibus
Amphitruo, natus Argis ex Argo patre,
quicum Alcumena est nupta, Electri filia.
is nunc Amphitruo praefectust legionibus,

95
while I declare the argument of this comedy.
This city is Thebes. In those houses there dwells
Amphitryon, born at Argos of a father Argus,
with whom Alcmene is wedded, the daughter of Electryon.
he now, Amphitryon, is prefect of the legions,

100
nam cum Telobois bellum est Thebano poplo.
is prius quam hinc abiit ipsemet in exercitum,
gravidam Alcumenam uxorem fecit suam.
nam ego vos novisse credo iam ut sit pater meus,
quam liber harum rerum multarum siet

100
for with the Teleboans there is war for the Theban people.
he, before he himself departed from here to the army,
made his wife Alcumena pregnant.
for I believe you already know what my father is like,
how free he is in these many matters.

105
quantusque amator sit quod complacitum est semel.
is amare occepit Alcumenam clam virum
usuramque eius corporis cepit sibi,
et gravidam fecit is eam compressu suo.
nunc de Alcumena ut rem teneatis rectius,

105
and how great a lover he is of what has once been pleasing.
he began to love Alcumena unbeknownst to her husband,
and he took for himself the use of her body,
and by his own embrace he made her pregnant.
now, so that you may hold the matter concerning Alcumena more rightly,

110
utrimque est gravida, et ex viro et ex summo Iove.
et meus pater nunc intus hic cum illa cubat,
et haec ob eam rem nox est facta longior,
dum <cum> illa quacum volt voluptatem capit;
sed ita adsimulavit se, quasi Amphitruo siet.

110
she is pregnant on both sides, both by her husband and by highest Jove.
and my father now inside here lies with her,
and for that reason this night has been made longer,
while with her, with whom he wishes, he takes his pleasure;
but he has so disguised himself, as if he were Amphitruo.

115
nunc ne hunc ornatum vos meum admiremini,
quod ego huc processi sic cum servili schema:
veterem atque antiquam rem novam ad vos proferam,
propterea ornatus in novom incessi modum.
nam meus pater intus nunc est eccum Iuppiter;

115
now, lest you marvel at this attire of mine,
because I have come forth here thus with a servile schema:
I will bring forward to you as new an old and ancient thing,
therefore I have advanced adorned in a new mode.
for my father is inside now—behold—Jupiter;

120
in Amphitruonis vertit sese imaginem
omnesque eum esse censent servi qui vident:
ita versipellem se facit quando lubet.
ego servi sumpsi Sosiae mi imaginem,
qui cum Amphitruone abiit hinc in exercitum,

120
into the image of Amphitruo he has turned himself,
and all the servants who see him suppose him to be Amphitruo:
so he makes himself a shape‑shifter whenever he pleases.
I have assumed the image of my servant Sosia,
who went away from here with Amphitruo into the army,

125
ut praeservire amanti meo possem patri
atque ut ne, qui essem, familiares quaererent,
versari crebro hic cum viderent me domi;
nunc, cum esse credent servom et conservom suom,
haud quisquam quaeret qui siem aut quid venerim.

125
so that I might be able to attend beforehand upon my amorous father,
and so that our familiars might not ask who I was,
since they would see me frequenting here at home often;
now, since they will believe me to be a slave and their fellow-slave,
no one at all will inquire who I am or for what I have come.

130
Pater nunc intus suo animo morem gerit:
cubat complexus cuius cupiens maxime est;
quae illi ad legionem facta sunt memorat pater
meus Alcumenae: illa illum censet virum
suom esse, quae cum moecho est. ibi nunc meus pater

130
Father now inside is giving his mind its bent:
he lies, embraced with her of whom he is most desirous;
the things that were done to him with the legion my father
relates to Alcmene: she deems that that man is her
own husband, she who is with an adulterer. There now my father

135
memorat, legiones hostium ut fugaverit,
quo pacto sit donis donatus plurimis.
ea dona, quae illic Amphitruoni sunt data,
abstulimus: facile meus pater quod volt facit.
nunc hodie Amphitruo veniet huc ab exercitu

135
he recounts how he put the enemy legions to flight,
in what way he has been endowed with very many gifts.
those gifts which there were given to Amphitryon,
we have carried off: my father easily does what he wills.
now today Amphitryon will come here from the army

140
et servos, cuius ego hanc fero imaginem.
nunc internosse ut nos possitis facilius,
ego has habebo usque in petaso pinnulas;
tum meo patri autem torulus inerit aureus
sub petaso: id signum Amphitruoni non erit.

140
and the slave, whose likeness I carry.
now, so that you may be able to distinguish us more easily,
I will keep these little winglets on my petasus;
then moreover, my father will have a little golden band set
under his petasus: that mark will not be on Amphitruo.

145
ea signa nemo horum familiarium
videre poterit: verum vos videbitis.
sed Amphitruonis illic est servos Sosia:
a portu illic nunc cum lanterna advenit.
abigam iam ego illum advenientem ab aedibus.

145
none of these household retainers will be able to see those signs; but you will see them.
but Amphitruo’s slave Sosia is there:
from the harbor there now he is coming with a lantern.
I will now drive him, as he arrives, away from the house.

150
adeste: erit operae pretium hic spectantibus
Iovem et Mercurium facere histrioniam.

150
Be present: it will be worth the effort for those watching here
to see Jove and Mercury perform histrionics.

ACTVS I

ACT 1

I.i.
SOSIA Qui me alter est audacior homo aut qui confidentior,
iuventutis mores qui sciam, qui hoc noctis solus ambulem?
quid faciam nunc, si tres viri me in carcerem compegerint?

I.i.
SOSIA What other man is bolder than me, or more confident,
who know the mores of youth, who walk alone at this hour of the night?
What am I to do now, if the Three Men clap me in prison?

155
inde cras quasi e promptaria cella depromar ad flagrum,
nec causam liceat dicere mihi, neque in ero quicquam auxili
nec quisquam sit quin me <malo> omnes esse dignum deputent.
ita quasi incudem me miserum homines octo validi caedant:     159-160
ita peregre adveniens hospitio publicitus accipiar.         161-162
haec eri immodestia

155
then tomorrow I shall be drawn out as if from a promptuary cell for the lash,
nor will it be permitted for me to state my case, nor will there be any aid in my master,
nor will there be anyone but that all will deem me worthy of the cudgel.
so that eight sturdy men may beat poor me as if an anvil:     159-160
thus, arriving from abroad, I shall be received with public hospitality.         161-162
this is the master's immodesty

163
coegit, me qui hoc noctis a portu ingratiis excitavit.
nonne idem hoc luci me mittere potuit?
opulento homini hoc servitus dura est,
hoc magis miser est divitis servos:
noctesque diesque assiduo satis superque est
quod facto aut dicto adeost opus, quietus ne sis.
ipse dominus dives, operis et laboris expers,

163
has compelled me—he who at this time of night roused me from the port against my will.
Could not that same man have sent me by daylight?
For an opulent man, in this respect servitude is harsh,
for this cause a rich man’s servant is the more miserable:
both nights and days, incessantly, there is enough and more than enough
that there is need of in deed or in word, that you may not be quiet.
the master himself, rich, devoid of work and of labor,

170
quodcumque homini accidit libere, posse retur:
aequom esse putat, non reputat laboris quid sit.
[nec aequom anne iniquom imperet cogitabit.]
ergo in servitute expetunt multa iniqua:
habendum et ferundum hoc onust cum labore.

170
whatever happens to a free man, he thinks can be done;
he deems it equitable; he does not reckon what of labor it is.
[nor will he consider whether he orders what is equitable or inequitable.]
therefore in servitude they seek many iniquitous things:
this must be had and borne, overladen with labor.

175
MERC. Satius me queri illo modo servitutem:
hodie qui fuerim liber,
eum nunc potivit pater servitutis,
hic qui verna natus est queritur.
SOS. Sum vero verna verbero: num numero mi in mentem fuit,

175
MERC. It is better for me to lament slavery in that way:
I, who today was free,
me now my father has subjected to slavery,
while this fellow, who was born a home-born slave, complains.
SOS. I am indeed a home-born slave, you whipping-post: did it ever, by any reckoning, come into my mind,

180
dis advenientem gratias pro meritis agere atque alloqui?
ne illi edepol si merito meo referre studeant gratiam,
aliquem hominem allegent qui mihi advenienti os occillet probe,
quoniam bene quae in me fecerunt ingrata ea habui atque inrita.
MERC. Facit ille quod volgo haud solent, ut quid se sit dignum sciat.

180
to, as I arrive, give thanks to the gods for their merits and address them?
indeed, by Pollux, if they should strive to refer gratitude according to my merit,
they would appoint some man who, as I arrive, would close up my eye properly,
since the good things which they did to me I have held as ingrate and made void.
MERC. He does what men commonly are not wont to do, namely, that he knows what he is worthy of.

185
SOS. Quod numquam opinatus fui neque alius quisquam civium
sibi eventurum, id contigit, ut salvi poteremur domi.
victores victis hostibus legiones reveniunt domum,
duello exstincto maximo atque internecatis hostibus.
quod multa Thebano poplo acerba obiecit funera,

185
SOS. What I never supposed, nor did any other of the citizens,
would happen to himself—this befell: that we could be safe at home.
The legions, victors over vanquished enemies, return home,
with the very great war extinguished and the foes slaughtered.
which cast many bitter funerals upon the Theban people,

190
id vi et virtute militum victum atque expugnatum oppidum est
imperio atque auspicio eri mei Amphitruonis maxime.
praeda atque agro adoriaque adfecit populares suos
regique Thebano Creoni regnum stabilivit suom.
me a portu praemisit domum, ut haec nuntiem uxori suae,

190
that town was conquered and stormed by force and the virtue of the soldiers,
under the command and auspices of my master Amphitruo most of all.
He endowed his fellow-citizens with booty and land and glory,
and for the Theban king Creon he stabilized his kingdom.
He sent me on ahead from the port home, to announce these things to his wife,

195
ut gesserit rem publicam ductu imperio auspicio suo.
ea nunc meditabor quo modo illi dicam, cum illo advenero.
si dixero mendacium, solens meo more fecero.

195
how he has conducted the public business under his leadership, command, and auspices.
This I will now meditate on, how I shall tell it to her, when I arrive with him.
If I tell a lie, I shall have acted, as usual, in my own manner.

nam cum pugnabant maxume, ego tum fugiebam maxume;
verum quasi adfuerim tamen simulabo atque audita eloquar.

for when they were fighting most, I then was fleeing most;
but as if I had been present, nonetheless I will simulate and declare the things heard.

200
sed quo modo et verbis quibus me deceat fabularier,
prius ipse mecum etiam volo hic meditari. sic hoc proloquar.
Principio ut illo advenimus, ubi primum terram tetigimus,
continuo Amphitruo delegit viros primorum principes;
eos legat, Telobois iubet sententiam ut dicant suam:

200
but in what manner and with what words it befits me to speak,
first I myself also wish here to meditate with myself. Thus I will preface this.
In the beginning, when we arrived there, when first we touched the land touched,
immediately Amphitruo chose men, the foremost chiefs;
he appoints them as legates to the Teloboi, he orders them to declare their own sententia:

205
si sine vi et sine bello velint rapta et raptores tradere,
si quae asportassent redderent, se exercitum extemplo domum
reducturum, abituros agro Argivos, pacem atque otium
dare illis; sin aliter sient animati neque dent quae petat,
sese igitur summa vi virisque eorum oppidum oppugnassere.

205
if without force and without war they should be willing to hand over the plunder and the plunderers,
if they should return whatever they had carried off, that he would immediately lead the army home,
that the Argives would depart from their land, to grant them peace and repose;
but if they were otherwise animated and did not give what he seeks,
then he would attack their town with the utmost force and manpower.

210
haec ubi Telobois ordine iterarunt quos praefecerat
Amphitruo, magnanimi viri freti virtute et viribus
superbe nimis ferociter legatos nostros increpant,
respondent bello se et suos tutari posse, proinde uti
propere <irent>, de suis finibus exercitus deducerent.

210
When those whom Amphitruo had put in charge repeated these things in order to the Teloboi,
the magnanimous men, relying on their virtue and their forces,
over-proudly and too fiercely they rebuke our legates,
they answer that by war they can protect themselves and their own; therefore that they should go quickly,
and lead the army away from their borders.

215
haec ubi legati pertulere, Amphitruo castris ilico
producit omnem exercitum. Teloboae contra ex oppido
legiones educunt suas nimis pulcris armis praeditas.
postquam utrimque exitum est maxima copia,
dispertiti viri, dispertiti ordines,

215
when the envoys had reported these things, Amphitryon straightway
leads forth from the camp the whole army. The Teloboi in turn from the town
lead out their legions, furnished with very fair arms.
after on both sides a very great multitude had gone out,
the men distributed, the ranks distributed,

220
nos nostras more nostro et modo instruximus
legiones, item hostes contra legiones suas instruont.
deinde utrique imperatores in medium exeunt,
extra turbam ordinum colloquontur simul.
convenit, victi utri sint eo proelio,

220
we arrayed our legions, our own, according to our own custom and mode;
likewise the enemies over against array their own legions.
then both commanders go forth into the middle,
outside the throng of the ranks they hold a colloquy together.
it is agreed, which of the two shall be the vanquished in that battle,

225
urbem agrum aras focos seque uti dederent.
postquam id actum est, tubae contra utrimque occanunt,
consonat terra, clamorem utrimque efferunt.
imperator utrimque, hinc et illinc, Iovi
vota suscipere, <utrimque> hortari exercitum.

225
that they should surrender the city, the land, the altars, the hearths, and themselves.
After that was agreed, the trumpets on both sides begin to sound in answer,
the earth resounds, they on both sides raise a shout.
the commander on each side, here and there, to Jupiter
to undertake vows, and to <on both sides> exhort the army.

230
<tum> pro se quisque id quod quisque potest et valet
edit, ferro ferit, tela frangunt, boat
caelum fremitu virum, ex spiritu atque anhelitu
nebula constat, cadunt volnerum vi viri.
denique, ut voluimus, nostra superat manus:

230
<then> each for himself puts forth what each can and is strong for
puts forth, he strikes with iron, they shatter missiles, bellows
the sky with the roaring of men; from breath and panting
a nebula forms, men fall by the force of wounds.
finally, as we wished, our force prevails:

235
hostes crebri cadunt, nostri contra ingruont
[vicimus] vi feroces.
sed ~fugam in se tamen nemo convortitur
nec recedit loco quin statim rem gerat;
animam omittunt prius quam loco demigrent:

235
the enemies fall in numbers, our men on the contrary press in
[we have conquered], ferocious in might.
but ~yet no one turns himself to flight
nor does he withdraw from his place without at once engaging the action;
they let go their life before they move from their position:

240
quisque ut steterat iacet optinetque ordinem.
hoc ubi Amphitruo erus conspicatust,
ilico equites iubet dextera inducere.
equites parent citi: ab dextera maximo
cum clamore involant impetu alacri,

240
each, as he had stood, lies and keeps his order.
when master Amphitruo had caught sight of this,
straightway he orders the cavalry to bring in on the right.
the cavalry obey swiftly: from the right, with very great
clamor they swoop in with a lively impetus,

245
foedant et proterunt hostium copias
iure iniustas.
MERC. Numquam etiam quicquam adhuc verborum est prolocutus perperam:
namque ego fui illi in re praesenti et meus, cum pugnatum est, pater.
SOS. Perduelles penetrant se in fugam; ibi nostris animus additust:

245
they befoul and trample the enemy forces,
rightly unjust.
MERC. He has never yet uttered any words amiss:
for I was with him in the present affair, and so was my father, when the fighting was done.
SOS. The public enemies betake themselves into flight; then courage was added to our men:

250
vortentibus Telobois telis complebantur corpora,
ipsusque Amphitruo regem Pterelam sua obtruncavit manu.
haec illic est pugnata pugna usque a mani ad vesperum—
hoc adeo hoc commemini magis, quia illo die inpransus fui—
sed proelium id tandem diremit nox interventu suo.

250
the bodies were being filled with whirling missiles by the Teleboans,
and Amphitruo himself cut down King Pterelas with his own hand.
that battle was fought there from morning to evening—
this indeed I remember the more, because on that day I went without lunch—
but night at last sundered that engagement by its intervention.

255
postridie in castra ex urbe ad nos veniunt flentes principes:
velatis manibus orant ignoscamus peccatum suom,
deduntque se, divina humanaque omnia, urbem et liberos
in dicionem atque in arbitratum cuncti Thebano poplo.
post ob virtutem ero Amphitruoni patera donata aurea est,

255
on the next day from the city to us come the weeping princes:
with veiled hands they beg that we forgive their sin,
and they surrender themselves, and all divine and human things, the city and their children,
into the dominion and into the arbitration of the whole Theban people.
afterwards, for his valor, to my master Amphitruo a golden patera was given,

260
qui Pterela potitare solitus est rex. haec sic dicam erae.
nunc pergam eri imperium exequi et me domum capessere.

260
which King Pterelas was accustomed to drink from. I shall thus tell these things to my mistress.
Now I will proceed to execute my master’s command and betake myself home.

MERC. Attat, illic huc iturust. ibo ego illi obviam,
neque ego huc hominem hodie ad aedis has sinam umquam accedere;
quando imago est huius in me, certum est hominem eludere.

MERC. Aha, that fellow is going to come here. I will go to meet him,
nor will I at all today allow the man to approach this house;
since his image is in me, it is settled to elude the man.

265
et enim vero quoniam formam cepi huius in med et statum,
decet et facta moresque huius habere me similes item.
itaque me malum esse oportet, callidum, astutum admodum
atque hunc, telo suo sibi, malitia a foribus pellere.
sed quid illuc est?

265
and indeed truly, since I have taken this one’s form and status into myself,
it is fitting that I also have his deeds and mores similarly likewise.
accordingly it behooves me to be evil, cunning, very astute,
and to drive this fellow, with his own weapon—malice—away from the doors.
but what is that there?

caelum aspectat. observabo quam rem agat.

He is looking at the sky. I will observe what he is about.

270
SOS. Certe edepol, si quicquamst aliud quod credam aut certo sciam,
credo ego hac noctu Nocturnum obdormivisse ebrium.
nam neque se Septentriones quoquam in caelo commovent,
neque se Luna quoquam mutat atque uti exorta est semel,
nec Iugulae neque Vesperugo neque Vergiliae occidunt.

270
SOS. Certainly, by Pollux, if there is anything else that I might believe or know for certain,
I believe that this night Nocturnus has fallen asleep drunk.
for neither do the Septentrions move themselves anywhere in the sky,
nor does the Moon change herself anywhere, and just as she once rose,
neither do the Iugulae nor the Vesperugo nor the Vergiliae set.

275
ita statim stant signa, neque nox quoquam concedit die.
MERC. Perge, Nox, ut occepisti, gere patri morem meo:
optumo optume optumam operam das, datam pulchre locas.
SOS. Neque ego hac nocte longiorem me vidisse censeo,
nisi item unam, verberatus quam pependi perpetem;

275
thus at once the constellations stand stock-still, nor does the night yield anywhere to the day.
MERC. Proceed, Night, as you have begun; show deference to my father:
to the best, most excellently you give excellent service; you nicely dispose the time that has been given.
SOS. Nor do I reckon that I have seen a longer night than this,
unless one likewise, when, having been flogged, I hung all night long.

280
eam quoque edepol etiam multo haec vicit longitudine.
credo edepol equidem dormire Solem, atque adpotum probe;
mira sunt nisi invitavit sese in cena plusculum.
MERC. Ain vero, verbero?

280
By Pollux, this one too has beaten that one by far in length.
By Pollux, for my part I believe the Sun is asleep, and good and drunk;
it’s a wonder unless he invited himself to a bit too much at dinner.
MERC. Really, do you say so, you whipping-stock?

deos esse tui similis putas?
ego pol te istis tuis pro dictis et male factis, furcifer,

Do you think the gods are similar to you?
By Pollux, I, for those your words and ill-deeds, you gallows-bird,

285
accipiam; modo sis veni huc: invenies infortunium.
SOS. Vbi sunt isti scortatores, qui soli inviti cubant?
haec nox scita est exercendo scorto conducto male.

285
I’ll receive you; only do come here: you will find misfortune.
SOS. Where are those whoremongers, who lie alone against their will?
This night has been a fine one for exercising a hired harlot—badly.

MERC. Meus pater nunc pro huius verbis recte et sapienter facit,
qui complexus cum Alcumena cubat amans animo obsequens.

MERC. My father now, on account of this fellow’s words, does rightly and wisely,
who, embracing Alcmene, lies with her, loving and compliant in mind.

290
SOS. Ibo ut erus quod imperavit Alcumenae nuntiem.
sed quis hic est homo, quem ante aedis video hoc noctis? non placet.

290
SOS. I will go to announce to Alcumena what the master commanded.
But who is this man, whom I see before the house at this time of night? It does not please.

MERC. Nullust hoc metuculosus aeque. SOS. Mi in mentem venit,
illic homo hoc de umero volt pallium detexere.
MERC. Timet homo: deludam ego illum.

MERC. No one is as timorous as this fellow. SOS. It comes to my mind,
that man wants to pull this cloak from my shoulder.
MERC. The man is afraid: I’ll make sport of him.

SOS. Perii, dentes pruriunt;

SOS. I’m done for, my teeth itch;

295
certe advenientem hic me hospitio pugneo accepturus est.
credo misericors est: nunc propterea quod me meus erus
fecit ut vigilarem, hic pugnis faciet hodie ut dormiam.
oppido interii.

295
surely, as I arrive, this fellow here is about to receive me with pugilistic hospitality.
I believe he is merciful: now for this reason, because my master made me keep vigil, this one with his fists will make me sleep today.
utterly I have perished.

obsecro hercle, quantus et quam validus est.
MERC. Clare advorsum fabulabor, <ut> hic auscultet quae loquar;

By Hercules, I beg, how great and how robust he is.
MERC. I will speak loud and clear straight to his face, so that this fellow may listen to what I say;

300
igitur magis demum maiorem in sese concipiet metum.
agite, pugni, iam diu est quom ventri victum non datis:
iam pridem videtur factum, heri quod homines quattuor
in soporem collocastis nudos. SOS. Formido male,
ne ego hic nomen meum commutem et Quintus fiam e Sosia;

300
therefore at last he will conceive a greater fear in himself.
come on, fists, it’s long since you have given victuals to the belly:
it already seems long ago, that thing which yesterday you
consigned four men, stripped, into slumber. SOS. I am dreadfully afraid,
lest I here change my name and become Quintus from Sosia;

305
quattuor nudos sopori se dedisse hic autumat:
metuo ne numerum augeam illum. MERC. em, nunciam ergo: sic volo.
SOS. Cingitur: certe expedit se. MERC. Non feret quin vapulet.

305
he avers that four naked men here have given themselves to sleep:
I fear lest I augment that number. MERC. There, now then: so I will it.
SOS. He girds himself; certainly he is getting himself ready. MERC. He will not get off without a thrashing.

SOS. Quis homo? MERC. Quisquis homo huc profecto venerit, pugnos edet.
SOS. Apage, non placet me hoc noctis esse: cenavi modo;

SOS. What man? MERC. Whoever comes here, surely will eat fists.
SOS. Away! This doesn’t please me at this time of night: I’ve just dined;

310
proin tu istam cenam largire, si sapis, esurientibus.
MERC. Haud malum huic est pondus pugno. SOS. Perii, pugnos ponderat.

310
so then you, if you are wise, bestow that supper upon the hungry.
MERC. A fist makes no bad weight for this fellow. SOS. I’m done for—his fists he is weighing.

MERC. Quid si ego illum tractim tangam, ut dormiat? SOS. Servaveris,
nam continuas has tris noctes pervigilavi. MERC. Pessumest,
facimus nequiter, ferire malam male discit manus;

MERC. What if I touch him gently, so that he may sleep? SOS. You will have saved me,
for these three consecutive nights I have kept vigil. MERC. It’s bad,
we are acting wickedly; the hand learns ill to strike the cheek.

315
alia forma esse oportet quem tu pugno legeris.
SOS. Illic homo me interpolabit meumque os finget denuo.
MERC. Exossatum os esse oportet quem probe percusseris.

315
it ought to be of another form, the one whom you have chosen with your fist.
SOS. That fellow will refurbish me and will fashion my face anew.
MERC. The one whom you have properly smitten ought to have a de-boned mouth.

SOS. Mirum ni hic me quasi murenam exossare cogitat.
ultro istunc qui exossat homines. perii, si me aspexerit.

SOS. A marvel if he isn’t thinking to debone me like a moray-eel.
Moreover, that fellow debones men. I’m done for, if he catches sight of me.

320
MERC. Olet homo quidam malo suo. SOS. ei, numnam ego obolui?
MERC. Atque haud longe abesse oportet, verum longe hinc afuit.

320
MERC. A certain man reeks to his own harm. SOS. alas, have I started to stink?
MERC. And he ought not to be far off, but he was far from here.

SOS. Illic homo superstitiosust. MERC. Gestiunt pugni mihi.
SOS. Si in me exercituru's, quaeso in parietem ut primum domes.

SOS. That fellow there is superstitious. MERC. My fists are itching.
SOS. If you’re going to exercise them on me, I beg that you first tame them on the wall.

MERC. Vox mi ad aures advolavit. SOS. Ne ego homo infelix fui,

MERC. A voice has flown to my ears. SOS. Indeed I have been an unfortunate man,

325
qui non alas intervelli: volucrem vocem gestito.
MERC. Illic homo a me sibi malam rem arcessit iumento suo.
SOS. Non equidem ullum habeo iumentum.

325
whose wings are not plucked: he totes a winged voice.
MERC. That fellow summons upon himself from me a bad business for his beast of burden.
SOS. Indeed I have no beast of burden at all.

M. Onerandus est pugnis probe.
SOS. Lassus sum hercle, navi ut vectus huc sum: etiam nunc nauseo;
vix incedo inanis, ne ire posse cum onere existimes.

M. He ought to be well burdened with punches.
SOS. By Hercules, I am weary, since I was conveyed here by ship: even now I am nauseous;
I scarcely go when empty, so do not suppose I could go with a load.

330
MERC. Certe enim hic nescio quis loquitur. SOS. Salvos sum, non me videt:
nescioquem loqui autumat; mihi certo nomen Sosiaest.
MERC. Hinc enim mihi dextra vox auris, ut videtur, verberat.

330
MERC. Surely indeed some I-know-not-who is speaking here. SOS. I am safe, he does not see me:
he supposes some I-know-not-whom to be speaking; my name is certainly Sosia.
MERC. For from here, as it seems, the voice beats my right ear.

SOS. Metuo, vocis ne vicem hodie hic vapulem, quae hunc verberat.
MERC. Optume eccum incedit ad me. SOS. Timeo, totus torpeo.

SOS. I fear, lest I be thrashed in the stead of the voice today here, which is beating this fellow.
MERC. Excellent—look, here he comes toward me. SOS. I’m afraid, I am all torpid.

335
non edepol nunc ubi terrarum sim scio, si quis roget,
neque miser me commovere possum prae formidine.
ilicet, mandata eri perierunt una et Sosia.
verum certum est confidenter hominem contra conloqui,
qui possim videri huic fortis, a me ut abstineat manum.

335
by Pollux, right now I do not know where in the world I am, if anyone should ask;
nor can I, wretched, move myself for dread.
straightaway, my master’s mandates have perished, and Sosia along with them.
but it is resolved to speak confidently with the man face-to-face,
so that I may be able to seem brave to this fellow, that he keep his hand off me.

340
MERC. Quo ambulas tu, qui Volcanum in cornu conclusum geris?
SOS. Quid id exquiris tu, qui pugnis os exossas hominibus?
MERC. Servosne <es> an liber?

340
MERC. Where are you walking, you who carry Vulcan enclosed in a horn?
SOS. Why do you inquire that, you who with your fists de-bone men’s faces?
MERC. Are you a slave or free?

SOS. Vtcumque animo conlibitum est meo.
MERC. Ain vero? SOS. Aio enim vero.

SOS. However it has pleased my mind.
MERC. Really? SOS. Yes, indeed.

M. Verbero. S. Mentiris nunc.
MERC. At iam faciam ut verum dicas dicere.

M. Whipping-post. S. You are lying now.
MERC. But right now I will make you say that you are speaking the truth.

SOS. Quid eo est opus?

SOS. What need is there of that?

345
MERC. Possum scire, quo profectus, cuius sis aut quid veneris?
SOS. Huc eo, eri <iussu, eius> sum servos. numquid nunc es certior?

345
MERC. Can I know where you have set out to, whose you are, or for what you have come?
SOS. I am going here; by the master's <order, his> slave I am. Are you any more certain now?

M. Ego tibi istam hodie, sceleste, comprimam linguam. S. Haud potes:
bene pudiceque adservatur. MERC. Pergin argutarier?

M. I will today, you wretch, shut that tongue of yours. S. You cannot:
it is well and chastely kept. MERC. Do you persist in quibbling?

quid apud hasce aedis negoti est tibi? SOS. Immo quid tibi est?

what business have you at this house? SOS. nay rather, what business have you?

350
MERC. Rex Creo vigiles nocturnos singulos semper locat.
SOS. Bene facit: quia nos eramus peregre, tutatust domi;
at nunc abi sane, advenisse familiares dicito.
MERC. Nescio quam tu familiaris sis: nisi actutum hinc abis,
familiaris accipiere faxo haud familiariter.

350
MER. King Creon always posts single night watchmen.
SOS. He does well: since we were abroad, he was safeguarded at home;
but now go on, do say that the familiar friends have arrived.
MER. I don’t know how “familiar” you are: unless you go away from here at once,
I’ll make sure that a “familiar” is received in no familiar fashion.

355
S. Hic inquam habito ego atque horunc servos sum. M. At scin quo modo?
faciam ego hodie te superbum, nisi hinc abis.

355
S. Here, I say, I dwell, and I am the servant of these men. M. But do you know how?
I will make you high-and-mighty today, unless you go away from here.

SOS. Quonam modo?
MERC. Auferere, non abibis, si ego fustem sumpsero.
SOS. Quin me esse huius familiai familiarem praedico.

SOS. In what way?
MERC. You’ll be carried off; you won’t get away, if I take up a cudgel.
SOS. Why, I proclaim that I am a familiar of this household.

MERC. Vide sis quam mox vapulare vis, nisi actutum hinc abis.

MERC. Look, please, how soon you want a thrashing, unless you go away from here at once.

360
SOS. Tun domo prohibere peregre me advenientem postulas?
M. Haecine tua domust? S. Ita inquam.

360
SOS. Do you then demand to prohibit me from the house, me arriving from abroad?
M. Is this, then, your house? S. Yes, I say.

M. Quis erus est igitur tibi?
SOS. Amphitruo, qui nunc praefectust Thebanis legionibus,
quicum nupta est Alcumena. MERC. Quid ais?

M. Who is your master then?
SOS. Amphitruo, who now is prefect of the Theban legions,
to whom Alcumena is married. MERC. What do you say?

quid nomen tibi est?
SOS. Sosiam vocant Thebani, Davo prognatum patre.

what is your name?
SOS. The Thebans call me Sosia, begotten by father Davus.

365
MERC. Ne tu istic hodie malo tuo compositis mendaciis
advenisti, audaciai columen, consutis dolis.
SOS. Immo equidem tunicis consutis huc advenio, non dolis.
MERC. At mentiris etiam: certo pedibus, non tunicis venis.

365
MERC. Why, indeed, you have come here today to your own harm with composed lies, pinnacle of audacity, with stitched-up tricks.
SOS. No indeed: I come here with stitched tunics, not with tricks.
MERC. But you’re lying too: surely you come with your feet, not with tunics.

SOS. Ita profecto. MERC. Nunc profecto vapula ob mendacium.

SOS. Yes indeed. MERC. Now indeed, take a beating for your mendacity.

370
SOS. Non edepol volo profecto. MERC. At pol profecto ingratiis.
hoc quidem profecto certum est, non est arbitrarium.

370
SOS. By Pollux, I surely do not want to. MERC. But, by Pollux, surely against your will.
this indeed surely is certain; it is not arbitrary.

SOS. Tuam fidem obsecro. MERC. Tun te audes Sosiam esse dicere,
qui ego sum? S. Perii.

SOS. I implore your good faith. MERC. Do you then dare to say that you are Sosia,
who I am? S. I have perished.

M. Parum etiam, praeut futurum est, praedicas.
quoius nunc es? SOS. Tuos, nam pugnis usu fecisti tuom.

M. Too little even, compared to what is going to be, you proclaim.
Whose are you now? SOS. Yours, for by use you have made me your own.

375
pro fidem, Thebani cives. MERC. Etiam clamas, carnifex?
loquere, quid venisti?

375
O good faith, Theban citizens. MERC. Are you still shouting, executioner?
Speak—why have you come?

SOS. Vt esset quem tu pugnis caederes.
M. Cuius es? S. Amphitruonis, inquam, Sosia. M. Ergo istoc magis,
quia vaniloquo's, vapulabis: ego sum, non tu, Sosia.

SOS. So that there might be someone whom you could beat with your fists.
M. Whose are you? S. I say, Sosia of Amphitruo. M. Therefore all the more for that,
because you’re vaniloquent, you’ll be thrashed: I am, not you, Sosia.

SOS. Ita di faciant, ut tu potius sis atque ego te ut verberem.

SOS. So may the gods grant, that you be it rather, and that I may beat you.

380
M. Etiam muttis? S. Iam tacebo. M. Quis tibi erust?

380
M. Are you still muttering? S. I will be silent now. M. Who is your master?

S. Quem tu voles.
MERC. Quid igitur? qui nunc vocare?

S. Whomever you like.
MERC. What then? whom now to call?

SOS. Nemo nisi quem iusseris.
MERC. Amphitruonis te esse aiebas Sosiam. SOS. Peccaveram,
nam Amphitruonis ~socium ne me esse volui dicere.

SOS. No one except whom you order.
MERC. You were asserting that you were Sosia of Amphitruo. SOS. I had erred,
for I wished to say that I was not the ~associate of Amphitruo.

MERC. Scibam equidem nullum esse nobis nisi me servom Sosiam.

MERC. I indeed knew that we had no slave Sosia except me.

385
fugit te ratio. SOS. Vtinam istuc pugni fecissent tui.
MERC. Ego sum Sosia ille quem tu dudum esse aiebas mihi.

385
Reason has fled you. SOS. Would that your fists had done that.
MERC. I am that Sosia whom you a little while ago said was me.

SOS. Obsecro ut per pacem liceat te alloqui, ut ne vapulem.
MERC. Immo indutiae parumper fiant, si quid vis loqui.
SOS. Non loquar nisi pace facta, quando pugnis plus vales.

SOS. I beseech that through peace it may be permitted to address you, so that I not be thrashed.
MERC. Rather, let a truce be made for a little while, if you wish to say anything.
SOS. I will not speak unless peace is made, since you prevail more by fists.

390
MERC. Dic si quid vis, non nocebo. SOS. Tuae fide credo? MERC. Meae.

390
MERC. Say whatever you wish, I will not harm you. SOS. Do I trust to your faith? MERC. To mine.

SOS. Quid si falles? MERC. Tum Mercurius Sosiae iratus siet.
SOS. Animum advorte.

SOS. What if you deceive? MERC. Then Mercury would be angry with Sosia.
SOS. Advert your mind.

nunc licet mihi libere quidvis loqui.
Amphitruonis ego sum servos Sosia. MERC. Etiam denuo?

now it is permitted for me freely to say anything whatsoever.
I am Sosia, the slave of Amphitryon. MERC. Again?

SOS. Pacem feci, foedus feci. vera dico. MERC. Vapula.

SOS. I have made peace, I have made a compact. I speak truth. MERC. Take a beating.

395
SOS. Vt libet quid tibi libet fac, quoniam pugnis plus vales;
verum, utut es facturus, hoc quidem hercle haud reticebo tamen.
MERC. Tu me vivos hodie numquam facies quin sim Sosia.
SOS. Certe edepol tu me alienabis numquam quin noster siem;
nec nobis praeter med alius quisquam est servos Sosia.

395
SOS. As you like, do whatever you like, since with fists you prevail more;
but, whatever you are going to do, this at least, by Hercules, I will not keep quiet.
MERC. You will never, so long as I live today, make it so that I am not Sosia.
SOS. Surely, by Pollux, you will never alienate me from being one of ours;
nor have we, besides me, any other slave Sosia.

400
[qui cum Amphitruone hinc una ieram in exercitum.]
M. Hic homo sanus non est. S. Quod mihi praedicas vitium, id tibi est.
quid, malum, non sum ego servos Amphitruonis Sosia?

400
[I, who together with Amphitryon had gone from here into the army.]
M. This man is not sane. S. The fault you proclaim of me is yours.
What, the mischief, am I not Sosia, the slave of Amphitryon?

nonne hac noctu nostra navis <huc> ex portu Persico
venit, quae me advexit? nonne me huc erus misit meus?

did not our ship come hither this night from the Persian port,
which conveyed me? did not my master send me here?

405
nonne ego nunc sto ante aedes nostras? non mi est lanterna in manu?
non loquor, non vigilo?

405
Do I not now stand before our house? Have I not a lantern in my hand?
Do I not speak, do I not keep vigil?

nonne hic homo modo me pugnis contudit?
fecit hercle, nam etiam misero nunc <mihi> malae dolent.
quid igitur ego dubito, aut cur non intro eo in nostram domum?

Did not this man just batter me with his fists?
He did, by Hercules, for even now, poor me, my cheeks ache.
Why then do I hesitate, or why do I not go in into our house?

M. Quid, domum vostram? S. Ita enim vero. M. Quin quae dixisti modo

M. What, to your house? S. Yes indeed. M. Why not what you just said

410
omnia ementitu's: equidem Sosia Amphitruonis sum.
nam noctu hac soluta est navis nostra e portu Persico,
et ubi Pterela rex regnavit oppidum expugnavimus,
et legiones Teloboarum vi pugnando cepimus,
et ipsus Amphitruo optruncavit regem Pterelam in proelio.

410
You’ve fabricated everything: indeed I am Sosia of Amphitruo.
For on this night our ship was cast off from the Persian port,
and we stormed the town where King Pterela ruled,
and by force, fighting, we captured the legions of the Teloboans,
and Amphitruo himself cut down King Pterela in battle.

415
SOS. Egomet mihi non credo, cum illaec autumare illum audio;
hic quidem certe quae illic sunt res gestae memorat memoriter.
sed quid ais? quid Amphitruoni <doni> a Telobois datum est?

415
SOS. I myself do not believe myself, when I hear that fellow aver those things;
this man indeed certainly recounts from memory the deeds that were done there.
but what do you say? what was given to Amphitruo as a gift by the Teloboi?

MERC. Pterela rex qui potitare solitus est patera aurea.
SOS. Elocutus est. ubi patera nunc est?

MERC. King Pterela, who was accustomed to drink with a golden patera.
SOS. You’ve spoken. Where is the patera now?

MERC. <Est> in cistula;

MERC. <It is> in the little casket;

420
Amphitruonis obsignata signo est. SOS. Signi dic quid est?
MERC. Cum quadrigis Sol exoriens.

420
It is sealed with Amphitruo’s signet. SOS. Tell what the device is?
MERC. The Sun rising with his quadriga.

quid me captas, carnufex?
SOS. Argumentis vicit, aliud nomen quaerundum est mihi.
nescio unde haec hic spectavit.

why are you seizing me, executioner?
SOS. He has conquered by arguments; another name must be sought by me.
I do not know whence he has beheld these things here.

iam ego hunc decipiam probe;
nam quod egomet solus feci, nec quisquam alius affuit,

now I will deceive this man thoroughly;
for what I myself alone did, and no one else was present,

425
in tabernaclo, id quidem hodie numquam poterit dicere.
si tu Sosia es, legiones cum pugnabant maxume,
quid in tabernaclo fecisti? victus sum, si dixeris.

425
in the tent—this indeed today he will never be able to say.
if you are Sosia, when the legions were fighting at the very height,
what did you do in the tent? I am conquered, if you say it.

MERC. Cadus erat vini, inde implevi hirneam. SOS. Ingressust viam.
MERC. Eam ego, ut matre fuerat natum, vini eduxi meri.

MERC. There was a cask of wine; from it I filled the pitcher. SOS. He set out on the road.
MERC. That one I drew, as it had been born from its mother, of unmixed wine.

430
SOS. Factum est illud, ut ego illic vini hirneam ebiberim meri.
mira sunt nisi latuit intus illic in illac hirnea.
MERC. Quid nunc?

430
SOS. It came to pass that I there drank down a jar of wine, mere (unmixed).
It’s a marvel, unless he hid inside there in that jar.
MERC. What now?

vincon argumentis, te non esse Sosiam?
SOS. Tu negas med esse? MERC. Quid ego ni negem, qui egomet siem?

Shall I prove by arguments that you are not Sosia?
SOS. Do you deny that I am me? MERC. Why should I not deny it, since I myself am he?

SOS. Per Iovem iuro med esse neque me falsum dicere.

SOS. By Jove I swear that I am myself and that I am not speaking falsely.

435
MERC. At ego per Mercurium iuro, tibi Iovem non credere;
nam iniurato scio plus credet mihi quam iurato tibi.
SOS. Quis ego sum saltem, si non sum Sosia? te interrogo.

435
MERC. But I swear by Mercury, Jupiter will not believe you;
for I know that, me unsworn, he will believe more than you sworn.
SOS. Who am I at least, if I am not Sosia? I ask you.

MERC. Vbi ego Sosia nolim esse, tu esto sane Sosia;
nunc, quando ego sum, vapulabis, ni hinc abis, ignobilis.

MERC. When I am unwilling to be Sosia, you be Sosia, by all means;
now, since I am, you will be thrashed, unless you go away from here, ignoble one.

440
SOS. Certe edepol, quom illum contemplo et formam cognosco meam,
quem ad modum ego sum—saepe in speculum inspexi—nimis similest mei;
itidem habet petasum ac vestitum: tam consimilest atque ego;
sura, pes, statura, tonsus, oculi, nasum vel labra,
malae, mentum, barba, collus: totus. quid verbis opust?

440
SOS. Surely, by Pollux, when I contemplate him and recognize my form,
just as I am — I have often looked into a mirror — he is exceedingly similar to me;
likewise he has the broad-brimmed hat and the attire: just as similar as I;
calf, foot, stature, haircut, eyes, nose or lips,
cheeks, chin, beard, neck: the whole of him. What need is there of words?

445
si tergum cicatricosum, nihil hoc similist similius.
sed quom cogito, equidem certo idem sum qui semper fui.
novi erum, novi aedis nostras; sane sapio et sentio.

445
if the back is scar-scored, nothing is more similar to the similar than this.
but when I reflect, indeed I am surely the same who I have always been.
I know my master, I know our house; indeed I have sense and I perceive.

non ego illi obtempero quod loquitur. pultabo foris.
MERC. Quo agis te? S. Domum.

I will not obey him in what he says. I'll knock at the door.
MERC. Where are you going? S. Home.

M. Quadrigas si nunc inscendas Iovis

M. If now you were to mount Jove’s four-horse chariot

450
atque hinc fugias, ita vix poteris effugere infortunium.
SOS. Nonne erae meae nuntiare quod erus meus iussit licet?
MERC. Tuae si quid vis nuntiare: hanc nostram adire non sinam.

450
and though you flee from here, even so you will scarcely be able to escape ill-fortune.
SOS. Is it not permitted for me to announce to my mistress what my master ordered?
MERC. To your own, if you wish, announce something: this our lady I will not allow you to approach.

nam si me inritassis, hodie lumbifragium hinc auferes.
SOS. Abeo potius. di immortales, obsecro vostram fidem,

for if you irritate me, today you will carry off from here a broken back.
SOS. I’d rather go away. Immortal gods, I beseech your good faith,

455
ubi ego perii? ubi immutatus sum? ubi ego formam perdidi?

455
where have I perished? where have I been transmuted? where have I lost my form?

an egomet me illic reliqui, si forte oblitus fui?
nam hic quidem omnem imaginem meam, quae antehac fuerat, possidet.
vivo fit quod numquam quisquam mortuo faciet mihi.

Or did I myself leave myself there, if perchance I forgot?
for this fellow here indeed possesses my entire image, which formerly had been mine.
while I live there is being done what no one will ever do to me when I am dead.

ibo ad portum atque haec uti sunt facta ero dicam meo;

I will go to the harbor and tell my master these things just as they were done;

460
nisi etiam is quoque me ignorabit: quod ille faxit Iuppiter,
ut ego hodie raso capite calvos capiam pilleum.—

460
unless even he too will not recognize me: may Jupiter bring that about,
that today, with my head shaved, I as a bald man may put on the pileus-cap.—

I.ii
MERC. Bene prospere hoc hodie operis processit mihi:
amovi a foribus maximam molestiam,
patri ut liceret tuto illam amplexarier.

I.ii
MERC. Well and prosperously this work has proceeded for me today:
I have removed from the doors a very great annoyance,
so that it might be permitted for father to embrace her safely.

465
iam ille illuc ad erum cum Amphitruonem advenerit,
narrabit servom hinc sese a foribus Sosiam
amovisse; ille adeo illum mentiri sibi
credet, neque credet huc profectum, ut iusserat.
erroris ambo ego illos et dementiae

465
now when that fellow arrives there to the master with Amphitryon,
he will tell that he has removed the slave Sosia from the doors here;
the master will indeed think that he is lying to him,
nor will he believe that he set out hither, as he had ordered.
I will fill them both with error and with dementia.

470
complebo atque omnem Amphitruonis familiam,
adeo usque, satietatem dum capiet pater
illius quam amat. igitur demum omnes scient
quae facta. denique Alcumenam Iuppiter
rediget antiquam coniugi in concordiam.

470
I will fill up—and the whole family of Amphitruo as well—,
to such an extent, until the Father takes his fill of the one whom he loves.
Therefore then at last all will know
what has been done. Finally Jupiter will reduce Alcumena back into former concord with her consort.

475
nam Amphitruo actutum uxori turbas conciet
atque insimulabit eam probri; tum meus pater
eam seditionem illi in tranquillum conferet.
nunc de Alcumena dudum quod dixi minus,
hodie illa pariet filios geminos duos

475
for Amphitruo will at once stir up troubles for his wife
and will accuse her of a disgrace; then my father
will bring that sedition for her into tranquility.
now, about Alcumena, what I said a little while ago was less:
today she will bear twin sons, two

480
alter decumo post mense nascetur puer
quam seminatust, alter mense septumo;
eorum Amphitruonis alter est, alter Iovis:
verum minori puero maior est pater,
minor maiori. iamne hoc scitis quid siet?

480
one boy will be born in the tenth month after he was sown,
the other in the seventh month;
of them one is Amphitruo’s, the other Jove’s:
but to the smaller boy the greater is father,
the lesser to the greater. Do you already know what this is?

485
sed Alcumenae huius honoris gratia
pater curavit uno ut fetu fieret,
uno ut labore absolvat aerumnas duas.
[et ne in suspicione ponatur stupri
et clandestina ut celetur consuetio.]

485
but for Alcumena, for the sake of this honor,
the father took care that it should be done in one birth,
that by one labor she might absolve two hardships.
[and lest she be placed under suspicion of illicit sex,
and that the clandestine consuetude may be concealed.]

490
quamquam, ut iam dudum dixi, resciscet tamen
Amphitruo rem omnem. quid igitur? nemo id probro
profecto ducet Alcumenae; nam deum
non par videtur facere, delictum suom
suamque ut culpam expetere in mortalem ut sinat.

490
Although, as I said a while ago, Amphitruo will nevertheless learn the whole matter.
What then? Surely no one will count that a reproach to Alcumena;
for it does not seem on a par for a god to do, to allow his own delict and his own culpa
to be exacted upon a mortal.

495
orationem comprimam: crepuit foris.
Amphitruo subditivos eccum exit foras
cum Alcumena uxore usuraria.

495
I will compress my oration: the door has creaked.
Lo, Amphitryon, subdititious, comes out outside
with Alcumena, a usurious wife.

I.iii
IVPPITER Bene vale, Alcumena, cura rem communem, quod facis;
atque inperce quaeso: menses iam tibi esse actos vides.

I.iii
JUPITER Fare well, Alcmena, tend our common concern, as you do;
and comply, I beg: you see that the months for you are now completed.

500
mihi necesse est ire hinc; verum quod erit natum tollito.
ALCVMENA Quid istuc est, mi vir, negoti, quod tu tam subito domo
abeas? IVPP. Edepol haud quod tui me neque domi distaedeat;
sed ubi summus imperator non adest ad exercitum,
citius quod non facto est usus fit quam quod facto est opus.

500
it is necessary for me to go from here; but take up whatever will be born.
ALCVMENA What is that business, my husband, that you should so suddenly from the house
go away? IVPP. By Pollux, it’s not at all that I am wearied either of you or of being at home;
but when the highest commander is not present with the army,
the need for what has not been done comes faster than the doing of what ought to be done.

505
MERC. Nimis hic scitust sycophanta, qui quidem meus sit pater.
observatote <eum>, quam blande mulieri palpabitur.
ALC. Ecastor te experior quanti facias uxorem tuam.

505
MERC. He’s a very shrewd sycophant, even though he is my father.
Just observe <him>, how blandly he will fawn upon the woman.
ALC. By Castor, I find by experience how much you value your wife.

IVPP. Satin habes, si feminarum nulla est quam aeque diligam?
MERC. Edepol ne illa si istis rebus te sciat operam dare,

IVPP. Are you satisfied, if there is no woman whom I love equally?
MERC. By Pollux, that woman, if she were to know that you are devoting effort to those affairs,

510
ego faxim ted Amphitruonem esse malis, quam Iovem.
ALC. Experiri istuc mavellem me quam mi memorarier.
prius abis quam lectus ubi cubuisti concaluit locus.

510
I will make you prefer to be Amphitryon rather than Jupiter.
ALC. I would rather try that myself than have it told to me.
you go away before the bed—the place where you have lain—has grown warm.

heri venisti media nocte, nunc abis. hocin placet?
MERC. Accedam atque hanc appellabo et subparasitabor patri.

yesterday you came in the middle of the night; now you go away. Does this please you?
MERC. I will approach and address her and play the sub-parasite to my father.

515
numquam edepol quemquam mortalem credo ego uxorem suam
sic ecflictim amare, proinde ut hic te ecflictim deperit.
IVPP. Carnufex, non ego te novi? abin e conspectu meo?

515
never, by Pollux, do I believe any mortal man loves his own wife
so desperately, just as this fellow here desperately dotes on you.
IVPP. Hangman, do I not know you? be off out of my sight!

quid tibi hanc curatio est rem, verbero, aut muttitio?
quoii ego iam hoc scipione—ALC. Ah noli. IVPP. Muttito modo.

what concern is this matter to you, you whipping-post, or muttering?
for whom I now with this staff—ALC. Ah, don’t. IVPP. Just mutter only.

520
MERC. Nequiter paene expedivit prima parasitatio.
IVPP. Verum quod tu dicis, mea uxor, non te mi irasci decet.
clanculum abii a legione: operam hanc subrupui tibi,
ex me primo <ut> prima scires, rem ut gessissem publicam.

520
MERC. The first parasitation almost turned out badly.
IVPP. But what you say is true, my wife; it does not befit you to be angry with me.
secretly I went away from the legion: I filched this service for you,
so that first from me you might be the first to know that I had conducted the public business.

ea tibi omnia enarravi. nisi te amarem plurimum,

I have narrated all those things to you. If I did not love you very much,

525
non facerem. MERC. Facitne ut dixi? timidam palpo percutit.

525
I would not do it. MERC. Does he do as I said? He strikes the timid one with a caress.

IVPP. Nunc, ne legio persentiscat, clam illuc redeundum est mihi,
ne me uxorem praevertisse dicant prae re publica.
ALC. Lacrimantem ex abitu concinnas tu tuam uxorem. IVPP. Tace,
ne corrumpe oculos, redibo actutum.

IVPP. Now, lest the legion get wind of it, I must go back there secretly,
lest they say that I have put my wife before the Republic.
ALC. You contrive your wife weeping at your departure. IVPP. Be silent,
do not spoil your eyes, I will return forthwith.

ALC. Id actutum diu est.

ALC. That "immediately" has been a long time.

530
IVPP. Non ego te hic lubens relinquo neque abeo abs te. ALC. Sentio,
nam qua nocte ad me venisti, eadem abis. IVPP. Cur me tenes?
tempus <est>: exire ex urbe prius quam lucescat volo.

530
IVPP. I do not leave you here willingly, nor do I go away from you. ALC. I perceive it,
for the same night you came to me, on the same you depart. IVPP. Why do you hold me?
it is time: I wish to go out of the city before it grows light.

nunc tibi hanc pateram, quae dono mi illi ob virtutem data est,
Pterela rex qui potitavit, quem ego mea occidi manu,

now to you this patera-bowl, which was given to me as a gift for valor,
King Pterela drank from it, whom I slew with my own hand,

535
Alcumena, tibi condono. ALC. Facis ut alias res soles.
ecastor condignum donum, qualest qui donum dedit.

535
Alcmene, I bestow it upon you. ALC. You do as you are wont to do in other matters.
By Castor, a condign gift, such as is the one who gave the gift.

MERC. Immo sic: condignum donum, qualest cui dono datumst.
IVPP. Pergin autem? nonne ego possum, furcifer, te perdere?

MERC. Nay, thus: a condign gift, such as the one to whom it has been given as a gift.
IVPP. Do you persist then? Can I not, gallows-bird, do away with you?

ALC. Noli amabo, Amphitruo, irasci Sosiae causa mea.

ALC. Please, Amphitruo, do not be angry with Sosia on my account.

540
IVPP. Faciam ita ut vis. MERC. Ex amore hic admodum quam saevos est.
I. Numquid vis?

540
IVPP. I will do just as you wish. MERC. From love he is exceedingly savage.
I. Do you want anything?

A. Vt quom absim me ames, me tuam te absente tamen.
MERC. Eamus, Amphitruo. lucescit hoc iam.

A. That when I am away you may love me, me as yours, with you absent nevertheless.
MERC. Let us go, Amphitruo. It is dawning now.

IVPP. Abi prae, Sosia,
iam ego sequar. numquid vis? A. Etiam: ut actutum advenias.

IVPP. Go on ahead, Sosia,
now I will follow. Do you want anything? A. Yes: that you arrive at once.

I. Licet,
prius tua opinione hic adero: bonum animum habe.—

I. All right,
sooner than your opinion would suppose, I will be here: keep a good spirit.—

545
nunc te, nox, quae me mansisti, mitto uti cedas die,
ut mortalis inlucescat luce clara et candida.
atque quanto, nox, fuisti longior hac proxuma,
tanto brevior dies ut fiat faciam, ut aeque disparet.
sed dies e nocte accedat.

545
now you, night, who have tarried for me, I dismiss, that you yield to day,
so that mortals may be illumined by a light clear and candid.
and by as much, night, as you were longer than this next one,
by so much I will make the day become shorter, so that it likewise be disparate.
but let day come on from night.

ibo et Mercurium sequar.—

I will go and follow Mercury.—

550

ACTVS II

ACT 2

II.i
AMPHITRVO Age i tu secundum. SOSIA Sequor, subsequor te.
AMPH. Scelestissimum te arbitror. SOS. Nam quam ob rem?

2.1
AMPHITRVO Come on, you go second. SOSIA I follow, I follow after you.
AMPH. I consider you most wicked. SOS. For what reason?

AMPH. Quia id quod neque est neque fuit neque futurum est
mihi praedicas. SOS. Eccere, iam tuatim
facis <tu>, ut tuis nulla apud te fides sit.

AMPH. Because you declare to me that which neither is nor was nor will be
to come. SOS. Look here, now you are doing it in your own way <you>, so that your own have no trust with you.

555
AMPH. Quid est? quo modo? iam quidem hercle ego tibi istam
scelestam, scelus, linguam abscidam.

555
AMPH. What is it? How so? Right now, by Hercules, I will cut off
that wicked tongue of yours, you scoundrel.

SOS. Tuos sum,
proinde ut commodumst et lubet quidque facias;
tamen quin loquar haec uti facta sunt hic,
numquam ullo modo me potes deterrere.

SOS. I am yours,
accordingly do whatever is commodious and whatever pleases you;
yet as to my speaking these things as they were done here,
you can never in any way deter me.

560
AMPH. Scelestissime, audes mihi praedicare id,
domi te esse nunc, qui hic ades? SOS. Vera dico.
AMPH. Malum quod tibi di dabunt, atque ego hodie
dabo.

560
AMPH. Most wicked man, do you dare to proclaim to me this—
that you are at home now, you who are present here? SOS. I speak truths.
AMPH. The ill that the gods will give you—and I will give today.

SOS. Istuc tibist in manu, nam tuos sum.
AMPH. Tun me, verbero, audes erum ludificari?

SOS. That is in your hand, for I am yours.
AMPH. Do you, you wretch, dare to make sport of me, your master?

565
tune id dicere audes, quod nemo umquam homo antehac
vidit nec potest fieri, tempore uno
homo idem duobus locis ut simul sit?
SOS. Profecto ut loquor res ita est. AMPH. Iuppiter te
perdat.

565
do you then dare to say that, which no man ever heretofore has seen
nor can be done, at one time
that the same man be in two places simultaneously?
SOS. Indeed, as I say, the matter is so. AMPH. May Jupiter
destroy you.

SOS. Quid mali sum, ere, tua ex re promeritus?

SOS. What harm have I, master, deserved, on your account?

570
AMPH. Rogasne, improbe, etiam, qui ludos facis me?
SOS. Merito maledicas mihi, si id ita factum est.~
verum haud mentior, resque uti facta dico.
AMPH. Homo hic ebrius est, ut opinor.
SOS. Vtinam ita essem.

570
AMPH. Do you ask, you shameless man, even now—who make sport of me?
SOS. Deservedly you may utter maledictions against me, if it has been done so.~
But I do not lie, and I tell the matter as it was done.
AMPH. This fellow is drunk, as I suppose.
SOS. Would that I were so.

AMPH. Optas quae facta.

AMPH. You wish for things that have been done.

575
SOS. Egone? AMPH. Tu istic. ubi bibisti?

575
SOS. I? AMPH. You there. where did you drink?

SOS. Nusquam equidem bibi. AMPH. Quid hoc sit
hominis? SOS. equidem decies dixi:
domi ego sum, inquam, ecquid audis?

SOS. Nowhere indeed have I drunk. AMPH. What is this
man? SOS. indeed I’ve said ten times:
I am at home, I say, do you hear at all?

et apud te adsum Sosia idem.
satin hoc plane, satin diserte,
ere, nunc videor
tibi locutus esse? AMPH. Vah,
apage te a me. SOS. Quid est negoti?

and with you I am present, the same Sosia.
is this enough plainly, enough clearly,
master, do I now seem
to you to have spoken? AMPH. Bah,
away with you from me. SOS. What is the matter?

580
AMPH. Pestis te tenet. SOS. Nam quor istuc
dicis? equidem valeo et salvos
sum recte, Amphitruo.

580
AMPH. A plague holds you. SOS. For why do you
say that? Indeed I am well and safe
quite all right, Amphitruo.

AMPH. At te ego faciam
hodie proinde ac meritus es,
ut minus valeas et miser sis,          584a
salvos domum si rediero: iam        584b
sequere sis, erum qui ludificas       585a
dictis delirantibus,                          585b
qui quoniam erus quod imperavit neglexisti persequi,
nunc venis etiam ultro inrisum dominum: quae neque fieri
possunt neque fando umquam accepit quisquam profers, carnifex;
quoius ego hodie in tergum faxo ista expetant mendacia.
SOS. Amphitruo, miserrima istaec miseria est servo bono,

AMPH. But I will make you today just as you have merited, so that you be the less well and be wretched,          584a
if I return home safe: now        584b
do follow, please, you who make sport of your master       585a
with delirious words,                          585b
you who, since you neglected to pursue what the master commanded, now even come of your own accord to make your lord a laughingstock: things which neither can happen nor has anyone ever heard tell of you bring forth, hangman; and I today will make those lies pay a visit to your back. SOS. Amphitruo, that is the most miserable misery for a good slave,

590
apud erum qui vera loquitur, si id vi verum vincitur.
AMPH. Quo id, malum, pacto potest nam—mecum argumentis puta —
fieri, nunc uti tu <et> hic sis et domi? id dici volo.

590
before his master, one who speaks the truth, if that truth is conquered by force.
AMPH. How, plague take it, can that be—for, consider with me by arguments —
to happen, that now you should be both here and at home? I want that said.

SOS. Sum profecto et hic et illic. hoc cuivis mirari licet,
neque tibi istuc mirum *** magis videtur quam mihi.

SOS. I am indeed both here and there. This anyone may marvel at,
nor does that seem *** more a marvel to you than to me.

595
AMPH. Quo modo? S. Nihilo, inquam, mirum magis tibi istuc quam mihi;
neque, ita me di ament, credebam primo mihimet Sosiae,
donec Sosia illic egomet fecit sibi uti crederem.
ordine omne, uti quicque actum est, dum apud hostis sedimus,
edissertavit.

595
AMPH. How so? S. By no whit, I say, is that more a marvel to you than to me;
nor, so may the gods love me, did I at first believe myself to be Sosia,
until that Sosia there made me myself believe him to be Sosia.
In order, everything, as each thing was done, while we sat among the enemy,
he expounded in detail.

tum formam una abstulit cum nomine.

then together he took away the form along with the name.

600
neque lac lactis magis est simile quam ille ego similest mei.
nam ut dudum ante lucem a portu me praemisisti domum—
A. Quid igitur? S. Prius multo ante aedis stabam quam illo adveneram.

600
not even milk is more like milk than that fellow is like me.
for when, just before daybreak, from the harbor you sent me on ahead home—
A. What then? S. I was standing before the house much earlier than I had arrived there.

AMPH. Quas, malum, nugas? satin tu sanus es? SOS. Sic sum ut vides.
AMPH. Huic homini nescio quid est mali mala obiectum manu,

AMPH. What the devil, what nonsense? Are you quite sane? SOS. I am so, as you see.
AMPH. Some evil, I know not what, has been cast at this man by an evil hand,

605
postquam a me abiit. SOS. Fateor, nam sum obtusus pugnis pessume.
AMPH. Quis te verberavit?

605
after he went away from me. SOS. I confess, for I have been battered by fists most badly.
AMPH. Who beat you?

SOS. Egomet memet, qui nunc sum domi.
AMPH. Cave quicquam, nisi quod rogabo te, mihi responderis.
omnium primum iste qui sit Sosia, hoc dici volo.

SOS. I myself, my very self, the one who is now at home.
AMPH. Take care that you answer me nothing except what I shall ask you.
First of all, who that Sosia is—this I want said.

SOS. Tuos est servos. AMPH. Mihi quidem uno te plus etiam est quam volo,

SOS. He is your slave. AMPH. For my part, there’s even one of you more than I want,

610
neque postquam sum natus habui nisi te servom Sosiam.
SOS. At ego nunc, Amphitruo, dico: Sosiam servom tuom
praeter me alterum, inquam, adveniens faciam ut offendas domi,
Davo prognatum patre eodem quo ego sum, forma, aetate item
qua ego sum. quid opust verbis?

610
nor, since I was born, have I had any slave except you, Sosia.
SOS. But I now, Amphitruo, say: I will make it so that, when you arrive, you will run into at home another Sosia, your slave, besides me, I say,
born of Davus, the same father by whom I am, in form and in age likewise as I am. What need is there of words?

geminus Sosia hic factust tibi.

a twin Sosia has been made for you here.

615
AMPH. Nimia memoras mira. sed vidistin uxorem meam?
S. Quin intro ire in aedis numquam licitum est.

615
AMPH. You recount too many marvels. But have you seen my wife?
S. Why, I was never allowed to go inside the house.

A. Quis te prohibuit?
SOS. Sosia ille, quem iam dudum dico, is qui me contudit.
AMPH. Quis istic Sosia est?

A. Who prohibited you?
SOS. That Sosia, whom I’ve been talking about for quite a while now, the one who pounded me.
AMPH. Which Sosia is that?

SOS. Ego, inquam. quotiens dicendum est tibi?
AMPH. Sed quid ais?

SOS. I, I say. How often must it be said to you?
AMPH. But what do you say?

num obdormivisti dudum? SOS. Nusquam gentium.

Have you fallen asleep just now? SOS. Nowhere in the world.

620
AMPH. Ibi forte istum si vidisses quendam in somnis Sosiam—
SOS. Non soleo ego somniculose eri imperia persequi.
vigilans vidi, vigilans nunc <te> video, vigilans fabulor,
vigilantem ille me iam dudum vigilans pugnis contudit.
AMPH. Quis homo?

620
AMPH. There perhaps, if you had seen in dreams a certain Sosia—
SOS. I am not accustomed to pursue my master’s commands sleepily.
awake I saw, awake now I see <you>, awake I talk,
awake, he, long now awake, battered me awake with his fists.
AMPH. What man?

SOS. Sosia, inquam, ego ille. quaeso, nonne intellegis?

SOS. Sosia, I say, I am that very one. please, do you not understand?

625
AMPH. Qui, malum, intellegere quisquam potis est? ita nugas blatis.
SOS. Verum actutum nosces, quom illum nosces servom Sosiam.

625
AMPH. How, the devil, is anyone able to understand? you blather such nonsense.
SOS. But indeed you’ll know at once, when you come to know that servant Sosia.

AMPH. Sequere hac igitur me, nam mi istuc primum exquisito est opus.
[sed vide ex navi efferantur quae imperavi iam omnia.
SOS. Et memor sum et diligens, ut quae imperes compareant;

AMPH. Follow me this way, then, for it is needful that that be first looked into.
[but see to it that everything I ordered be now brought out from the ship.
SOS. I am both mindful and diligent, so that what you order may appear;

630
non ego cum vino simitu ebibi imperium tuom.
AMPH. Vtinam di faxint, infecta dicta re eveniant tua.]

630
I did not drink down your authority together with the wine.
AMPH. May the gods grant that your words prove undone in fact.]

II.ii
ALCVMENA Satin parva res est voluptatum in vita atque in aetate agunda
praequam quod molestum est? ita cuique comparatum est in aetate hominum;
ita divis est placitum, voluptatem ut maeror comes consequatur:

II.ii
ALCVMENA Is the portion of pleasures in life and in the time to be spent rather small, in comparison with what is troublesome?
so for each person it has been arranged in the life of humans;
so it has been pleasing to the gods, that sorrow follows pleasure as a companion:

635
quin incommodi plus malique ilico adsit, boni si optigit quid.
nam ego id nunc experior domo atque ipsa de me scio, cui voluptas
parumper datast, dum viri mei mihi potestas videndi fuit
noctem unam modo; atque is repente abiit a me hinc ante lucem.
sola hic mihi nunc videor, quia ille hinc abest quem ego amo praeter omnes.

635
nay rather, more inconvenience and ill are at once at hand, if any good has befallen.
for I now experience this at home and I myself know it about myself, to whom pleasure
was given for a little while, while the power of seeing my husband was mine
for one night only; and he suddenly went away from me from here before light.
I seem alone here now, because he is away from here whom I love beyond all others.

640
plus aegri ex abitu viri, quam ex adventu voluptatis cepi.
sed hoc me beat
saltem, quom perduellis vicit et domum laudis compos revenit:
id solacio est.
absit, dum modo laude parta
domum recipiat se; feram et perferam usque

640
I have taken more woe from my husband's departure than from the advent of pleasure.
but this makes me happy
at least, since he conquered the foe and returned home in possession of praise:
that is a solace.
let him be away, provided only that, praise having been won,
he betakes himself home; I will bear and endure continually

645
abitum eius animo forti atque offirmato, id modo si mercedis
datur mi, ut meus victor vir belli clueat.
satis mi esse ducam.
virtus praemium est optimum;
virtus omnibus rebus anteit profecto:
libertas salus vita res et parentes, patria et prognati

645
I will bear his departure with a brave and steadfast mind, if only this reward
is given to me, that my husband be famed as a victor in war.
I will reckon it enough for me.
Virtue is the best reward;
virtue surely goes before all things:
liberty, safety, life, property and parents, fatherland and progeny

650
tutantur, servantur:
virtus omnia in sese habet, omnia adsunt
bona quem penest virtus.
AMPH. Edepol me uxori exoptatum credo adventurum domum,
quae me amat, quam contra amo, praesertim re gesta bene,

650
are protected, are preserved:
virtue holds all things in itself; all good things are present
to him in whose possession virtue is.
AMPH. By Pollux, I believe I shall come home longed-for by my wife,
who loves me, whom I in turn love, especially with the matter well accomplished,

655
victis hostibus: quos nemo posse superari ratust,
eos auspicio meo atque ductu primo coetu vicimus.
certe enim med illi expectatum optato venturum scio.
SOS. Quid?

655
with the enemies conquered: whom no one thought could be overcome,
those, under my auspices and leadership, at the first encounter we vanquished.
for certainly I know that to them I shall come expected and wished-for.
SOS. What?

me non rere expectatum amicae venturum meae?
ALC. Meus vir hic quidem est. AMPH. Sequere hac tu me. ALC. Nam

Do you not suppose I shall come expected by my girlfriend?
ALC. This is indeed my husband. AMPH. You, follow me this way. ALC. For

660
quid ille revortitur
qui dudum properare se aibat? an ille me temptat sciens
atque id se volt experiri, suom abitum ut desiderem?
ecastor med haud invita se domum recipit suam.

660
why is he turning back,
he who just now was saying that he was hurrying? Or is he knowingly testing me,
and wishes to try this, that I may miss his departure?
by Castor, he takes himself home to his own house, with me not unwilling.

SOS. Amphitruo, redire ad navem meliust nos. AMPH. Qua gratia?
SOS. Quia domi daturus nemo est prandium advenientibus.

SOS. Amphitruo, it is better for us to return to the ship. AMPH. For what reason?
SOS. Because at home no one is going to give a luncheon to us upon arrival.

665
AM. Qui tibi nunc istuc in mentemst? S. Quia enim sero advenimus.
AMPH. Qui?

665
AM. How did that now come into your mind? S. Because indeed we are arriving late.
AMPH. How so?

SOS. Quia Alcumenam ante aedis stare saturam intellego.
AMPH. Gravidam ego illanc hic reliqui quom abeo. SOS. Ei perii miser.

SOS. Because I understand Alcmene is standing before the house, sated.
AMPH. I left her here pregnant when I went away. SOS. Alas, I am undone, poor me.

AM. Quid tibi est? S. Ad aquam praebendam commodum adveni domum,
decumo post mense, ut rationem te putare intellego.

AM. What is it with you? S. To supply water, I have come home just in time,
in the tenth month afterward, as I understand you to compute the reckoning.

670
AM. Bono animo es. S. Scin quam bono animo sim? si situlam cepero,
numquam edepol tu mihi divini creduis post hunc diem,
ni ego illi puteo, si occepso, animam omnem intertraxero.
AMPH. Sequere hac me modo; alium ego isti rei allegabo, ne time.

670
AM. Be of good spirit. S. Do you know how of good spirit I am? If I take up the bucket,
never, by Pollux, will you after this day believe me to be a diviner,
unless I, at that well—if I set about it—have drawn off the whole soul.
AMPH. Only follow me this way; I will assign another to that business; do not fear.

AL. Magis nunc <me> meum officium facere, si huic eam advorsum, arbitror.

AL. I think it is more my duty now to go to meet this man.

675
AMPH. Amphitruo uxorem salutat laetus speratam suam,
quam omnium Thebis vir unam esse optimam diiudicat,
quamque adeo cives Thebani vero rumiferant probam.
valuistin usque? exspectatum advenio?

675
AMPH. Amphitryon greets his wife, joyful at his long-hoped-for own,
whom, of all in Thebes, her husband adjudges to be the one best,
and whom moreover the Theban citizens truly report as upright.
Have you been well all along? Do I arrive expected?

SOS. Haud vidi magis.
exspectatum eum salutat magis haud quicquam quam canem.

SOS. Not at all have I seen.
she greets him, though expected, not a whit more than a dog.

680
AM. Et quom te ~gravidam et quom te pulchre plenam aspicio, gaudeo.
ALC. Obsecro ecastor, quid tu me deridiculi gratia
sic salutas atque appellas, quasi dudum non videris
quasique nunc primum recipias te domum huc ex hostibus?
[atque me nunc proinde appellas quasi multo post videris?]

680
AM. And when I behold you gravid, and when I behold you beautifully full, I rejoice.
ALC. I beseech you, by Castor, why do you greet and address me thus for the sake of derision,
as if you had not seen me a short while ago, and as if now for the first time you were taking yourself back home here from the enemies?
[and you now accordingly address me as if you had seen me much later?]

685
AMPH. Immo equidem te nisi nunc hodie nusquam vidi gentium.
ALC. Cur negas? AM. Quia vera didici dicere.

685
AMPH. Nay indeed, I have seen you nowhere in the world until now today.
ALC. Why do you deny it? AM. Because I have learned to speak truths.

AL. Haud aequom facit
qui quod didicit id dediscit. an periclitamini
quid animi habeam? sed quid huc vos revortimini tam cito?

AL. He does not do what is equitable
who unlearns what he has learned. Are you making trial of
what spirit I have? But why do you revert hither so quickly?

an te auspicium commoratum est an tempestas continet

or has the auspice delayed you, or does the weather detain you?

690
qui non abiisti ad legiones, ita uti dudum dixeras?
AM. Dudum? quam dudum istuc factum est?

690
Why have you not gone off to the legions, just as you said a little while ago?
AM. A little while ago? How long ago was that done?

AL. Temptas. iam dudum, modo.
AMPH. Qui istuc potis est fieri, quaeso, ut dicis: iam dudum, modo?

AL. You’re testing me. “Long ago,” “just now.”
AMPH. How can that be, pray, as you say: “long ago, just now”?

ALC. Quid enim censes? te ut deludam contra lusorem meum,
qui nunc primum te advenisse dicas, modo qui hinc abieris.

ALC. What do you suppose, then? That I should delude you in answer to my gamester,
you who say you have only just now arrived, though a moment ago you went away from here.

695
AMPH. Haec quidem deliramenta loquitur. SOS. Paulisper mane,
dum edormiscat unum somnum. AMPH. Quaene vigilans somniat?

695
AMPH. He is indeed talking delirium. SOS. Wait a little while,
until he sleeps off one sleep. AMPH. What? Does he dream while awake?

ALC. Equidem ecastor vigilo, et vigilans id quod factum est fabulor.
nam dudum ante lucem et istunc et te vidi. AMPH. Quo in loco?

ALC. Indeed, by Castor, I keep vigil, and, awake, I relate what has been done.
for just before daybreak I saw both that fellow and you. AMPH. In what place?

AL. Hic in aedibus ubi tu habitas. AM. Numquam factum est. S. Non taces?

AL. Here in the house where you live. AM. It never happened. S. Won’t you be quiet?

700
quid si e portu navis huc nos dormientis detulit?
AMPH. Etiam tu quoque adsentaris huic? SOS. Quid vis fieri?

700
What if from the port a ship has carried us here while we were sleeping?
AMPH. Do you too assent to him? SOS. What do you want to be done?

non tu scis? Bacchae bacchanti si velis advorsarier,
ex insana insaniorem facies, feriet saepius;
si obsequare, una resolvas plaga. AMPH. At pol qui certa res

Don’t you know? If you wish to oppose a Bacchant raging,
from insane you will make her more insane; she will strike the more often;
if you comply, you will settle it with a single blow. AMPH. But, by Pollux, he who has a sure case

705
hanc est obiurgare, quae me hodie advenientem domum
noluerit salutare. SOS. Inritabis crabrones. AMPH. Tace.

705
this is to objurgate her, who today, as I was coming home,
was unwilling to salute me. SOS. You will irritate hornets. AMPH. Be silent.

Alcumena, unum rogare te volo. ALC. Quid vis roga.
AMPH. Num tibi aut stultitia accessit aut superat superbia?

Alcumena, I want to ask you one thing. ALC. What do you want? Ask.
AMPH. Has stupidity come over you, or does pride overmaster you?

ALC. Qui istuc in mentemst tibi ex me, mi vir, percontarier?

ALC. Why has it come into your mind to question me about that, my husband?

710
AMPH. Quia salutare advenientem me solebas antidhac,
appellare, itidem ut pudicae suos viros quae sunt solent.
eo more expertem te factam adveniens offendi domi.
ALC. Ecastor equidem te certo heri advenientem ilico,
et salutavi et valuissesne usque exquisivi simul,

710
AMPH. Because you used to be accustomed before now to salute me as I arrived,
to address me, just as modest wives are wont to their own husbands.
By that custom I found you, arriving, to be devoid at home.
ALC. By Castor, indeed I certainly, yesterday, as you arrived straightway,
both saluted you and at the same time inquired whether you had been well all along,

715
mi vir, et manum prehendi et osculum tetuli tibi.
SOS. Tun heri hunc salutavisti? ALC. Et te quoque etiam, Sosia.

715
my husband, and I grasped your hand and bestowed a kiss on you.
SOS. Did you yesterday greet this man? ALC. And you too as well, Sosia.

SOS. Amphitruo, speravi ego istam tibi parituram filium;
verum non est puero gravida. AMPH. Quid igitur? SOS. Insania.

SOS. Amphitryo, I hoped that that woman would bear you a son;
but she is not pregnant with a boy. AMPH. What then? SOS. Madness.

ALC. Equidem sana sum et deos quaeso, ut salva pariam filium.

ALC. For my part, I am sane, and I pray the gods that I may give birth safely to a son.

720
verum tu malum magnum habebis, si hic suom officium facit:
ob istuc omen, ominator, capies quod te condecet.
SOS. Enim vero praegnati oportet et malum et malum dari,
ut quod obrodat sit, animo si male esse occeperit.
AMPH. Tu me heri hic vidisti?

720
but you will get a great beating, if this man does his duty:
for that omen, omen-maker, you will get what befits you.
SOS. Indeed, for a pregnant woman it is proper that both a “bad” and a “bad” be given (that is, an apple and a beating),
so that there may be something for her to gnaw, if she begins to feel ill at heart.
AMPH. Did you see me here yesterday?

ALC. Ego, inquam, si vis decies dicere.

ALC. I, I say, will say it, if you wish,
ten times.

725
AM. In somnis fortasse? AL. Immo vigilans vigilantem. AM. Ei misero mihi.

725
AM. In dreams perhaps? AL. Nay rather, waking, a waking man. AM. Alas, wretched me.

SOS. Quid tibi est? AMPH. Delirat uxor. SOS. Atra bili percita est.

SOS. What ails you? AMPH. My wife is delirious. SOS. She is stirred by black bile.

nulla res tam delirantis homines concinnat cito.
AMPH. Vbi primum tibi sensisti, mulier, impliciscier?
ALC. Equidem ecastor sana et salva sum.

Nothing so quickly harmonizes men who are raving.
AMPH. When first did you feel yourself, woman, begin to lose your senses?
ALC. Indeed, by Castor, I am sane and sound.

AMPH. Quor igitur praedicas,

AMPH. Why then do you proclaim,

730
te heri me vidisse, qui hac noctu in portum advecti sumus?
ibi cenavi atque ibi quievi in navi noctem perpetem,
neque meum pedem huc intuli etiam in aedis, ut cum exercitu
hinc profectus sum ad Teloboas hostis eosque ut vicimus.
ALC. Immo mecum cenavisti et mecum cubuisti.

730
that you saw me yesterday, we who were brought into the harbor this night?
There I dined and there I rested in the ship for the whole night,
nor have I even set my foot here into the house since I set out from here with the army against the Teloboans, the enemy, and since we defeated them.
ALC. On the contrary, you dined with me and you slept with me.

AMPH. Quid est?

AMPH. What is it?

735
ALC. Vera dico. AMPH. Non de hac quidem hercle re; de aliis nescio.
ALC. Primulo diluculo abiisti ad legiones.

735
ALC. I am telling the truth. AMPH. Not about this matter, by Hercules; about others I do not know.
ALC. At earliest dawn you went off to the legions.

AMPH. Quo modo?
SOS. Recte dicit, ut commeminit: somnium narrat tibi.
sed, mulier, postquam experrecta es, te prodigiali Iovi
aut mola salsa hodie aut ture comprecatam oportuit.

AMPH. How so?
SOS. She speaks rightly, as she remembers: she is telling you a dream.
but, woman, after you woke, you ought to have prayed to Jove of prodigies
either with mola salsa today or with incense.

740
ALC. Vae capiti tuo. SOS. Tua istuc refert—si curaveris.
ALC. Iterum iam hic in me inclementer dicit, atque id sine malo.

740
ALC. Woe to your head. SOS. That concerns you—if you take care.
ALC. Now again this man speaks harshly against me, and that without harm.

AMPH. Tace tu. tu dic: egone abs te abii hinc hodie cum diluculo?
ALC. Quis igitur nisi vos narravit mi, illi ut fuerit proelium?
AM. An etiam id tu scis?

AMPH. You be silent. You speak: did I go away from you from here today at daybreak?
ALC. Who then, except you, told me how the battle had gone for him?
AM. Or do you even know that?

AL. Quippe qui ex te audivi, ut urbem maximam

AL. For indeed I heard from you, that the very great city

745
expugnavisses regemque Pterelam tute occideris.
AMPH. Egone istuc dixi? ALC. Tute istic, etiam adstante hoc Sosia.

745
that you had stormed and that you yourself had slain King Pterelaus.
AMPH. Did I say that? ALC. You yourself right there, even with this Sosia standing by.

AMPH. Audivistin tu me narrare haec hodie? SOS. Vbi ego audiverim?
AM. Hanc roga.

AMPH. Did you hear me relate these things today? SOS. Where would I have heard?
AM. Ask her.

S. Me quidem praesente numquam factum est, quod sciam.
ALC. Mirum quin te adversus dicat. AMPH. Sosia, age me huc aspice.

S. Never, with me present, has it been done, so far as I know.
ALC. A marvel if he didn’t speak against you. AMPH. Sosia, come, look at me here.

750
SOS. Specto. AMPH. Vera volo loqui te, nolo adsentari mihi.
audivistin tu hodie me illi dicere ea quae illa autumat?

750
SOS. I’m looking. AMPH. I want you to speak truths; I do not want you to assent to me.
did you hear today me say to her those things which she asserts?

SOS. Quaeso edepol, num tu quoque etiam insanis, quom id me interrogas,
qui ipsus equidem nunc primum istanc tecum conspicio simul?
AM. Quid nunc, mulier? audin illum?

SOS. Please, by Pollux, surely you too are even insane, when you interrogate me about that,
I who myself indeed now for the first time behold her together with you?
AM. What now, woman? Do you hear him?

AL. Ego vero, ac falsum dicere.

AL. I do indeed, and that he is speaking falsely.

755
AMPH. Neque tu illi neque mihi viro ipsi credis? ALC. Eo fit quia mihi
plurimum credo et scio istaec facta proinde ut proloquor.
AM. Tun me heri advenisse dicis?

755
AMPH. Do you not believe him nor me, your husband himself? ALC. It comes to this because I trust myself most of all, and I know these things were done just as I set them forth.
AM. Do you say that I came yesterday?

AL. Tun te abiisse hodie hinc negas?
AMPH. Nego enim vero, et me advenire nunc primum aio ad te domum.
ALC. Obsecro, etiamne hoc negabis, te auream pateram mihi

AL. Do you then deny that you went away from here today?
AMPH. I truly deny it, and I say that I am now for the first time arriving at your house.
ALC. I beseech you, will you even deny this too, that you a golden bowl to me

760
dedisse dono hodie, qua te illi donatum esse dixeras?
AMPH. Neque edepol dedi neque dixi; verum ita animatus fui
itaque nunc sum, ut ea te patera donem. sed quis istuc tibi
dixit?

760
to have given as a gift today—the one with which you had said you were presented by him?
AMPH. By Pollux, I neither gave nor said so; but I was so minded,
and so I am now, that I may present you with that patera. But who told you
that?

ALC. Ego equidem ex te audivi et ex tua accepi manu
pateram. AMPH. Mane, mane, obsecro te. nimis demiror, Sosia,

ALC. I indeed heard it from you and I received the patera from your hand.
AMPH. Wait, wait, I beseech you. I marvel exceedingly, Sosia,

765
qui illaec illic me donatum esse aurea patera sciat,
nisi tu dudum hanc convenisti et narravisti haec omnia.
SOS. Neque edepol ego dixi neque istam vidi nisi tecum simul.
AM. Quid hoc sit hominis?

765
who over there would know that that golden patera has been given to me,
unless you a short while ago met her and told all these things.
SOS. By Pollux, neither did I say it nor did I see her except together with you.
AM. What is the matter with this man?

AL. Vin proferri pateram? AM. Proferri volo.
ALC. Fiat.

AL. Do you want the bowl to be brought out? AM. I want it to be brought out.
ALC. Let it be done.

<heus> tu, Thessala, intus pateram proferto foras,

<hey> you, Thessalian, bring the bowl out from inside,

770
qua hodie meus vir donavit me. AMPH. Secede huc tu, Sosia,
enim vero illud praeter alia mira miror maxime,
si haec habet pateram illam. SOS. An etiam credis id, quae in hac cistellula
tuo signo obsignata fertur? AMPH. Salvom signum est?

770
with which today my husband presented me. AMPH. Step aside here, Sosia,
for indeed that, besides other marvels, I marvel at most,
if she has that patera. SOS. Do you even believe that, which in this little casket,
sealed with your signet, is being carried? AMPH. Is the seal intact?

SOS. Inspice.
AMPH. Recte, ita est ut obsignavi. SOS. Quaeso, quin tu istanc iubes

SOS. Look.
AMPH. Right, it is just as I sealed it. SOS. Please, why don’t you order that woman

775
pro cerrita circumferri? AMPH. Edepol qui facto est opus;
nam haec quidem edepol laruarum plenast. ALC. Quid verbis opust?

775
to be carried around like a madwoman? AMPH. By Pollux, what is needed is deed indeed;
for this woman, by Pollux, is full of specters. ALC. What need of words?

em tibi pateram, eccam. AM. Cedo mi. ALC. Age aspice huc sis nunciam
tu qui quae facta infitiare; quem ego iam hic convincam palam.
estne haec patera, qua donatu's illi?

here you are the patera, look—here it is. AM. Hand it over to me. ALC. Come, look
here now, please, you who deny what has been done; whom I will right now here convict openly.
is this the patera, with which you were presented to him as a gift?

AMPH. Summe Iuppiter,

AMPH. O highest Jupiter,

780
quid ego video? haec ea est profecto patera. perii, Sosia.

780
what do i see? this is indeed that patera. i’m ruined, Sosia.

SOS. Aut pol haec praestigiatrix multo mulier maxima est
aut pateram hic inesse oportet. AMPH. Agedum, exsolve cistulam.
SOS. Quid ego istam exsolvam?

SOS. Either, by Pollux, this trickstress of a woman is by far the greatest, or the patera ought to be in here. AMPH. Come then, unfasten the casket.
SOS. Why should I unfasten that?

obsignatast recte, res gesta est bene:
tu peperisti Amphitruonem, ego alium peperi Sosiam;

it has been duly sealed, the matter has been well accomplished:
you bore Amphitruo, I bore another Sosia;

785
nunc si patera pateram peperit, omnes congeminavimus.
AMPH. Certum est aperire atque inspicere. SOS. Vide sis signi quid siet,
ne posterius in me culpam conferas.

785
now if the patera has birthed a patera, we have all doubled.
AMPH. It is certain to open and inspect. SOS. Please see what the seal may be,
lest later you lay the blame on me.

AMPH. Aperi modo;
nam haec quidem nos delirantis facere dictis postulat.
ALC. Vnde haec igitur est nisi abs te quae mihi dono data est?

AMPH. Just open it;
for this woman indeed, by her words, insists on making us out as delirious.
ALC. Whence, then, is this, unless from you, that which was given to me as a gift?

790
AMPH. Opus mi est istuc exquisito. SOS. Iuppiter, pro Iuppiter.
AM. Quid tibi est?

790
AMPH. I have need for that to be thoroughly investigated. SOS. Jupiter, O Jupiter.
AM. What is the matter with you?

S. Hic patera nulla in cistulast. AM. Quid ego audio?
SOS. Id quod verumst.

S. Here there is no patera in the little chest. AM. What do I hear?
SOS. That which is true.

AMPH. At cum cruciatu iam, nisi apparet, tuo.
AL. Haec quidem apparet. AM. Quis igitur tibi dedit?

AMPH. But now, with torture for you, unless it appears.
AL. This indeed appears. AM. Who then gave it to you?

AL. Qui me rogat.
SOS. Me captas, quia tute ab navi clanculum huc alia via

AL. He who asks me.
SOS. You’re trying to catch me out, because you yourself from the ship, secretly, came here by another way

795
praecucurristi, atque hinc pateram tute exemisti atque eam
huic dedisti, post hanc rursum obsignasti clanculum.
AMPH. Ei mihi, iam tu quoque huius adiuvas insaniam?
ain heri nos advenisse huc?

795
you ran on ahead, and from here you yourself took out the patera and gave it to this man,
after this you again sealed it clandestinely.
AMPH. Alas for me, now you too are aiding this man’s insanity?
do you say that we arrived here yesterday?

ALC. Aio, adveniensque ilico
me salutavisti, et ego te, et osculum tetuli tibi.

ALC. I affirm it, and on arriving immediately
you saluted me, and I you, and I bestowed a kiss upon you.

800
SOS. Iam illud non placet principium de osculo. AMPH. Perge exsequi.
ALC. Lavisti.

800
SOS. Now that beginning about the kiss does not please. AMPH. Go on, carry it through.
ALC. You bathed.

AM. Quid postquam lavi? AL. Accubuisti. S. Euge optime.

AM. What after I washed? AL. You reclined. S. Bravo, excellent.

nunc exquire. AMPH. Ne interpella. perge porro dicere.

Now inquire. AMPH. Do not interrupt. Go on; continue speaking further.

ALC. Cena adposita est; cenavisti mecum, ego accubui simul.
AMPH. In eodem lecto? ALC. In eodem.

ALC. Dinner has been set; you dined with me, I reclined at the same time.
AMPH. On the same couch? ALC. The same.

SOS. Ei, non placet convivium.

SOS. Alas, the banquet does not please me.

805
AMPH. Sine modo argumenta dicat. quid postquam cenavimus?
ALC. Te dormitare aibas; mensa ablata est, cubitum hinc abiimus.

805
AMPH. Just let him state the arguments. What then, after we had dined?
ALC. You kept saying you were getting drowsy; the table was removed; from here we went to bed.

AMPH. Vbi tu cubuisti? ALC. In eodem lecto tecum una in cubiculo.
AM. Perdidisti.

AMPH. Where did you sleep? ALC. In the same bed together with you, in the bedchamber.
AM. You’re undone.

SOS. Quid tibi est? AM. Haec me modo ad mortem dedit.
AL. Quid iam, amabo?

SOS. What is the matter with you? AM. She has just delivered me to death.
AL. What now, please?

AM. Ne me appella. S. Quid tibi est? A. Perii miser,

AM. Do not address me. S. What is the matter with you? A. I have perished, wretch that I am,

810
quia pudicitiae huius vitium me hinc absente est additum.
ALC. Obsecro ecastor, cur istuc, mi vir, ex ted audio?
AMPH. Vir ego tuos sim?

810
because to this one’s pudicity a vice has been added with me absent from here.
ALC. I beseech, by Castor, why is it that, my husband, I hear that from you?
AMPH. Am I your husband?

ne me appella, falsa, falso nomine.
SOS. Haeret haec res, si quidem haec iam mulier facta est ex viro.
ALC. Quid ego feci, qua istaec propter dicta dicantur mihi?

do not address me, false one, by a false name.
SOS. This matter sticks, if indeed this woman has now been made out of a man.
ALC. What have I done, for which on that account these words are said to me?

815
AMPH. Tute edictas facta tua, ex me quaeris quid deliqueris.
ALC. Quid ego tibi deliqui, si, cui nupta sum, tecum fui?
AMPH. Tun mecum fueris?

815
AMPH. You yourself proclaim your deeds; from me you ask what offense you have committed.
ALC. What offense have I done to you, if, to the one to whom I am married, I was with you?
AMPH. You—have you been with me?

quid illac impudente audacius?
saltem, tute si pudoris egeas, sumas mutuom.
ALC. Istuc facinus, quod tu insimulas, nostro generi non decet.

what more audacious than that impudent one there?
at least, if you yourself lack modesty, borrow some.
ALC. That deed, which you impute to me, does not befit my lineage.

820
tu si me inpudicitiai captas, capere non potes.
AMPH. Pro di immortales, cognoscin tu me saltem, Sosia?
SOS. Propemodum.

820
if you are trying to catch me on a charge of impudicity, you cannot capture me.
AMPH. By the immortal gods, do you at least recognize me, Sosia?
SOS. Almost.

AMPH. Cenavin ego heri in navi in portu Persico?
ALC. Mihi quoque adsunt testes, qui illud quod ego dicam adsentiant.
SOS. Nescio quid istuc negoti dicam, nisi si quispiam est

AMPH. Did I dine yesterday on a ship in the Persian port?
ALC. I too have witnesses present, who will assent to that which I say.
SOS. I do not know what business to say that is, unless if there is someone

825
Amphitruo alius, qui forte ted hinc absenti tamen
tuam rem curet teque absente hic munus fungatur tuom.
nam quod de illo subditivo Sosia mirum nimis,
certe de istoc Amphitruone iam alterum mirum est magis.
AMPH. Nescio quis praestigiator hanc frustratur mulierem.

825
Another Amphitryon, who by chance, you being absent from here,
nevertheless takes care of your business and, you being absent, here performs your duty.
for as to that substitute Sosia, it is exceedingly marvelous,
surely concerning this Amphitryon, now the second marvel is greater.
AMPH. I do not know what prestidigitator is deluding this woman.

830
ALC. Per supremi regis regnum iuro et matrem familias
Iunonem, quam me vereri et metuere est par maxume,
ut mi extra unum te mortalis nemo corpus corpore
contigit, quo me impudicam faceret. AMPH. Vera istaec velim.
ALC. Vera dico, sed nequiquam, quoniam non vis credere.

830
ALC. By the kingdom of the supreme king I swear, and by Juno,
the matron of the household, whom it is most fitting that I revere and fear,
that, apart from you alone, no mortal has touched body to body with me,
so as to make me unchaste. AMPH. I would wish these things true.
ALC. I speak truths, but in vain, since you do not wish to believe.

835
AMPH. Mulier es, audacter iuras. ALC. Quae non deliquit, decet
audacem esse, confidenter pro se et proterve loqui.
AMPH. Satis audacter.

835
AMPH. You are a woman; you swear boldly. ALC. She who has not transgressed, it is decent
to be audacious, to speak confidently for herself and pertly. AMPH. Bold enough.

ALC. Vt pudicam decet. AM. ~In verbis probas.
ALC. Non ego illam mihi dotem duco esse, quae dos dicitur,
sed pudicitiam et pudorem et sedatum cupidinem, 840
deum metum, parentum amorem et cognatum concordiam,
tibi morigera atque ut munifica sim bonis, prosim probis.

ALC. As befits a chaste woman. AM. ~You prove it in words.
ALC. I do not count that to be my dowry which is called "dowry,"
but chastity and modesty and a settled desire, 840
fear of the gods, love of parents and concord of kinsfolk,
to be compliant to you, and that I may be munificent to the good, be of use to the upright.

SOS. Ne ista edepol, si haec vera loquitur, examussim est optima.
AMPH. Delenitus sum profecto ita, ut me qui sim nesciam.
SOS. Amphitruo es profecto, cave sis ne tu te usu perduis:

SOS. By Pollux, that woman, if she speaks true, is exactly the best.
AMPH. I am indeed so beguiled that I do not know who I am.
SOS. You are Amphitryon indeed; take care, please, that you do not, by experience, bring yourself to perdition:

845
ita nunc homines immutantur, postquam peregre advenimus.
AMPH. Mulier, istam rem inquisitam certum est non amittere.
ALC. Edepol me libente facies.

845
so now men are changed, since we have arrived from abroad.
AMPH. Woman, it is certain not to let that matter go uninvestigated.
ALC. By Pollux, you will do it with me willing.

AMPH. Quid ais? responde mihi,
quid si adduco tuom cognatum huc a navi Naucratem,
qui mecum una vectust una navi, atque is si denegat

AMPH. What do you say? respond to me,
what if I bring your kinsman Naucrates here from the ship,
who traveled with me on the same ship, and if he denies it

850
facta quae tu facta dicis, quid tibi aequom est fieri?
numquid causam dicis, quin te hoc multem matrimonio?
ALC. Si deliqui, nulla causa est.

850
as to the deeds which you say are done, what do you think it is fair should be done to you?
do you state any cause why I should not fine you for this in marriage?
ALC. If I have done wrong, there is no cause.

AMPH. Convenit. tu, Sosia,
duc hos intro. ego huc ab navi mecum adducam Naucratem.—
SOS. Nunc quidem praeter nos nemo est.

AMPH. Agreed. you, Sosia,
lead these inside. I will bring here from the ship Naucrates with me.—
SOS. Now indeed, besides us, there is no one.

dic mihi verum serio:

tell me the truth in earnest:

855
ecquis alius Sosia intust, qui mei similis siet?
ALC. Abin hinc a me dignus domino servos? SOS. Abeo, si iubes.—
ALC. Nimis ecastor facinus mirum est, qui illi conlibitum siet
meo viro sic me insimulare falso facinus tam malum.

855
Is there any other Sosia inside, who would be like me?
ALC. Be off from me, slave worthy of his master? SOS. I go, if you order.—
ALC. By Castor, it is a very strange deed, that it should have pleased that fellow
to accuse me thus falsely to my husband of so wicked a crime.

quidquid est, iam ex Naucrate cognato id cognoscam meo.—

whatever it is, now I will learn that from Naucrates, my cognate.—

860

ACTVS III

ACT 3

III.i
IVPPITER Ego sum ille Amphitruo, cui est servos Sosia,
idem Mercurius qui fit, quando commodumst,
in superiore qui habito cenaculo,
qui interdum fio Iuppiter, quando lubet;
huc autem quom extemplo adventum adporto, ilico

3.1
JUPITER I am that Amphitryon, who has the servant Sosia,
and the same is Mercury whenever it is convenient,
who inhabit the upper cenacle,
who sometimes become Jupiter, when it pleases;
however, when I extempore bring an advent hither, immediately

865
Amphitruo fio et vestitum immuto meum.
nunc huc honoris vostri venio gratia,
ne hanc incohatam transigam comoediam;
simul Alcumenae, quam vir insontem probri
Amphitruo accusat, veni ut auxilium feram:

865
I become Amphitryon and I change my attire.
now I come here for the sake of your honor,
lest I bring to an end this inchoate comedy;
at the same time I have come to bring aid to Alcmene, whom, innocent of disgrace, her husband Amphitryon accuses:

870
nam mea sit culpa, quod egomet contraxerim,
si id Alcumenae innocenti expetat.
nunc Amphitruonem memet, ut occepi semel,
esse adsimulabo, atque in horum familiam
frustrationem hodie iniciam maxumam;

870
for let the fault be mine, which I myself have contracted,
if that be exacted from innocent Alcumena.
now, myself as Amphitruo, as once I began,
I will simulate being, and into these people’s household
today I will inject the greatest deception;

875
post igitur demum faciam res fiat palam
atque Alcumenae in tempore auxilium feram
faciamque ut uno fetu et quod gravida est viro
et me quod gravidast pariat sine doloribus.
Mercurium iussi me continuo consequi,

875
afterwards then at last I will bring it about that the matter become openly known,
and I will bring aid to Alcumena in time,
and I will bring it about that in a single birth both what she is gravid with by her husband
and what she is gravid with by me she may bear without pains.
I have ordered Mercury to follow me forthwith,

880
si quid vellem imperare. nunc hanc adloquar.

880
if I wished to command anything. Now I will address this woman.

III.ii
ALCVMENA Durare nequeo in aedibus. ita me probri,
stupri, dedecoris a viro argutam meo!
ea quae sunt facta infecta ut reddat clamitat,
quae neque sunt facta neque ego in me admisi arguit;

3.2
ALCVMENA I cannot endure in the house. So does my husband accuse me of opprobrium,
adultery, dishonor!
He shouts that I render the things that have been done as undone,
and he accuses me of things which have not been done and which I have not admitted upon myself;

885
atque id me susque deque esse habituram putat.
non edepol faciam, neque me perpetiar probri
falso insimulatam, quin ego illum aut deseram
aut satis faciat mi ille atque adiuret insuper,
nolle esse dicta quae in me insontem protulit.

885
and he thinks that I will hold that as a matter of indifference.
by Pollux, I will not do so, nor will I endure disgrace,
falsely accused; rather I will either desert him,
or let him make satisfaction to me and swear besides,
that he does not wish the things which he uttered against me, innocent, to have been said.

890
IVPP. Faciundum est mi illud, fieri quod illaec postulat,
si me illam amantem ad sese studeam recipere,
quando ego quod feci, id factum Amphitruoni offuit
atque illi dudum meus amor negotium
insonti exhibuit, nunc autem insonti mihi

890
IVPP. I must do this: that what that woman demands be done,
if I would strive that she, loving me, receive me back to herself,
since what I have done— that deed— has proved a hindrance to Amphitryon,
and my love lately has furnished trouble to that innocent man,
now, however, to me, innocent,

895
illius ira in hanc et male dicta expetent.
ALC. Sed eccum video qui me miseram arguit
stupri, dedecoris. IVPP. Te volo, uxor, conloqui.

895
his anger will fall upon her, and abusive words will pursue.
ALC. But look, I see the one who accuses wretched me
of debauchery, of disgrace. IVPP. You, wife, I want to talk with.

quo te avortisti? *** ALC. Ita ingenium meumst:
inimicos semper osa sum optuerier.

Whither have you averted yourself? *** ALC. Such is my nature:
I have always been averse to beholding enemies.

900
IVPP. Heia autem inimicos? ALC. Sic est, vera praedico;
nisi etiam hoc falso dici insimulaturus es.
IVPP. Nimis iracunda es. ALC. Potin ut abstineas manum?
nam certo, si sis sanus aut sapias satis,
quam tu impudicam esse arbitrere et praedices,

900
IVPP. Hey then, enemies? ALC. So it is; I declare truth;
unless you are going to accuse even this of being said falsely.
IVPP. You are too irascible. ALC. Can you keep your hand off?
for surely, if you are sane or are wise enough,
the one whom you judge to be unchaste and proclaim,

905
cum ea tu sermonem nec ioco nec serio
tibi habeas, nisi sis stultior stultissimo.
IVPP. Si dixi, nihilo magis es, neque ego esse arbitror,
et id huc revorti uti me purgarem tibi.
nam numquam quicquam meo animo fuit aegrius,

905
you should not have a conversation with her, neither in jest nor in earnest
for yourself, unless you are more foolish than the most foolish.
IVPP. If I said so, you are none the more so, nor do I think you are,
and I returned here for this, to purge myself to you.
for never was anything more grievous to my mind,

910
quam postquam audivi ted esse iratam mihi.
cur dixisti? inquies.

910
than after I heard that you were irate with me.
“Why did you say it?” you will say.

ego expediam tibi.
non edepol quo te esse impudicam crederem;
verum periclitatus sum animum tuom,
quid faceres et quo pacto id ferre induceres.

I will explain to you.
not, by Pollux, because I believed you to be impudent;
but I put your mind to the test,
what you would do and in what way you would bring yourself to bear it.

915
equidem ioco illa dixeram dudum tibi,
ridiculi causa. vel hunc rogato Sosiam.
ALC. Quin huc adducis meum cognatum Naucratem,
testem quem dudum te adducturum dixeras,
te huc non venisse?

915
Indeed I had said those things to you in jest a while ago,
for the sake of a joke. Or ask this Sosia.
ALC. Why don’t you bring here my kinsman Naucrates,
a witness whom you said a while ago you would bring,
that you had not come here?

IVPP. Si quid dictum est per iocum,

IVPP. If anything has been said in jest,

920
non aequom est id te serio praevortier.
ALC. Ego illud scio quam doluerit cordi meo.
IVPP. Per dexteram tuam te, Alcumena, oro obsecro,
da mihi hanc veniam, ignosce, irata ne sies.

920
it is not equitable that you turn that to seriousness.
ALC. I know how it has pained my heart.
IVPP. By your right hand, Alcumena, I beg and beseech you,
grant me this pardon, forgive me, be not angry.

ALC. Ego istaec feci verba virtute irrita;

ALC. I, by the virtue of the facts, have made those words null;

925
nunc, quando factis me impudicis abstini,
ab impudicis dictis avorti volo.
valeas, tibi habeas res tuas, reddas meas.
iuben mi ire comites?

925
now, since I have abstained from impudent deeds,
I want to avert myself from impudent words.
fare you well; keep your things to yourself; return mine.
do you bid my companions to go with me?

IVPP. Sanan es? ALC. Si non iubes,
ibo egomet; comitem mihi Pudicitiam duxero.~

IVPP. Are you sane? ALC. If you do not order,
I will go myself; I will take Pudicity as my companion.~

930
IVPP. Mane. arbitratu tuo ius iurandum dabo,
me meam pudicam esse uxorem arbitrarier.
id ego si fallo, tum te, summe Iuppiter,
quaeso, Amphitruoni ut semper iratus sies.

930
IVPP. Wait. At your arbitration I will give an oath,
that I deem my wife to be chaste.
If I am false in this, then you, Supreme Jupiter,
I pray, be always angry toward Amphitruo.

ALC. A, propitius sit potius. IVPP. Confido fore;

ALC. Ah, may he rather be propitious. IVPP. I trust he will be;

935
nam ius iurandum verum te advorsum dedi.
iam nunc irata non es? ALC. Non sum. IVPP. Bene facis.

935
for I have given a true oath before you.
Now then, are you not angry? ALC. I am not. IVPP. You do well.

nam in hominum aetate multa eveniunt huius modi:
capiunt voluptates, capiunt rursum miserias;
irae interveniunt, redeunt rursum in gratiam.

for in human life many things of this sort happen:
they take pleasures, they take miseries in turn;
angers intervene, they return in turn into favor.

940
verum irae si quae forte eveniunt huius modi
inter eos, rursum si reventum in gratiam est,
bis tanto amici sunt inter se quam prius.
ALC. Primum cavisse oportuit ne diceres,
verum eadem si isdem purgas mi, patiunda sunt.

940
but if wraths of this kind happen by chance between them, again, if there has been a return into favor, they are twice as much friends between themselves as before.
ALC. First, it was proper to have taken care not to say it, but if you purge the same things to me with the same, they must be endured.

945
IVPP. Iube vero vasa pura adornari mihi,
ut quae apud legionem vota vovi, si domum
rediissem salvos, ea ego exsolvam omnia.
ALC. Ego istuc curabo. IVPP. Evocate huc Sosiam;
gubernatorem qui in mea navi fuit

945
JUP. Do indeed have the pure vessels prepared for me,
so that the vows which I vowed with the legion, if I should
return home safe and sound, I may discharge them all.
ALC. I’ll see to that. JUP. Call Sosia here;
the helmsman who was on my ship.

950
Blepharonem arcessat, qui nobiscum prandeat.
is adeo *** inpransus ludificabitur,
cum ego Amphitruonem collo hinc obstricto traham.
ALC. Mirum quid solus secum secreto ille agat.

950
Let him summon Blepharo, to have lunch with us.
he indeed *** will be made sport of unfed,
while I drag Amphitryon from here with his neck bound.
ALC. Strange, what that man is doing alone with himself in secret.

atque aperiuntur aedes. exit Sosia.

and the doors are opened. Sosia exits.

955

III.iii
SOSIA Amphitruo, assum. si quid opus est, impera, imperium exequar.
IVPP. <Sosia>, optume advenis.

3.3
SOSIA Amphitruo, I am present. If anything is needed, command; I will execute the command.
IVPP. <Sosia>, you arrive most opportunely.

SOS. Iam pax est inter vos duos?
nam quia vos tranquillos video, gaudeo et volup est mihi.
atque ita servom par videtur frugi sese instituere:
proinde eri ut sint, ipse item sit; voltum e voltu comparet:

SOS. Is there now peace between you two?
for because I see you tranquil, I rejoice and it is a delight to me.
and thus it seems proper for a servant to train himself to be of good character:
accordingly, as the masters are, so let he himself be likewise; let him match his countenance from his master’s countenance:

960
tristis sit, si eri sint tristes; hilarus sit, si gaudeant.
sed age responde: iam vos rediistis in concordiam?
IVPP. Derides, qui scis haec dudum me dixisse per iocum.

960
let him be sad, if the masters are sad; let him be hilar if they rejoice.
but come, answer: have you now returned into concord?
IVPP. You deride, you who know that I said these things a short while ago in jest.

SOS. An id ioco dixisti? equidem serio ac vero ratus.
IVPP. Habui expurigationem; facta pax est.

SOS. Did you say that in jest? For my part I thought it serious and true.
IVPP. I have had my exculpation; peace has been made.

SOS. Optume est.

SOS. It's excellent.

965
IVPP. Ego rem divinam intus faciam, vota quae sunt. SOS. Censeo.
IVPP. Tu gubernatorem a navi huc evoca verbis meis
Blepharonem, qui re divina facta mecum prandeat.

965
IVPP. I will perform the divine rite inside, the vows that are due. SOS. I advise it.
IVPP. You summon the helmsman from the ship here by my words
Blepharon, so that, the divine rite performed, he may lunch with me.

SOS. Iam hic ero, cum illic censebis esse me.— IVPP. Actutum huc redi.
ALC. Numquid vis, quin abeam iam intro, ut apparentur quibus opust?

SOS. I will be here now, when you will suppose me to be there.— IVPP. Come back here forthwith.
ALC. Do you want anything, that I should go inside now, so that the things which are needed may be prepared?

970
IVPP. I sane, et quantum potest parata fac sint omnia.
ALC. Quin venis quando vis intro? faxo haud quicquam sit morae.—
IVPP. Recte loquere et proinde diligentem ut uxorem decet.

970
IVPP. Go then, and as much as is possible make everything be prepared.
ALC. Why not come in whenever you wish? I’ll see to it that there is no delay at all.—
IVPP. You speak rightly, and accordingly you are diligent, as befits a wife.

iam hisce ambo, et servos et era, frustra sunt duo,
qui me Amphitruonem rentur esse: errant probe.

Now these two here, both the slave and the mistress, are in vain, the two of them,
who suppose me to be Amphitruo: they are thoroughly mistaken.

975
nunc tu divine huc fac adsis Sosia—
audis quae dico, tam etsi praesens non ades—
fac Amphitruonem advenientem ab aedibus
ut abigas; quovis pacto fac commentus sis.
volo deludi illunc, dum cum hac usuraria

975
now you, divine Sosia, see to it you be here—
you hear what I say, even if you are not present in person—
see to it that you drive Amphitruo, as he comes, away from the house;
by any pact whatsoever see that you have contrived it.
I want that fellow to be deluded, while with this usurer-woman

980
uxore nunc mihi morigero. haec curata sint
fac sis, proinde adeo ut velle med intellegis,
atque ut ministres mihi, mihi cum sacruficem.

980
with my wife now I humor myself. See to it, please, that these things be cared for
just precisely as you understand me to wish,
and that you minister to me, when I sacrifice for myself.

III.iv
MERCVRIVS Concedite atque abscedite omnes, de via decedite,
nec quisquam tam audax fuat homo, qui obviam obsistat mihi.

3.4
MERCURY Make way and withdraw, all of you, get off the road,
and let no man be so bold as to stand in my way and oppose me.

985
nam mihi quidem hercle qui minus liceat deo minitarier
populo, ni decedat mihi, quam servolo in comoediis?
ille navem salvam nuntiat aut irati adventum senis:
ego sum Iovi dicto audiens, eius iussu nunc huc me adfero.
quam ob rem mihi magis par est via decedere et concedere.

985
for indeed, by Hercules, why should it be any less permitted for a god to menace the people, unless they step aside for me, than for a little slave in comedies?
that fellow announces a ship safe, or the arrival of an irate old man:
I am obedient to Jove’s word; at his command I now bring myself here.
wherefore it is more proper for the way to withdraw and concede to me.

990
pater vocat me, eum sequor, eius dicto imperio sum audiens;
ut filium bonum patri esse oportet, itidem ego sum patri.
amanti subparasitor, hortor, adsto, admoneo, gaudeo.
si quid patri volup est, voluptas ea mi multo maxumast.
amat: sapit; recte facit, animo quando obsequitur suo,

990
father calls me; I follow him; to his dictate and command I am obedient;
as it is proper for a good son to be to his father, so I am to my father.
for a lover I act as a sub-parasite; I exhort, I stand by, I admonish, I rejoice.
if anything is a pleasure to my father, that pleasure is by much the greatest to me.
he loves: he is wise; he does rightly, since he complies with his own spirit,

995
quod omnis homines facere oportet, dum id modo fiat bono.
nunc Amphitruonem volt deludi meus pater: faxo probe
iam hic deludetur, spectatores, vobis inspectantibus.
capiam coronam mi in caput, adsimulabo me esse ebrium;
atque illuc sursum escendero: inde optume aspellam virum

995
which all men ought to do, provided only that it be done for a good end.
now my father wants Amphitryon to be deluded: I will see to it thoroughly
that here he is now deluded, spectators, with you looking on.
I will take a crown onto my head; I will simulate being drunk;
and I will climb up there: from there I will drive the man away most excellently

1000
de supero, cum huc accesserit; faciam ut sit madidus sobrius.
deinde illi actutum sufferet suos servos poenas Sosia:
eum fecisse ille hodie arguet quae ego fecero hic. quid mea?

1000
from above, when he comes here; I will make him be soaked-sober.
then Sosia will immediately make his own servants suffer penalties for him:
he will charge that he has done today the things which I will have done here. What is that to me?

meo me aequomst morigerum patri, eius studio servire addecet.
sed eccum Amphitruonem, advenit; iam ille hic deludetur probe,

it is just that I be compliant to my father; it befits to serve his zeal.
but look, Amphitruo—he arrives; now he will be thoroughly deluded here,

1005
siquidem vos voltis auscultando operam dare.
ibo intro, ornatum capiam qui potis decet;
dein susum ascendam in tectum, ut illum hinc prohibeam.

1005
since indeed you wish to give your attention by listening.
I will go inside, I will take on the adornment which as far as possible befits;
then I will ascend up onto the roof, so that I may prohibit him from here.

ACTVS IV

ACT 4

IV.i
AMPHITRVO Naucratem quem convenire volui, in navi non erat,
neque domi neque in urbe invenio quemquam qui illum viderit.

4.1
AMPHITRVO Naucrates, whom I wished to convene, was not on the ship,
nor at home nor in the city do I find anyone who has seen him.

1010
nam omnis plateas perreptavi, gymnasia et myropolia;
apud emporium atque in macello, in palaestra atque in foro,
in medicinis, in tonstrinis, apud omnis aedis sacras
sum defessus quaeritando: nusquam invenio Naucratem.
nunc domum ibo atque ex uxore hanc rem pergam exquirere,

1010
for I have crept through all the streets, the gymnasia and the perfumeries;
at the emporium and in the macellum, in the palestra and in the forum,
in the doctors’ places, in the barbers’ shops, at all the sacred shrines
I am exhausted from searching: nowhere do I find Naucrates.
now I will go home and from my wife proceed to inquire into this matter,

1015
quis fuerit quem propter corpus suom stupri compleverit.
nam me, quam illam quaestionem inquisitam hodie amittere,
mortuom satiust. sed aedis occluserunt.

1015
who it was on account of whom she has filled her own body with debauchery.
for me, it is better to be dead than to let that inquest, once inquired into, be dropped today,
but they have shut the house.

eugepae,
pariter hoc fit atque ut alia facta sunt. feriam foris.
aperite hoc.

bravo,
this turns out the same as the other things have turned out. I’ll knock at the door.
open this up.

heus, ecquis hic est? ecquis hoc aperit ostium?

Hey, is anyone here? Will anyone open this door?

1020

IV.ii
MERCVRIVS Quis ad fores est? AMPH. Ego sum. MERC. Quid ego sum.

IV.ii
MERCURY Who is at the door? AMPH. I am. MERC. What am I?

AMPH.
Ita loquor. MERC. Tibi Iuppiter
dique omnes irati certo sunt, qui sic frangas fores.
AMPH. Quo modo?

AMPH.
I speak thus. MERC. Jupiter and all the gods are surely angry at you,
you who so smash the doors.
AMPH. How so?

MERC. Eo modo, ut profecto vivas aetatem miser.
AMPH. Sosia. MERC. Ita, sum Sosia, nisi me esse oblitum existimas.

MERC. In such a way, that you will surely live your lifetime wretched.
AMPH. Sosia. MERC. Yes, I am Sosia, unless you suppose that I have forgotten that I am.

quid nunc vis? AMPH. Sceleste, at etiam quid velim, id tu me rogas?

what do you want now? AMPH. Villain, and do you even ask me what I want?

1025
MERC. Ita, rogo. paene effregisti, fatue, foribus cardines.
an foris censebas nobis publicitus praeberier?

1025
MERC. Yes, I do ask. You nearly broke open, fool, the hinges from the doors.
Or did you suppose that outside doors are provided to us at public expense?

quid me aspectas, stolide? quid nunc vis tibi? aut quis tu es homo?

Why are you staring at me, stolid one? What do you want for yourself now? Or who are you, man?

AMPH. Verbero, etiam quis ego sim me rogitas, ulmorum Acheruns?
quem pol ego hodie ob istaec dicta faciam ferventem flagris.

AMPH. Whipping-post, do you even ask who I am, you Acheron of elms?
By Pollux, today for those words I’ll make you seething with scourges.

1030
MERC. Prodigum te fuisse oportet olim in adulescentia.
AMPH. Quidum? MERC. Quia senecta aetate a me mendicas malum.

1030
MERC. It must be that you were prodigal once in youth.
AMPH. How so? MERC. Because in your old age you beg from me a punishment.

AMPH. Cum cruciatu tuo istaec hodie, verna, verba funditas.
MERC. Sacrufico ego tibi. A. Qui?

AMPH. With your cruciation you’ll be pouring out these words today, homeborn slave.
MERC. I sacrifice to you. A. How so?

M. Quia enim te macto infortunio.

M. Because indeed I sacrifice you to misfortune.

*** Non. 342M
AMPH. At ego te cruce et cruciatu mactabo, mastigia. 1034a

*** Non. 342M
AMPH. But I will immolate you with the cross and cruciation, you whipping-post. 1034a

Non. 354M
(MERC.) Erus Amphitruo<st> occupatus. 1034b

Non. 354M
(MERC.) The master Amphitruo is occupied. 1034b

Prisc. GL 2.564K
(MERC.) abiendi nunc tibi etiam occasiost. 1034c

Prisc. GL 2.564K
(MERC.) now there is even an opportunity for you to go away. 1034c

Non. 543M
(MERC.) Optimo iure infringatur aula cineris in caput. 1034d

Non. 543M
(MERC.) Quite rightly let a pot of ashes be broken upon his head. 1034d

Non. 543M
(MERC.) Ne tu postules matulam unam tibi aquae infundi in caput. 1034e

Non. 543M
(MERC.) Don’t you go asking for even one chamber-pot of water to be poured onto your head. 1034e

Non. 44M
(MERC.) Laruatu's. edepol hominem miserum. medicum quaerita. 1034f

Non. 44M
(MERC.) He is larva-haunted. By Pollux, the poor man! Seek a doctor. 1034f

Non. 105M
(ALC.) Exiuravisti te mihi dixe per iocum. 1034g

Non. 105M
(ALC.) You swore that you had said it to me in jest. 1034g

Non. 44M, 247M
(ALC.) Quaeso advenienti morbo medicari iube: 1034h
tu certe aut laruatus aut cerritus es. 1034i

Non. 44M, 247M
(ALC.) I beg, order that the oncoming disease be medicated: 1034h
you surely are either possessed or crazed. 1034i

Non. 237M
(ALC.) Nisi hoc ita factum est, proinde ut factum esse autumo, 1034j
non causam dico quin vero insimules probri 1034k

Non. 237M
(ALC.) Unless this has been done thus, just as I assert it has been done, 1034j
I do not plead my case to keep you from indeed accusing me of a disgrace. 1034k

Non. 182M
(AMPH.) Cuius? quae me absente corpus volgavit suom. 1034l

Non. 182M
(AMPH.) Whose? She who, with me absent, vulgarized her own body. 1034l

Non. 473M
(AMPH.) Quid minitabas te facturum, si istas pepulissem fores? 1034m

Non. 473M
(AMPH.) What were you menacing you would do, if I had beaten on those doors? 1034m

Prisc. GL 2.168K, 2.321K
(AMPH.) Ibi scrobes ecfodito <tu> plus sexagenos in die. 1034n

Prisc. GL 2.168K, 2.321K
(AMPH.) There, excavate trenches <you>, over sixty in a day. 1034n

Serv. A. 8.127
(AMPH.) Noli pessimo precari. 1034o

Serv. A. 8.127
(AMPH.) Do not pray for the worst. 1034o

Non. 233M
(BLEPH.) animam comprime 1034p

Non. 233M
(BLEPH.) hold your breath 1034p

Non. 453M
(IVPP.) Manifestum hunc optorto collo teneo furem flagiti. 1034q

Non. 453M
(IVPP.) I hold this man, with his neck twisted, a manifest thief of a flagitious crime. 1034q

Non. 331M
(AMPH.) Immo ego hunc, Thebani cives, qui domi uxorem meam 1034r
impudicitia impedivit, teneo, thensaurum stupri. 1034s

Non. 331M
(AMPH.) Nay rather I, Theban citizens, this man who at home entangled my wife in impudicity 1034r
I hold— a treasure of stupration. 1034s

Non. 454M
(AMPH.) Nilne te pudet, sceleste, populi in conspectum ingredi? 1034t

Non. 454M
(AMPH.) Are you not at all ashamed, you scoundrel, to enter into the sight of the people? 1034t

Gloss. Plaut.
(AMPH.) clandestino 1034u

Gloss. Plaut.
(AMPH.) clandestinely 1034u

Non. 285M
(AMPH sive IVPP.) Qui nequeas nostrorum uter sit Amphitruo decernere. 1034v

Non. 285M
(AMPH or IVPP.) that you cannot decide which of us is Amphitruo. 1034v

IV.iii
(BLEPH.) Vos inter vos partite; ego abeo, mihi negotium est;
neque ego umquam usquam tanta mira me vidisse censeo.
AMPH. Blepharo, quaeso ut advocatus mi adsis neve abeas. BLEPH. Vale.

4.3
(BLEPH.) Divide among yourselves; I am off, I have business;
nor do I think that I have ever anywhere seen such great wonders.
AMPH. Blepharo, I beg that you be present for me as advocate and not go away. BLEPH. Farewell.

quid opust me advocato, qui utri sim advocatus nescio?—
IVPP. Intro ego hinc eo. Alcumena parturit.— AMPH. Perii miser.
quid ego <faciam>, quem advocati iam atque amici deserunt?

what need is there for me as advocate, when I do not know for which of the two I am advocate?—
IVPP. I’ll go inside from here. Alcmene is in labor.— AMPH. I am undone, poor wretch.
what am I to do, whom advocates and friends already are deserting?

1040
numquam edepol me inultus istic ludificabit, quisquis est;
nam iam ad regem recta me ducam resque ut facta est eloquar.~
ego pol illum ulciscar hodie Thessalum veneficum,
qui pervorse perturbavit familiae mentem meae.
sed ubi illest? intro edepol abiit, credo ad uxorem meam.

1040
Never, by Pollux, will he make sport of me unavenged there, whoever he is;
for now I will take myself straight to the king, and I will declare the matter as it happened.~
I, by Pollux, will avenge myself today on that Thessalian sorcerer,
who perversely has perturbed the mind of my household.
But where is he? By Pollux, he has gone inside, I believe, to my wife.

1045
qui me Thebis alter vivit miserior? quid nunc agam,
quem omnes mortales ignorant et ludificant ut lubet.
certumst, intro rumpam in aedis: ubi quemque hominem aspexero,
si ancillam seu servom sive uxorem sive adulterum
seu patrem sive avom videbo, obtruncabo in aedibus.

1045
Who lives more wretched than I in Thebes? What am I to do now,
I whom all mortals ignore and make sport of as it pleases them.
It’s settled: I’ll burst in, into the house; wherever I catch sight of anyone,
whether maidservant or slave or wife or adulterer
or father or grandfather, I’ll cut them down in the house.

1050
neque me Iuppiter neque di omnes id prohibebunt, si volent,
quin sic faciam ut constitui. pergam in aedis nunciam.

1050
Neither Jupiter nor all the gods will prevent me from this, even if they wish,
from doing thus as I have resolved. I shall proceed into the house forthwith.

ACTVS V

ACT 5

V.i
BROMIA Spes atque opes vitae meae iacent sepultae in pectore,
neque ullast confidentia iam in corde, quin amiserim;
ita mihi videntur omnia, mare terra caelum, consequi,

5.1
BROMIA The hopes and the resources of my life lie buried in my breast,
nor is there any confidence now in my heart but that I have lost them;
so everything seems to me—sea, land, sky—to be pursuing me,

1055
iam ut opprimar, ut enicer. me miseram, quid agam nescio.
ita tanta mira in aedibus sunt facta.

1055
now that I be overwhelmed, that I be slain. ah, wretched me, I know not what to do.
so such great marvels have been done in the house.

vae miserae mihi,
animo malest, aquam velim. corrupta sum atque absumpta sum.
caput dolet, neque audio, nec oculis prospicio satis,
nec me miserior femina est neque ulla videatur magis.

woe to wretched me,
it is ill with my spirit; I would like water. I am ruined and consumed.
my head aches, I do not hear, nor do I see sufficiently with my eyes,
nor is there a woman more wretched than I, nor does any seem more so.

1060
ita erae meae hodie contigit. nam ubi parturit, deos sibi invocat,
strepitus, crepitus, sonitus, tonitrus: ut subito, ut propere, ut valide tonuit!
ubi quisque institerat, concidit crepitu.

1060
so it has befallen my mistress today. for when she is in labor, she calls the gods to herself,
a strepitation, a crepitation, a sonance, a thunderclap: how suddenly, how swiftly, how strongly it thundered!
where each one had stood, he fell at the crash.

ibi nescio quis maxuma
voce exclamat: 'Alcumena, adest auxilium, ne time:
et tibi et tuis propitius caeli cultor advenit.

there someone, I know not who, shouts in a very loud voice: 'Alcumena, help is at hand; do not fear:
and for you and yours the propitious cultor of heaven has come.'

1065
exsurgite' inquit 'qui terrore meo occidistis prae metu.'
ut iacui, exsurgo. ardere censui aedis, ita tum confulgebant.
ibi me inclamat Alcumena; iam ea res me horrore adficit,
erilis praevertit metus: accurro, ut sciscam quid velit.

1065
"Get up," he says, "you who have fallen down from dread at my terror."
As I lay, I spring up. I supposed the house to be burning, so brightly did it then flash.
There Alcumena calls out to me; already that matter afflicts me with horror,
fear for my lady preempts it: I run up, to inquire what she wants.

atque illam geminos filios pueros peperisse conspicor;

and I perceive that she has given birth to twin sons, boys;

1070
neque nostrum quisquam sensimus, quom peperit, neque providimus.
sed quid hoc? quis hic est senex, qui ante aedis nostras sic iacet?

1070
nor did any of us perceive it, when she gave birth, nor did we foresee it.
but what is this? who is this old man who thus lies before our house?

numnam hunc percussit Iuppiter?
credo edepol, nam, pro Iuppiter, sepultust quasi sit mortuos.
ibo et cognoscam, quisquis est.

surely has Jupiter struck this man?
I believe, by Pollux; for, O Jupiter, he is buried as if he were dead.
I will go and find out, whoever he is.

Amphitruo hic quidem <est> erus meus.

Amphitryon, this man indeed my master.

1075
Amphitruo. A. Perii. B. Surge.

1075
Amphitryon. A. I am undone. B. Get up.

A. Interii. B. Cedo manum. A. Quis me tenet?

A. I have perished. B.
Give me your hand. A. Who is holding me?

BR. Tua Bromia ancilla. AM. Totus timeo, ita me increpuit Iuppiter.
nec secus est, quasi si ab Acherunte veniam.

BR. Your handmaid Bromia. AM. I tremble all over, so has Jupiter thundered at me.
nor is it otherwise, as if I were coming from Acheron.

sed quid tu foras
egressa es? BROM. Eadem nos formido timidas terrore impulit
in aedibus, tu ubi habitas. nimia mira vidi. vae mihi,

but why outside
have you gone? BROM. The same dread drove us, timid, with terror
into the house, where you dwell. I have seen excessive marvels. woe to me,

1080
Amphitruo, ita mihi animus etiam nunc abest. AMPH. Agedum expedi:
scin me tuom esse erum Amphitruonem? B. Scio.

1080
Amphitruo, my spirit is even now absent from me. AMPH. Come then, make it clear:
do you know me to be your master Amphitruo? B. I know.

A. Vide etiam nunc. B. Scio.
AMPH. Haec sola sanam mentem gestat meorum familiarium.

A. Look even now. B. I know.
AMPH. She alone of my familiars carries a sane mind.

BROM. Immo omnes sani sunt profecto. A. At me uxor insanum facit
suis foedis factis. BROM. At ego faciam, tu idem ut aliter praedices,

BROM. Nay rather, all are sane surely. A. But my wife makes me insane
by her foul deeds. BROM. But I will make it that you proclaim the same thing otherwise,

1085
Amphitruo, piam et pudicam esse tuam uxorem ut scias.
de ea re signa atque argumenta paucis verbis eloquar.
omnium primum: Alcumena geminos peperit filios.

1085
Amphitruo, that you may know your wife to be pious and modest.
About that matter I will set forth signs and arguments in a few words.
First of all: Alcumena has borne twin sons.

A. Ain tu, geminos? B. Geminos. A. Di me servant.

A. Do you say, twins? B. Twins. A. May the gods preserve me.

B. Sine me dicere,
ut scias tibi tuaeque uxori deos esse omnis propitios.

B. Allow me to speak,
so that you may know that all the gods are propitious to you and to your wife.

1090
AMPH. Loquere. BROM. Postquam parturire hodie uxor occepit tua,
ubi utero exorti dolores, ut solent puerperae
invocat deos immortales, ut sibi auxilium ferant,
manibus puris, capite operto. ibi continuo contonat
sonitu maxumo; aedes primo ruere rebamur tuas.

1090
AMPH. Speak. BROM. After your wife began to be in labor today,
when pains arose in her womb, as puerperal women are wont,
she calls upon the immortal gods, that they may bring aid to her,
with pure hands, with head covered. Then straightway it thunders
with a very great sound; at first we thought your house was collapsing.

1095
aedes totae confulgebant tuae, quasi essent aureae.
AMPH. Quaeso absolvito hinc me extemplo, quando satis deluseris.
quid fit deinde?

1095
your whole house was all a-gleam, as if it were golden.
AMPH. I beg, absolve me from here at once, since you have mocked enough.
what happens then?

BROM. Dum haec aguntur, interea uxorem tuam
neque gementem neque plorantem nostrum quisquam audivimus;
ita profecto sine dolore peperit. AMPH. Iam istuc gaudeo,

BROM. While these things are being done, meanwhile none of us heard your wife
either groaning or weeping;
thus indeed she bore without pain. AMPH. Now I rejoice at that,

1100
utut erga me merita est. BROM. Mitte ista atque haec quae dicam accipe.
postquam peperit, pueros lavere iussit nos.

1100
however she has merited toward me. BROM. Dismiss those things and receive these which I will say.
after she gave birth, she ordered us to wash the boys.

occepimus.
sed puer ille quem ego lavi, ut magnust et multum valet!
neque eum quisquam colligare quivit incunabulis.

we began.
but that boy whom I washed—how big he is and how strong!
nor could anyone bind him with swaddling-bands.

AMPH. Nimia mira memoras; si istaec vera sunt, divinitus

AMPH. You recount exceedingly marvelous things; if these things are true, by divine agency

1105
non metuo quin meae uxori latae suppetiae sient.
BROM. Magis iam faxo mira dices. postquam in cunas conditust,
devolant angues iubati deorsum in impluvium duo
maximi: continuo extollunt ambo capita.

1105
I do not fear but that ample help will be at hand for my wife.
BROM. I’ll make you say even more marvelous things now. After he was laid in the cradle,
two crested snakes, very huge, fly downwards into the impluvium:
immediately both raise their heads.

AMPH. Ei mihi.
BROM. Ne pave. sed angues oculis omnis circumvisere.

AMPH. Alas for me.
BROM. Do not be afraid. But with all your eyes, look around at the snakes.

1110
postquam pueros conspicati, pergunt ad cunas citi.
ego cunas recessim rursum vorsum trahere et ducere,
metuens pueris, mihi formidans; tantoque angues acrius
persequi. postquam conspexit angues ille alter puer,
citus e cunis exilit, facit recta in anguis impetum:

1110
after they had caught sight of the boys, they proceed quickly to the cradles.
I began to drag and draw the cradles backward and again forward,
fearing for the boys, dreading for myself; and by so much the snakes more keenly
pursue. After that other boy caught sight of the snakes,
swiftly he leaps out of the cradles, he makes a straight assault upon the snakes:

1115
alterum altera prehendit eos manu perniciter.
AMPH. Mira memoras, nimis formidolosum facinus praedicas;
nam mihi horror membra misero percipit dictis tuis.
quid fit deinde?

1115
with one hand the one, with the other the other, he swiftly seized them.
AMPH. You recount marvels; you proclaim a too formidable deed;
for horror seizes my limbs, wretched me, at your words.
what happens then?

porro loquere. BROM. Puer ambo angues enicat.
dum haec aguntur, voce clara exclamat uxorem tuam—

speak further. BROM. The boy slays both serpents.
while these things are being done, in a clear voice your wife cries out—

1120
A. Quis homo? B. Summus imperator divom atque hominum Iuppiter.
is se dixit cum Alcumena clam consuetum cubitibus,
eumque filium suom esse qui illos angues vicerit;
alterum tuom esse dixit puerum.

1120
A. What man? B. The supreme imperator of gods and men, Jupiter.
He said that he had secretly lain with Alcumena in the bed,
and that the one who conquered those snakes was his son;
he said the other boy was yours.

AMPH. Pol me haud paenitet,
si licet boni dimidium mihi dividere cum Iove.

AMPH. By Pollux, I do not at all regret it,
if it is permitted to me to divide half of the good with Jove.

1125
abi domum, iube vasa pura actutum adornari mihi,
ut Iovis supremi multis hostiis pacem expetam.
ego Teresiam coniectorem advocabo et consulam
quid faciundum censeat; simul hanc rem ut facta est eloquar.
sed quid hoc?

1125
go home, order the pure vessels to be made ready for me forthwith,
so that from supreme Jove I may seek peace with many victims.
I will summon Tiresias the conjector and consult
what he judges must be done; at the same time I will tell this matter as it was done.
but what’s this?

quam valide tonuit. di, obsecro vostram fidem.

how mightily it thundered. gods, I beseech your faith.

1130

V.ii
IVPPITER Bono animo es, adsum auxilio, Amphitruo, tibi et tuis:
nihil est quod timeas. hariolos, haruspices
mitte omnes; quae futura et quae facta eloquar,
multo adeo melius quam illi, quom sum Iuppiter.
primum omnium Alcumenae usuram corporis

5.2
JUPITER Be of good cheer; I am here as help, Amphitruo, to you and yours:
there is nothing for you to fear. soothsayers, haruspices
dismiss them all; I will declare what is to be and what has been,
far indeed better than they, since I am Jupiter.
first of all, Alcmene’s use of her body

1135
cepi, et concubitu gravidam feci filio.
tu gravidam item fecisti, cum in exercitum
profectu's: uno partu duos peperit simul.
eorum alter, nostro qui est susceptus semine,
suis factis te immortali adficiet gloria.

1135
I took it, and by intercourse I made her pregnant with a son.
You likewise made her pregnant, when you set out for the army:
in one birth she bore two at once.
Of them, the one who has been conceived by our seed,
by his deeds will endow you with immortal glory.

1140
tu cum Alcumena uxore antiquam in gratiam
redi: haud promeruit quam ob rem vitio vorteres;
mea vi subactast facere. ego in caelum migro.—

1140
you, with your wife Alcumena, return into former favor;
she has not merited any cause for which you should turn it to a fault;
by my force she has been compelled to do it. I migrate to heaven.—

V.iii
AMPH. Faciam ita ut iubes et te oro, promissa ut serves tua.
ibo ad uxorem intro, missum facio Teresiam senem.

5.3
AMPH. I will do so as you order, and I beg you to keep your promises.
I will go in to my wife; I send the old man Tiresias away.

1145