Why do the poor restrain their appetites,
Whereas the rich, on empire propped, desire
More than is right. Who wields too much of power 215
Desires to gain what is beyond his power.
What is befitting to thy high estate
Thou knowest well. Then fitting reverence show
To thy returning husband's sovereignty.
Phaedra: The sovereignty of love is over me,
The highest rule of all. My lord's return,
I fear it not; for never more has he,
Who once within the silent depths of night 220
Has plunged, beheld again the light of day.
Nurse: Trust not the power of Dis; for though his realm
He closely bar, and though the Stygian dog
Keep watch and ward upon the baleful doors,
Theseus can always walk forbidden ways.
Phaedra: Perchance he'll give indulgence to my love. 225
Nurse: But he was harsh e'en to a modest wife;
His heavy hand Antiope has known.
But grant that thou canst bend thy angry lord:
Canst bend as well the stubborn soul of him,
Hippolytus, who hates the very name 230
Of womankind? Inexorable his resolve
To spend his life unwedded. He so shuns
The sacred rites of marriage, thou wouldst know
That he of Amazonian stock was born.
Phaedra: Though on the tops of snowy hills he hide,
Or swiftly course along the ragged cliffs,
Through forests deep, o'er mountains, 'tis my will 235
To follow him.
Nurse: And will he turn again,
And yield himself unto thy sweet caress?
Or will he lay aside his modesty
At thy vile love's behest? Will he give o'er
His hate of womankind for thee alone,
On whose account, perchance, he hates them all?
Phaedra: Can he not be by any prayers o'ercome?
Nurse: He's wild. 240
Phaedra: Yes, but the beasts are tamed by love.
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The Tragedies of Seneca
