Hinc illae lacrimae

Hinc illae lacrimae (Latin for "hence those/these tears") is a line from the comedy Andria (166 BC), by the Roman poet Terence. Since the time of the Roman Republic, the phrase has been appropriated as a popular saying or quotation,[1] to be employed when a previously-obscured reason or explanation—for some action(s) or behavior—is recognized; and, especially, when a baser motivation is thereby identified, contra an (initially-assumed) nobler one.[2]

Background

In line 126[a] of the comedy Andria (commonly known in English as The Woman from Andros), Terence has character Simo comment—to interlocutor Sosias—upon the tears of his (Simo's) son, Pamphilus, at the funeral of a neighbor. At first, Simo assumes that the display is an indication of his son's deep sympathy for the departed, and is pleased that Pamphilus is so evidently noble-hearted; but, upon seeing that the funeral procession includes the deceased's pretty younger sister—and thereby realizing that his son's "grief" is only feigned, as a pretext for becoming closer to the girl—Simo erupts with: Hinc illae lacrimae, haec illast misericordia! ("Hence those tears—this is the reason for that pity!")[3]

Use in literature

The phrase was borrowed as early as 56 BC, by Cicero, in his speech Pro Caelio ("In Defense of Caelius", 1:61),[4] and was used again in 20 BC by Horace, in the first book of his Epistulae ("Letters", 1.19:41).[5][6] This relatively early appropriation by eminent Roman authors, along with the initial and enduring popularity of the play itself, has led to the phrase becoming a familiar quotation within the Western cultural sphere.[7]

Notable uses of or allusions to the phrase also occur, more recently, in the letters of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels,[8] and—in a play on the original (Hinc illae irae: "hence those rages"; this version also appears in a letter of Marx's)[9]—in Trollope's 1882 novel Phineas Redux.[10]

See also

Notes and references

Notes

  1. ↑ Traditionally: Act 1, scene 1.

References

  1. ↑ "Hackneyed Phrases of Yore". Merriam-Webster.com. Archived from the original on 2024-08-31. Retrieved 2024-08-31.
  2. ↑ "Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary". Merriam-Webster.com. Retrieved 2024-08-31.
  3. ↑ "Andria, Act 1 scene 1". Perseus Digital Library. Tufts University. Archived from the original on 7 July 2024. Retrieved 31 August 2024. Hence those tears, hence that sympathy.
  4. ↑ "Cicero, Pro Caelio 61". Perseus Digital Library. Tufts University. Archived from the original on 13 May 2024. Retrieved 31 August 2024. Hence arose those tears.
  5. ↑ "The First Book of the Epistles of Horace". Project Gutenberg. Archived from the original on 2024-06-25. Retrieved 2024-08-31. Hence are these tears.
  6. ↑ "Horace, Epistles 1.1:19". Perseus Digital Library. Tufts University. Archived from the original on 2023-03-27. Retrieved 2024-08-31. hinc illae lacrimae.
  7. ↑ Knowles, Elizabeth M., ed. (1999). The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (5th ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 768. ISBN 9780198601739.
  8. ↑ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1889). "177. Engels to Paul Lafargue, 10 April 1889". Marx & Engels: Collected Works. Vol. 48, Letters 1887-90. Lawrence & Wishart (published 2010). p. 296. ISBN 9781843279921. According to Hyndman, the Possibilists were afraid of being chucked out of their own congress, hinc illae lacrimae! {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
  9. ↑ Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich (1868). "122. Marx to Ludwig Kugelmann, 5 December 1868". Marx & Engels: Collected Works. Vol. 43, Letters 1868-70. Lawrence & Wishart (published 2010). p. 173. ISBN 9781843279877. Thereupon we—i.e. THE GENERAL COUNCIL—officially announced, in 6 lines in the Cigale, that F. Pyat had absolutely no connection with the 'International', of which he was not even a member. Hinc illae irae. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
  10. ↑ Trollope, Anthony (1882). "LXXV. THE TRUMPETON FEUD IS SETTLED.". Phineas Redux. Oxford University Press (published 2011). p. 531. ISBN 9780191620454. Archived from the original on 2024-05-02. Retrieved 2024-08-31. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
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