''"Hinc illae lacrimae"'' (Latin for "hence those/these tears") is a line from the Roman poet

Terence Publius Terentius Afer (; – ), better known in English as Terence (), was a playwright during the Roman Republic. He was the author of six Roman comedy, comedies based on Greek comedy, Greek originals by Menander or Apollodorus of Carystus. A ...

's comedy, ''Andria'' (166 BC). The phrase has, since the era of the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...

, been appropriated for use as a popular saying or quotation 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.

Background

In line 126 (Act 1, scene 1) of the comedy ''Andria'' (known in English as ''The Woman from Andros''),

has character Simo, commenting to interlocutor Sosias, on the tears of his son—Pamphilus—at the funeral of a neighbor. At first, Simo assumes that they indicate his son's 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 so realizing that his son's "grief" is only feigned—as a pretext for becoming closer to the girl—he (Simo) erupts with: ''Hinc illae lacrimae, haec illast misericordia!'' ("Hence those tears—''this'' is the reason for his pity!")

Use in literature

The phrase was borrowed as early as 56 BC, by

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...

in his speech ''Pro Caelio'' ("In Defense of Caelius", 1:61), and was used again in 20 BC by

Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 BC – 27 November 8 BC), Suetonius, Life of Horace commonly known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). Th ...

, in the first book of his ''Epistulae'' ("Letters", 1.19:41). 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 in the Western cultural sphere. Notable uses of or allusions to the phrase also occur, more recently, in the letters of

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

and

Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ;"Engels"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''.Trollope's 1882 novel ''

Phineas Redux ''Phineas Redux'' is a novel by Anthony Trollope, first published between 1873 and 1874 as a serial in '' The Graphic''. It is the fourth of the " Palliser" series of novels and is a sequel to the second book of the series, '' Phineas Finn''. ...

.''

References

{{reflist Works by Terence Latin words and phrases Latin quotations 166 BC

Background

Use in literature

See also

References