Prayers and hymns Cleanthes

Prayer to Zeus and Destiny

Enchiridion 53.1; Letters 107.11

Historical translation

Richard M. Gummere — Seneca's Latin adaptation, 1925

Seneca's Latin adaptationSource edition

Lead me, O Master of the lofty heavens, My Father, whithersoever thou shalt wish. I shall not falter, but obey with speed. And though I would not, I shall go, and suffer, In sin and sorrow what I might have done In noble virtue. Aye, the willing soul Fate leads, but the unwilling drags along.

Text matched to linked transcription; typography normalized.

Greek & Latin

Two ancient witnesses

Greek · Enchiridion 53.1

ἄγου δέ μ᾽, ὦ Ζεῦ, καὶ σύ γ᾽ ἡ Πεπρωμένη, ὅποι ποθ᾽ ὑμῖν εἰμι διατεταγμένος· ὡς ἕψομαί γ᾽ ἄοκνος· ἢν δέ γε μὴ θέλω, κακὸς γενόμενος, οὐδὲν ἧττον ἕψομαι.

Latin adaptation · Letters 107.11

Duc, o parens celsique dominator poli, quocumque placuit: nulla parendi mora est. Adsum impiger. Fac nolle: comitabor gemens malusque patiar facere quod licuit bono. Ducunt volentem fata, nolentem trahunt.

Literal English

Editorial draft · developed with AI assistance

Lead me, Zeus, and you too, Destiny, wherever I have been assigned by you. I shall follow without hesitation. But if I am unwilling, becoming base, I shall follow no less. Seneca’s Latin version: Lead me, father and ruler of the lofty sky, wherever it has pleased you; there is no delay in obeying. I am present and ready. Make me unwilling: I shall follow groaning and, as a bad man, suffer to do what I was free to do as a good one. The fates lead the willing; they drag the unwilling.

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Sources & notes

The four Greek lines and Seneca’s five-line Latin adaptation are distinct witnesses. The final Latin line, “The fates lead the willing; they drag the unwilling,” has no corresponding line in the preserved Greek quotation.

Historical editions may include surrounding context or use different phrasing. Parallel columns compare passages; their lines are not word-for-word alignments.

Editorial method