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Reflections on prayer Seneca

A disinterested prayer

Letters 60.1 (closing sentence)

Original text

Latin

The ancient words

Exaudiant di nostram quoque pro nobis vocem gratuitam.

Modern rendering

Close to the words

Literal English · editorial draft

May the gods also hear our disinterested prayer on our own behalf.

An editorial aid to reading, not a substitute for the original. About this rendering

Historical translation

1920 · Source edition ↗

And may the gods give ear to our cry also, uttered in our own behalf,—one which asks no favours!

Text matched to linked transcription; typography normalized.

Read with context

Sources & notes

Gratuitam describes the prayer as disinterested or freely offered. It does not literally say that the speaker asks for no favour. The surrounding letter criticizes the harmful ambitions wished for us by others.

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

The source review is selective. Additional prototype transcriptions are preserved in the repository pending verification. Editorial method →