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. The phrase has, since the era of the Roman Republic, been appropriated for use 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 (Act 1, scene 1) 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 this lachrymose display is an indication of 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 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 his 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

• Lacrimae rerum
• Andria (comedy)
• List of Latin phrases

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!
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.
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.