Prayer to Apollo

The last words of the seer Amphiaraus: the earth opens under him in the middle of the battle, and as he goes down alive he addresses Apollo of Cirrha.

This is not a request but a reproach. He reminds the god that he felt him on his chariot — by the trembling axle — and at once cuts himself off: "what so great honour for the wretched!" The god's presence turned out to be not a favour but a sign of the end.

And the only thing he still asks is: "how long will you delay the shades that press upon me?" The prophet is hurrying the god who inspired him to finish the job. In Statius, possession by Apollo is not a gift but a long execution, and Amphiaraus asks only that the sentence be shortened.

The card's English does not correspond to this Latin: it gives dying words about home, wife and son that are not here.