Naught, naught, all naught! I can behold no longer.
Th’ Antoniad, the Egyptian admiral,
With all their sixty, fly and turn the rudder.
To see ’t mine eyes are blasted.
All is lost, all is lost, everything is lost! I can't bear to watch any longer. The Antoniad, the Egyptian flagship, with all sixty ships, are fleeing and turning around. The sight of it has blinded my eyes with sorrow.
Everything's gone! All of it gone! I can't watch this anymore. Cleopatra's ship, the flagship, with all sixty of her ships, they're running away. The sight of it makes me want to close my eyes.
it's all gone. can't look. cleopatra's fleet fleeing. all 60 ships. can't watch this.
Scarus is the most viscerally angry voice among Antony's men — he speaks in images of violent disgust when he's outraged, but his loyalty to Antony personally is fierce. Watch for how his fury is always directed at the situation, never quite at Antony himself.
Gods and goddesses,
All the whole synod of them!
Gods and goddesses, all the entire assembly of them!
All the gods and goddesses put together!
all the gods. every single one.
What’s thy passion?
What is troubling you?
What's wrong with you?
what's wrong?
The greater cantle of the world is lost
With very ignorance. We have kissed away
Kingdoms and provinces.
The larger part of the world is lost through sheer stupidity. We have given away kingdoms and provinces.
We've lost half the world because of pure idiocy. We threw away kingdoms and provinces like they were nothing.
lost half the world 2 stupidity. gave away kingdoms & provinces.
How appears the fight?
How does the battle look?
How's the fighting going?
how's the fight?
On our side, like the tokened pestilence,
Where death is sure. Yon ribaudred nag of Egypt,
Whom leprosy o’ertake, i’ th’ midst o’ th’ fight,
When vantage like a pair of twins appeared,
Both as the same—or, rather, ours the elder—
The breeze upon her, like a cow in June,
Hoists sails and flies.
On our side it's like a plague marked by death - certain death. That disreputable ship from Egypt, cursed and wretched, in the middle of the fight when victory appeared as equal twins - or rather, we had the better chance - caught the wind and, like a cow in summer, hoisted her sails and fled.
On our side it's like a plague - death is certain. That shameful ship from Egypt, that cursed thing, right in the middle of the battle when we had victory in our grasp - two equal chances or even we had the better one - she caught a wind and just sailed away like some dumb cow in summer.
we're dying. cleopatra's ship in middle of fight when we coulda won. caught wind & sailed away like stupid cow.
The historical Battle of Actium is one of history's most analyzed military disasters — and one of its most debated. Historians still argue about whether Cleopatra's retreat was panic, a pre-planned strategic escape to preserve her treasure fleet, or a signal misinterpreted. What is undisputed: when her fleet turned, Antony followed. His flagship broke off from the fight mid-battle. Shakespeare condenses this into Scarus's savage image — 'a doting mallard' — and Enobarbus's two-word elegy: 'Alack, alack.' The play doesn't need a battle. It needs only the moment of flight and the witnesses to it.
That I beheld.
Mine eyes did sicken at the sight and could not
Endure a further view.
I saw that. The sight made my eyes sick and I couldn't bear to look any further.
I saw it too. The sight of it made me ill - I couldn't keep watching.
i saw it. it made me sick. couldn't keep watching.
She once being loofed,
The noble ruin of her magic, Antony,
Claps on his sea-wing and, like a doting mallard,
Leaving the fight in height, flies after her.
I never saw an action of such shame.
Experience, manhood, honour, ne’er before
Did violate so itself.
Once she turned her ship, the noble man who was enchanted by her, Antony, catches the wind and like a foolish duck, abandons the battle at its height and flies after her. I never saw such shameful behavior. Experience, manhood, honor - never before did they violate themselves so completely.
Once her ship turned, Antony - that great man she had wrapped around her finger - just catches the wind in his sails and, like some stupid duck, leaves the battle while it's still going on and chases after her. I've never seen anything so shameful. All his years of experience, his manhood, his honor - none of it means anything anymore.
her ship turns. antony catches wind & chases her like stupid duck. leaves battle. never seen such shame. experience honor all gone.
Alack, alack!
Alack, alack!
Alack, alack!
alack, alack!
Our fortune on the sea is out of breath
And sinks most lamentably. Had our general
Been what he knew himself, it had gone well.
O, he has given example for our flight
Most grossly by his own!
Our luck at sea has run out and is sinking miserably. If our general had been true to what he knew himself to be, it would have gone well. He has set an example for our soldiers by fleeing so shamefully himself!
Our chance at victory on the sea is dead and drowning. If our general had been true to himself, we would have won. He's just shown all his troops the example they needed - by running away like a coward!
our sea luck is dead. if general stayed true we'd win. he showed troops how 2 flee by fleeing himself.
Ay, are you thereabouts?
Why, then, good night indeed.
Yes, is that your thinking? Well then, it's all over.
So that's where your head's at? Well, that's it then. We're finished.
u going there? then it's over.
Toward Peloponnesus are they fled.
They have fled toward Peloponnesus.
They're heading toward Peloponnesus.
they're heading 2 peloponnesus.
’Tis easy to’t, and there I will attend
What further comes.
It's easy to do, and there I will wait to see what happens next.
It's easy to run away. I'll go there and see what comes next.
easy 2 flee. i'll wait & see what happens.
To Caesar will I render
My legions and my horse. Six kings already
Show me the way of yielding.
I will surrender my legions and cavalry to Caesar. Six kings have already shown me the way to yield.
I'm giving my army and cavalry to Caesar. Six other kings have already shown me how to surrender.
i'm giving my army 2 caesar. 6 kings already showed me how 2 surrender.
I’ll yet follow
The wounded chance of Antony, though my reason
Sits in the wind against me.
I will still follow Antony's ruined fate, even though my reason argues against me.
I'm staying with Antony despite what happened, even though every logical thought in my head is telling me not to.
i'm staying w/ antony. even tho my mind's against it.
The Reckoning
The catastrophe arrives not with a crash but with the image of a man following a ship. Scarus's language is brutal and precise — 'a doting mallard' chasing a fleeing cow. Canidius decides to defect on the spot. Enobarbus stays with Antony not because he believes in the cause but because he cannot yet bring himself to leave. The scene is fourteen speeches and it contains the turning point of the entire play.
If this happened today…
Three executives on a glass mezzanine watch their company's stock price as the product launch fails live on stage. 'I can't watch this anymore,' says one. 'It's total collapse.' 'He just walked off the stage to follow her to the greenroom,' says another. 'I've never seen anything so embarrassing.' The third one opens his phone and emails the competitor's HR. 'I'm staying,' says the first. 'My reason says to leave. My loyalty says to stay.' He stays.