XIII. hercule. – André Chénier

Ll. 2-4. Imprudent in being too credulous, Dejanira became the innocent
cause of Hercules’ death; for, fearing his infidelity, she sent her
husband a robe or shirt that the Centaur Nessas had given her, and which
he had said would preserve her husband’s love to her. No sooner had
Hercules put on the garment his wife gave him than he suffered terrible
agony, under which he ordered a funeral pile to be kindled, and placed
himself in its flames, thus falling a victim to the Centaur, Nessus,
whom he had slain. Hercules killed Nessus because, carrying Dejanira
over a river, he attempted to run away with her.

Ll. 5, 6. ta cime… amoncelle. Literally, ‘thy top heaps up,’ for
‘thy top is heaped up with.’

L. 9. du vieux lion, the Nemean lion.