Quae bella? quidquid horridum tellus creat |
inimica, quidquid pontus aut aer tulit
terribile dirum pestilens atrox ferum,
fractum atque domitum est. superat et crescit malis
iraque nostra fruitur; in laudes suas
mea uertit odia: dum nimis saeua impero,
patrem probavi, gloriae feci locum.

43 The notorious sinner Ixion was one of the Lapiths. Cf. Aeneid VI.601, quid memorem Lapithas, Ixiona Pirithoumque?
45 Armorum terror is a tag from Seneca, Hercules Furens 617.
57ff. Although the principal characters (Oeneus, Deianira, Hercules, Achelous) of course come from Ovid, Wren populates the play with a number of secondary characters of his own invention. The petulant and ineffectual Panopeus and Promelus are two of the anonymous “many suitors” mentioned at Metamorphoses IX.10. Their base natures serve to set off the nobility of the Hercules and Achelous, and also to provide comic relief.
58 For laudo fortunas cf. Plautus, Rudens 523, Terence, Andria 97, and Lucretius II.1167.
59 For coeli decus cf. Horace, Carmen Saeculare 2, Aeneid IV.18, Seneca, Herculens Furens 592, Oedipus 405, and Martial VII.lxxiv.1.
60 Cytherea is a cult name of Venus.
61 For the idiom vota cesserunt cf. Ps. - Seneca, Hercules Oetaeus 292.
72 Possibly suggested by Seneca, Troades 264, Troia nos tumidos facit.
92 Cf. Catullus xivA.16, non non hoc tibi, salse, sic abibit.
97f. Suggested by Publilius Syrus, Sententiae B4, Bonum est fugienda aspicere in alieno malo.
Scene iii The setting is Oeneus’ palace. In mythology, Deianira was the daughter of Dionysus and Oeneus’ first wife, Althaea, who had committed suicide after the tragedy of Meleager and Atalanta. Wren has invented this second wife, Perivia (who, unlike most literary stepmothers, is very kindly towards Deianira).
104 Cf. Aeneid I.26, manet alta mente repostum.
110 This line is closely modeled on Seneca, Thyestes 536, Quis influentis dona fortunae abnuit?
113 Cf. Seneca, Phaedra 859, effare aperte, quis gravet mentem dolor.
119f. Cf. Ovid, Metamorphoses IX.19f.:

nec gener externis hospes tibi missus ab oris,
sed popularis ero et rerum pars una tuarum.   

Magna pars introduces the qualification that the river Achelous flows through Aetolia for the most part, but not entirely.
Scene 4 The setting is the road.
130 Achelous’ first line rather reminds one of the self-introduction of the Ghost of Thyestes at the beginning of Seneca’s Agamemnon:

Opaca linquens Ditis inferni loca,
adsum profundo Tartari emissus specu.

133f. Cf. Seneca, Thyestes 957f.:

Mittit luctus signa futuri
mens ante sui praesaga mali:

138 Cf. Seneca, Hercules Furens 588, odit verus amor nec patitur moras.
140 For armis ferox cf. Seneca, Troades 46 and Ps. - Seneca, Octavia 546 (also Ovid, Fasti IV.881).
143 Salvere iubeo is a comic expression (Plautus, Asinaria 396, Casina 1, 969, Mostellaria 568, Truculentus 577, Terence, Adelphoe 461).
151 Alcides was another name for Hercules (he was descended from Alceus). For the phrase pervenit ad aures cf. such Ovidian lines as Ars Amatoria II.449, Epistulae ex Ponto I.ix.5, II.v.33, Fasti III.661, Metamorphoses IV.256, VII.694, and, most significantly, IX.8:

nomine siqua suo fando pervenit ad aures
Deïanira tuas.

153f. Cf. Aeneid VI.722, dicam equidem nec te suspensum, nate, tenebo.
158 The allusion is of course to Hercules’ inveterate enemy Juno.
160 Cf. Plautus, Amphitruo 235, nostra superat manus.
161 Cf. Seneca, Hercules Furens (imitated at Ps. - Seneca, Hercules Oetaeus 1797), Quis hic locus, quae regio, quae mundi plaga?
165 For regni decus at line-end cf. Seneca Medea 130.
Scene 5 The rest of the play is set at Oeneus’ palace.
204 Cf. Aeneid II.595, aut quonam nostri tibi cura recessit?
225 For clara progenies Iovis cf. Seneca, Phaedra 129.
253f. For pectus…indomitum cf. Ps. - Seneca, Hercules Oetaeus 155.
256f. Cf. Seneca, Hercules Furens 624f. (which permits the correction of the corrupt ms. reading):

agnosco toros
umerosque et alto nobile in trunco caput.

269 Cf. Ovid, Heroides xvi.28, hae mihi tam longae causa fuere viae.
299 The top of the ms. page numbered 8 is torn away at the top.
304f. Cf. Ovid, Metamorphoses 16 (Achelous is the speaker), contra ego “turpe deum mortali cedere” dixi.
306f. Cf. ib. IX.23f.:

nam, quo te iactas, Alcmena nate, creatum,
Iuppiter aut falsus pater est, aut crimine verus.

311 Cf. ib. IX.29, verbaque tot reddit: “melior mihi dextera lingua.”
316 Ubi animus? is not an idiomatic phrase in classical Latin, and so its exact meaning is difficult to ascertain. It seems to mean something like “what frame of mind are you in?”
322 For in mediis malis cf. Seneca, Thyestes 487.
333 Deianira’s younger sister Gorge is attested by such ancient writers as Hyginus, Fabulae clxxiv.7 and Ovid, Heroides ix.165.
341 Telephus was wounded by Achilles’ spear; the spear was subsequently used to heal him.
358f. Cf. MetamorphosesIX.33f.

bracchiaque opposui, tenuique a pectore varas
in statione manus et pugnae membra paravi.

361 This is a difficult line to translate, and I can only do so by assuming that pari refers to Oeneus himself. But the possibility exists that pari stands here because some copyist wrongly wrote it under the influence of 367 and 371, and that Wren wrote mihi.
373 For nescius vinci cf. Aeneid XII.527 and Ovid, Epistulae ex Ponto II.ix.45.
380 Cf. ib. IX.56, inposito pressus mihi monte videbar.
394 Here ars is to be interpreted as “cleverness.”
400 Cf. fraudem struo cf. Seneca, Phaedra 503 and Ps. - Seneca, Hercules Oetaeus 718.
410 Cf. Ovid, Metamorphoses XII.435f.:

perque cavas nares oculosque auresque cerebrum
molle fluit.

417 Cf. o dura fata at Seneca, Medea 431 and Troades 1056.
419f. Cf. Ovid, Metamorphoses IX.98 (of Achelous), Huic tamen ablati doluit iactura decoris.
428 Cf. inemptum reddite at Metamorphoses XIII.471f.
434f. The institution of such an a yearly Aetolian festival is not a feature of Ovid’s tale.
Scene ix Promelus and Panopeus enter, still wearing the disguises that allowed them to witness the wrestling-match (as suggested by Promelus at 330f.). Oeneus does not recognize them, and so tells the story of his deception of the suitors under the impression he is speaking to strangers.
460ff. In his synopsis of this scene (p. 9), Weckermann misunderstood 460f.:

Unrecognized in their disguises, the two rejected suitors learn that Oeneus would have preferred either of them as son-in-law to a man who is perhaps falsely alleged to be the son of Jupiter. The credibility of this information seems questionable, however, in view of the fact that the next moment Oeneus once again proudly relates his method of getting rid of Panopeus and Promelus.

Far more likely, the import of these two lines is “If Hercules’s claim to be a son of Jupiter had proven false, I would prefer to have to have bestowed my daughter even on nobodies such as yourselves,” with an unspoken corrolary that Hercules’ performance in the wrestling-match demonstrated the truth of his claim. Likewise, the sentiment expressed in 462 is “My fortune has turned out even better than I planned.” So his speech is entirely expressive of satisfaction, and he harbors no secret doubts about Hercules’ legitimacy or reservations about awarding him Deianira.
463 For turba procorum cf. Ovid, Metamorphoses X.568 and 574.
464 Hymenaeus was the Roman god of weddings.|
480 Not recognizing their identities, Oeneus has made an unwitting confession to the mistreated suitors. Cf. Seneca, Thyestes 491, Plagis tenetur clausa dispositis fera. Plagis are called nexilibus at Ovid, Metamorphoses II.499.
485f. These lines reflect contemporary ideas about the nature of kingship.
490f. Torches were employed both in Roman marriage and funereal ceremonies, and were carried by the Furies (of whom Megaera was one). A number of Roman poets conjured with this fact in the way that Wren does here. Cf., for example, Ps. - Seneca, 257ff.:

Gravi deorum nostra iam pridem domus
urgetur ira, prima quam pressit Venus
furore miserae dura genetricis meae,
quae nupta demens nupsit incesta face,
oblita nostri, coniugis, legum immemor.
illos soluta crine, succincta anguibus
ultrix Erinys uenit ad Stygios toros
raptasque thalamis sanguine extinxit faces;
incendit ira principis pectus truci
caedem in nefandam.

491 It is difficult to see how, beyond the most generalized one of alleged criminality, any comparison can be drawn between Oeneus and Tantalus.
493 Their tantrums seem strange and unreasonable to Oeneus because he is unaware of their true identities.
504f. I. e., the horn is more fertile than Nature herself. Natura is called parens at Seneca Phaedra 959, Ps. - Seneca, Octavia 385, and Lucan X.238.
508 Liber was a cult-name for Bacchus.
522 Lucina was the Roman goddess of childbirth.
536 Cf. Seneca, Thyestes 535, Meum esse credo quidquid est, frater, tuum.
537 For tori sociam cf. Ovid, Epistulae ex Ponto II.viii.29, Metamorphoses VIII.521, X.268, and XIV.678.
539 Feretrius was a cult-title of Jupiter of the Capitoline (the subject of Propertius IV.x.1).
542 Cf. Aeneid VII.259, di nostra incepta secundent.
552 Cf. Seneca, Oedipus 402, populare Bacchi laudibus carmen sonet.
554 Labor is called sedulus at Seneca, Phaedra 1109.
568 His “real father” is President Buckridge
575 The actor addresses this line, and perhaps actually hands the horn, to Buckridge.