Original: Now climbeth Tamora Olympus’ top,
Modern: Now Tamora climbs to the top of Mount Olympus,

Original: Safe out of fortune’s shot; and sits aloft,
Modern: Safe from the arrows of bad luck; and she sits high up,

Original: Secure of thunder’s crack or lightning flash;
Modern: Protected from thunder’s crash or lightning’s strike;

Original: Advanced above pale envy’s threatening reach.
Modern: Raised above the dangerous reach of jealous people.

Original: As when the golden sun salutes the morn,
Modern: Just like when the golden sun greets the morning,

Original: And, having gilt the ocean with his beams,
Modern: And, having covered the ocean with his golden light,

Original: Gallops the zodiac in his glistering coach,
Modern: Races across the sky in his glittering chariot,

Original: And overlooks the highest-peering hills;
Modern: And looks down on the tallest hills;

Original: So Tamora: Upon her wit doth earthly honour wait,
Modern: So it is with Tamora: All earthly honors depend on her intelligence,

Original: And virtue stoops and trembles at her frown.
Modern: And even goodness bows down and shakes in fear when she frowns.

Original: Then, Aaron, arm thy heart, and fit thy thoughts,
Modern: Then, Aaron, strengthen your heart and prepare your mind,

Original: To mount aloft with thy imperial mistress,
Modern: To rise up high with your royal lover,

Original: And mount her pitch, whom thou in triumph long
Modern: And reach her heights, she whom you have long triumphantly

Original: Hast prisoner held, fetter’d in amorous chains
Modern: Kept as your prisoner, chained by love

Original: And faster bound to Aaron’s charming eyes
Modern: And more tightly bound to Aaron’s seductive eyes

Original: Than is Prometheus tied to Caucasus.
Modern: Than Prometheus was tied to the Caucasus mountains.

Original: Away with slavish weeds and servile thoughts!
Modern: Get rid of these slave’s clothes and submissive thoughts!

Original: I will be bright, and shine in pearl and gold,
Modern: I will be magnificent, and glow in pearls and gold,

Original: To wait upon this new-made empress.
Modern: To serve this newly crowned empress.

Original: To wait, said I? to wanton with this queen,
Modern: Did I say serve? No—to play and make love with this queen,

Original: This goddess, this Semiramis, this nymph,
Modern: This goddess, this legendary warrior queen, this beautiful spirit,

Original: This siren, that will charm Rome’s Saturnine,
Modern: This enchantress, who will seduce Rome’s Emperor Saturninus,

Original: And see his shipwreck and his commonweal’s.
Modern: And watch him and his empire be destroyed.

Original: Holloa! what storm is this?
Modern: Hey! What’s this commotion?

In Act II, Scene 1 of “Titus Andronicus,” Aaron the Moor delivers a soliloquy celebrating the secret affair between himself and Tamora, now Empress of Rome through her marriage to Saturninus. He revels in his ability to manipulate events and control Tamora despite her elevated position, boasting of his cunning and the physical relationship they maintain in the shadows of the Roman court. Aaron’s speech reveals his Machiavellian nature and his pleasure in orchestrating schemes that will advance his own interests while bringing chaos to Rome.

Tamora’s sons, Chiron and Demetrius, enter quarreling violently over their mutual desire for Lavinia, Bassianus’s wife and daughter of Titus. The brothers draw weapons on each other, each claiming superior right to possess her. Aaron intervenes to stop their fighting, mocking their foolishness in arguing over a woman who is already married and warning them that their public dispute could expose their villainous intentions. He then proposes a plan: they should seize Lavinia during the royal hunt the following day when she will be in the forest, where they can both satisfy their lust and take revenge on the Andronicus family. The brothers eagerly agree to Aaron’s scheme, setting in motion the play’s central act of violence.

Titus Andronicus opens with the Roman general Titus returning victorious from war against the Goths, bringing with him prisoners including Tamora, Queen of the Goths, and her three sons. Despite Tamora’s pleas, Titus sacrifices her eldest son Alarbus in revenge for his own sons killed in battle. The Emperor Saturninus chooses Tamora as his bride, and she secretly plots revenge against Titus. Meanwhile, Titus’s daughter Lavinia is betrothed to Bassianus, the Emperor’s brother, though Saturninus had wanted to marry her himself.

Tamora’s sons Demetrius and Chiron, aided by the villainous Aaron the Moor, murder Bassianus and brutally assault Lavinia, cutting off her hands and tongue to prevent her from identifying them. Aaron tricks two of Titus’s sons, Quintus and Martius, into falling into the pit where Bassianus’s body lies, and they are arrested for his murder. Aaron then deceives Titus into believing that if he cuts off his own hand and sends it to the Emperor, his sons will be spared. Titus complies, but receives back his severed hand along with the heads of his executed sons.

Lavinia manages to reveal her attackers’ identities by writing in the dirt with a stick held in her mouth. Titus feigns madness while plotting revenge and sends weapons with threatening messages to Tamora’s sons. When Tamora gives birth to Aaron’s child, Aaron flees with the baby but is eventually captured. In the final act, Titus kills Tamora’s sons and serves them to her baked in a pie at a banquet. He then kills Lavinia to end her suffering, murders Tamora, and is immediately killed by Saturninus. Titus’s surviving son Lucius kills Saturninus and is proclaimed the new Emperor, ordering Aaron to be buried alive and vowing to restore order to Rome.