Myths, Gods, and Men
Fall 2006 Readings - Week 10
Fall of Troy 2 of 2
Virgil's Aeneid 2.402 - 2.558
Read November 14, 2006 by Chris Weed
| Heu nihil invitis fas quemquam fidere divis! Ecce trahebatur passis Priameďa virgo crinibus a templo Cassandra adytisque Minervae, ad caelum tendens ardentia lumina frustra,-- [405] lumina, nam teneras arcebant vincula palmas. Non tulit hanc speciem furiata mente Coroebus, et sese medium iniecit periturus in agmen. Consequimur cuncti et densis incurrimus armis. Hic primum ex alto delubri culmine telis [410] nostrorum obruimur, oriturque miserrima caedes armorum facie et Graiarum errore iubarum. Tum Danai gemitu atque ereptae virginis ira undique collecti invadunt, acerrimus Aiax, et gemini Atridae, Dolopumque exercitus omnis; [415] adversi rupto ceu quondam turbine venti confligunt, Zephyrusque Notusque et laetus Eois Eurus equis; stridunt silvae, saevitque tridenti spumeus atque imo Nereus ciet aequora fundo. Illi etiam, si quos obscura nocte per umbram [420] fudimus insidiis totaque agitavimus urbe, apparent; primi clipeos mentitaque tela adgnoscunt, atque ora sono discordia signant. Ilicet obruimur numero; |
But woe is me! If gods their help withhold, 't is impious to be brave. That very hour the fair Cassandra passed us, bound in chains, King Priam's virgin daughter, from the shrine and altars of Minerva; her loose hair had lost its fillet; her impassioned eyes were lifted in vain prayer,--her eyes alone! For chains of steel her frail, soft hands confined. Coroebus' eyes this horror not endured, and, sorrow-crazed, he plunged him headlong in the midmost fray, self-offered to be slain, while in close mass our troop behind him poured. But, at this point, the overwhelming spears of our own kinsmen rained resistless down from a high temple-tower; and carnage wild ensued, because of the Greek arms we bore and our false crests. The howling Grecian band, crazed by Cassandra's rescue, charged at us from every side; Ajax of savage soul, the sons of Atreus, and that whole wild horde Achilles from Dolopian deserts drew. 'T was like the bursting storm, when gales contend, west wind and South, and jocund wind of morn upon his orient steeds--while forests roar, and foam-flecked Nereus with fierce trident stirs the dark deep of the sea. All who did hide in shadows of the night, by our assault surprised, and driven in tumultuous flight, now start to view. Full well they now can see our shields and borrowed arms, and clearly note our speech of alien sound; their multitude o'erwhelms us utterly. |
| primusque Coroebus Penelei dextra divae armipotentis ad aram [425] procumbit; cadit et Rhipeus, iustissimus unus qui fuit in Teucris et servantissimus aequi: dis aliter visum; pereunt Hypanisque Dymasque confixi a sociis; nec te tua plurima, Panthu, labentem pietas nec Apollinis infula texit. [430] Iliaci cineres et flamma extrema meorum, testor, in occasu vestro nec tela nec ullas vitavisse vices Danaum, et, si fata fuissent ut caderem, meruisse manu. Divellimur inde, Iphitus et Pelias mecum, quorum Iphitus aevo [435] iam gravior, Pelias et volnere tardus Ulixi; protinus ad sedes Priami clamore vocati. |
Coroebus first at mailed Minerva's altar prostrate lay, pierced by Peneleus, blade; then Rhipeus fell; we deemed him of all Trojans the most just, most scrupulously righteous; but the gods gave judgment otherwise. There Dymas died, and Hypanis, by their compatriots slain; nor thee, O Panthus, in that mortal hour, could thy clean hands or Phoebus, priesthood save. O ashes of my country! funeral pyre of all my kin! bear witness that my breast shrank not from any sword the Grecian drew, and that my deeds the night my country died deserved a warrior's death, had Fate ordained. But soon our ranks were broken; at my side stayed Iphitus and Pelias; one with age was Iong since wearied, and the other bore the burden of Ulysses' crippling wound. Straightway the roar and tumult summoned us to Priam's palace, where a battle raged. |
| Limen erat caecaeque fores et pervius usus tectorum inter se Priami, postesque relicti a tergo, infelix qua se, dum regna manebant, [455] saepius Andromache ferre incomitata solebat ad soceros, et avo puerum Astyanacta trahebat. Evado ad summi fastigia culminis, unde tela manu miseri iactabant inrita Teucri. Turrim in praecipiti stantem summisque sub astra [460] eductam tectis, unde omnis Troia videri et Danaum solitae naves et Achaia castra, adgressi ferro circum, qua summa labantis iuncturas tabulata dabant, convellimus altis sedibus, impulimusque; ea lapsa repente ruinam [465] cum sonitu trahit et Danaum super agmina late incidit: ast alii subeunt, nec saxa, nec ullum telorum interea cessat genus. |
Thus were our hearts inflamed to stand and strike for the king's house, and to his body-guard bring succor, and renew their vanquished powers. A certain gate I knew, a secret way, which gave free passage between Priam's halls, and exit rearward; hither, in the days before our fall, the lone Andromache was wont with young Astyanax to pass in quest of Priam and her husband's kin. This way to climb the palace roof I flew, where, desperate, the Trojans with vain skill hurled forth repellent arms. A tower was there, reared skyward from the roof-top, giving view of Troy's wide walls and full reconnaissance of all Achaea's fleets and tented field; this, with strong steel, our gathered strength assailed, and as the loosened courses offered us great threatening fissures, we uprooted it from its aerial throne and thrust it down. It fell with instantaneous crash of thunder along the Danaan host in ruin wide. But fresh ranks soon arrive; thick showers of stone rain down, with every missile rage can find. |
| Vestibulum ante ipsum primoque in limine Pyrrhus exsultat, telis et luce coruscus aëna; [470] qualis ubi in lucem coluber mala gramina pastus frigida sub terra tumidum quem bruma tegebat, nunc, positis novus exuviis nitidusque iuventa, lubrica convolvit sublato pectore terga arduus ad solem, et linguis micat ore trisulcis. [475] Una ingens Periphas et equorum agitator Achillis, armiger Automedon, una omnis Scyria pubes succedunt tecto, et flammas ad culmina iactant. Ipse inter primos correpta dura bipenni limina perrumpit, postisque a cardine vellit [480] aeratos; iamque excisa trabe firma cavavit robora, et ingentem lato dedit ore fenestram. Adparet domus intus, et atria longa patescunt; adparent Priami et veterum penetralia regum, armatosque vident stantis in limine primo. [485] |
Now at the threshold of the outer court Pyrrhus triumphant stood, with glittering arms and helm of burnished brass. He glittered like some swollen viper, fed on poison-leaves, whom chilling winter shelters underground, till, fresh and strong, he sheds his annual scales and, crawling forth rejuvenate, uncoils his slimy length; his lifted gorge insults the sunbeam with three-forked and quivering tongue. Huge Periphas was there; Automedon, who drove Achilles' steeds, and bore his arms. Then Scyros' island-warriors assault the palaces, and hurl reiterate fire at wall and tower. Pyrrhus led the van; seizing an axe he clove the ponderous doors and rent the hinges from their posts of bronze; he cut the beams, and through the solid mass burrowed his way, till like a window huge the breach yawned wide, and opened to his gaze a vista of long courts and corridors, the hearth and home of many an ancient king, and Priam's own; upon its sacred bourne the sentry, all in arms, kept watch and ward. |
| At domus interior gemitu miseroque tumultu miscetur, penitusque cavae plangoribus aedes femineis ululant; ferit aurea sidera clamor. Tum pavidae tectis matres ingentibus errant; amplexaeque tenent postis atque oscula figunt. [490] Instat vi patria Pyrrhus; nec claustra, neque ipsi custodes sufferre valent; labat ariete crebro ianua, et emoti procumbunt cardine postes. Fit via vi; rumpunt aditus, primosque trucidant immissi Danai, et late loca milite complent. [495] Non sic, aggeribus ruptis cum spumeus amnis exiit, oppositasque evicit gurgite moles, fertur in arva furens cumulo, camposque per omnis cum stabulis armenta trahit. Vidi ipse furentem caede Neoptolemum geminosque in limine Atridas; [500] vidi Hecubam centumque nurus, Priamumque per aras sanguine foedantem, quos ipse sacraverat, ignis. Quinquaginta illi thalami, spes tanta nepotum, barbarico postes auro spoliisque superbi, procubuere; tenent Danai, qua deficit ignis. [505] Forsitan et Priami fuerint quae fata requiras. Urbis uti captae casum convolsaque vidit limina tectorum et medium in penetralibus hostem, arma diu senior desueta trementibus aevo circumdat nequiquam umeris, et inutile ferrum [510] cingitur, ac densos fertur moriturus in hostis. Aedibus in mediis nudoque sub aetheris axe ingens ara fuit iuxtaque veterrima laurus, incumbens arae atque umbra complexa Penatis. |
Confusion, groans, and piteous turmoil were in that dwelling; women shrieked and wailed from many a dark retreat, and their loud cry rang to the golden stars. Through those vast halls the panic-stricken mothers wildly roved, and clung with frantic kisses and embrace unto the columns cold. Fierce as his sire, Pyrrhus moves on; nor bar nor sentinel may stop his way; down tumbles the great door beneath the battering beam, and with it fall hinges and framework violently torn. Force bursts all bars; th' assailing Greeks break in, do butchery, and with men-at-arms possess what place they will. Scarce with an equal rage a foaming river, when its dykes are down, o'erwhelms its mounded shores, and through the plain rolls mountain-high, while from the ravaged farms its fierce flood sweeps along both flock and fold. My own eyes looked on Neoptolemus frenzied with slaughter, and both Atreus' sons upon the threshold frowning; I beheld her hundred daughters with old Hecuba; and Priam, whose own bleeding wounds defiled the altars where himself had blessed the fires; there fifty nuptial beds gave promise proud of princely heirs; but all their brightness now, of broidered cunning and barbaric gold, lay strewn and trampled on. The Danaan foe stood victor, where the raging flame had failed. But would ye haply know what stroke of doom on Priam fell? Now when his anguish saw his kingdom lost and fallen, his abode shattered, and in his very hearth and home th' exulting foe, the aged King did bind his rusted armor to his trembling thews,-- all vainly,-- and a useless blade of steel he girded on; then charged, resolved to die encircled by the foe. Within his walls there stood, beneath the wide and open sky, a lofty altar; an old laurel-tree leaned o'er it, and enclasped in holy shade the statues of the tutelary powers. |
| Hic Hecuba et natae nequiquam altaria circum, [515] praecipites atra ceu tempestate columbae, condensae et divom amplexae simulacra sedebant. Ipsum autem sumptis Priamum iuvenalibus armis ut vidit, "Quae mens tam dira, miserrime coniunx, impulit his cingi telis? Aut quo ruis?" inquit; [520] "Non tali auxilio nec defensoribus istis tempus eget, non, si ipse meus nunc adforet Hector. Huc tandem concede; haec ara tuebitur omnis, aut moriere simul." Sic ore effata recepit ad sese et sacra longaevum in sede locavit. [525] Ecce autem elapsus Pyrrhi de caede Polites, unus natorum Priami, per tela, per hostis porticibus longis fugit, et vacua atria lustrat saucius: illum ardens infesto volnere Pyrrhus insequitur, iam iamque manu tenet et premit hasta. [530] Ut tandem ante oculos evasit et ora parentum, concidit, ac multo vitam cum sanguine fudit. Hic Priamus, quamquam in media iam morte tenetur, non tamen abstinuit, nec voci iraeque pepercit: "At tibi pro scelere," exclamat, "pro talibus ausis, [535] di, si qua est caelo pietas, quae talia curet, persolvant grates dignas et praemia reddant debita, qui nati coram me cernere letum fecisti et patrios foedasti funere voltus. At non ille, satum quo te mentiris, Achilles [540] talis in hoste fuit Priamo; sed iura fidemque supplicis erubuit, corpusque exsangue sepulchro reddidit Hectoreum, meque in mea regna remisit." Sic fatus senior, telumque imbelle sine ictu coniecit, rauco quod protinus aere repulsum [545] e summo clipei nequiquam umbone pependit. |
Here Hecuba and all the princesses took refuge vain within the place of prayer. Like panic-stricken doves in some dark storm, close-gathering they sate, and in despair embraced their graven gods. But when the Queen saw Priam with his youthful harness on, "What frenzy, O my wretched lord," she cried, "Arrayed thee in such arms? O, whither now? Not such defences, nor such arm as thine, the time requires, though thy companion were our Hector's self. O, yield thee, I implore! This altar now shall save us one and all, or we must die together." With these words she drew him to her side, and near the shrine made for her aged spouse a place to cling. But, lo! just 'scaped of Pyrrhus' murderous hand, Polites, one of Priam's sons, fled fast along the corridors, through thronging foes and a thick rain of spears. Wildly he gazed across the desolate halls, wounded to death. Fierce Pyrrhus followed after, pressing hard with mortal stroke, and now his hand and spear were close upon:-- when the lost youth leaped forth into his father's sight, and prostrate there lay dying, while his life-blood ebbed away. Then Priam, though on all sides death was nigh, quit not the strife, nor from loud wrath refrained: "Thy crime and impious outrage, may the gods (if Heaven to mortals render debt and due) justly reward and worthy honors pay! My own son's murder thou hast made me see, blood and pollution impiously throwing upon a father's head. Not such was he, not such, Achilles, thy pretended sire, when Priam was his foe. With flush of shame he nobly listened to a suppliant's plea in honor made. He rendered to the tomb my Hector's body pale, and me did send back to my throne a king." With this proud word the aged warrior hurled with nerveless arm his ineffectual spear, which hoarsely rang rebounding on the brazen shield, and hung piercing the midmost boss,- but all in vain. |
| Cui Pyrrhus: "Referes ergo haec et nuntius ibis Pelidae genitori; illi mea tristia facta degeneremque Neoptolemum narrare memento. Nunc morere." Hoc dicens altaria ad ipsa trementem [550] traxit et in multo lapsantem sanguine nati, implicuitque comam laeva, dextraque coruscum extulit, ac lateri capulo tenus abdidit ensem. Haec finis Priami fatorum; hic exitus illum sorte tulit, Troiam incensam et prolapsa videntem [555] Pergama, tot quondam populis terrisque superbum regnatorem Asiae. Iacet ingens litore truncus, avolsumque umeris caput, et sine nomine corpus. |
Then Pyrrhus: "Take these tidings, and convey message to my father, Peleus' son! tell him my naughty deeds! Be sure and say how Neoptolemus hath shamed his sires. Now die!" With this, he trailed before the shrines the trembling King, whose feet slipped in the stream of his son's blood. Then Pyrrhus' left hand clutched the tresses old and gray; a glittering sword his right hand lifted high, and buried it far as the hilt in that defenceless heart. So Priam's story ceased. Such final doom fell on him, while his dying eyes surveyed Troy burning, and her altars overthrown, though once of many an orient land and tribe the boasted lord. In huge dismemberment his severed trunk lies tombless on the shore, the head from shoulder torn, the corpse unknown. |
Source Information
Latin: Vergil. Bucolics, Aeneid, and Georgics Of Vergil. J. B. Greenough. Boston. Ginn & Co. 1900.
[Via Perseus]
English: Vergil. Aeneid. Theodore C. Williams. trans. Boston. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1910.
[Via Perseus]