Aeneid II.506-623

A slightly longer portion today for flow! In which Pyrrhus joins the family war crimes business, and Helen is here.

And maybe you ask, what was Priam’s fate.

When he saw the end of the captive city, the palace doors

wrenched away, and the enemy among the inner rooms,

the aged man clasped his long-neglected armour

on his old, trembling shoulders, and fastened on his useless sword,

and hurried into the thick of the enemy seeking death.

In the centre of the halls, and under the sky’s naked arch,

was a large altar, with an ancient laurel nearby that leant

on the altar and clothed the household gods with shade.

Here Hecuba and her daughters, like doves driven

by a dark storm, crouched uselessly by the shrines,

huddled together, clutching at the statues of the gods.

And when she saw Priam himself dressed in youthful armour

she cried: “What mad thought, poor husband, urges you

to fasten on these weapons? Where do you run?

The hour demands no such help, nor defences such as these,

not if my own Hector were here himself. Here, I beg you,

this altar will protect us all or we’ll die together.”

So she spoke and drew the old man towards her,

and set him down on the sacred steps.

See, Polites, one of Priam’s sons, escaping Pyrrhus’s slaughter,

runs down the long hallways, through enemies and spears,

and, wounded, crosses the empty courts.

Pyrrhus chases after him, eager to strike him,

and grasps at him now, and now, with his hand, at spear-point.

When finally he reached the eyes and gaze of his parents,

he fell, and poured out his life in a river of blood.

Priam, though even now in death’s clutches,

did not spare his voice at this, or hold back his anger:

“If there is any justice in heaven that cares about such things,

may the gods repay you with fit thanks and due reward

for your wickedness, for such acts, you who have

made me see my own son’s death in front of my face,

and defiled a father’s sight with murder.

Yet Achilles, whose son you falsely claim to be, was no

such enemy to Priam: he respected the suppliant’s rights

and honour, and returned Hector’s bloodless corpse

to its sepulchre, and sent me home to my kingdom.”¹

So the old man spoke, and threw his ineffectual spear

without strength, which immediately spun from the clanging bronze

and hung uselessly from the centre of the shield’s boss.

Pyrrhus spoke to him: “Then you can be messenger, carry

the news to my father, to Peleus’s son: remember to tell him

of degenerate Pyrrhus and of my sad actions:

now die.” Saying this he dragged him, trembling

and slithering in the pool of his son’s blood, to the very altar,

and twined his left hand in his hair, raised the glittering sword

in his right, and buried it to the hilt in his side.

This was the end of Priam’s life: this was the death that fell to him

by lot, seeing Troy ablaze and its citadel toppled, he who was

once the magnificent ruler of so many Asian lands and peoples.

A once mighty body lies on the shore, the head

shorn from its shoulders, a corpse without a name.²

Then for the first time a wild terror gripped me.

I stood amazed: my dear father’s image rose before me

as I saw a king, of like age, with a cruel wound,

breathing his life away: and my Creusa³, forlorn,

and the ransacked house, and the fate of little Iulus.

I looked back and considered the troops that were round me.

They had all left me, wearied, and hurled their bodies to earth,

or sick with misery dropped into the flames.

So I was alone now, when I saw the daughter of Tyndareus⁴,

Helen, close to Vesta’s portal, hiding silently

in the secret shrine: the bright flames gave me light,

as I wandered, gazing everywhere, randomly.

Afraid of Trojans angered at the fall of Troy,

Greek vengeance, and the fury of a husband she deserted⁵,

she, the mutual curse of Troy and her own country,

had concealed herself and crouched, a hated thing, by the altars.

Fire blazed in my spirit: anger rose to avenge my fallen land,

and to exact the punishment for her wickedness.

“Shall she, unharmed, see Sparta again and her native Mycenae,

and see her house and husband, parents and children,

and go in the triumphant role of a queen,

attended by a crowd of Trojan women and Phrygian servants?

When Priam has been put to the sword? Troy consumed with fire?

The Dardanian shore soaked again and again with blood?

No. Though there’s no great glory in a woman’s punishment,

and such a conquest wins no praise, still I will be praised

for extinguishing wickedness and exacting well-earned

punishment, and I’ll delight in having filled my soul

with the flame of revenge, and appeased my people’s ashes.”

I blurted out these words and was rushing on with raging mind,

when my dear mother came to my vision, never before so bright

to my eyes, shining with pure light in the night,

goddess for sure, such as she may be seen by the gods,

and taking me by the right hand, stopped me, and then

imparted these words to me from her rose-tinted lips:

“My son, what pain stirs such uncontrollable anger?

Why this rage? Where has your care for what is ours vanished?

First will you not see whether Creusa, your wife, and your child

Ascanius still live, and where you have left your father Anchises

worn-out with age? The Greek ranks surround them on all sides,

and if my love did not protect them, the flames would have caught

them before now, and the enemy swords drunk of their blood.

You do not hate the face of the Spartan daughter of Tyndareus,

nor is Paris to blame: the ruthlessness of the gods, of the gods,

brought down this power and toppled Troy from its heights.

See (for I’ll tear away all the mist that now, shrouding your sight,

dims your mortal vision and darkens everything with moisture:⁶

don’t be afraid of what your mother commands, or refuse to obey

her wisdom): here, where you see shattered heaps of stone

torn from stone, and smoke billowing mixed with dust,

Neptune is shaking the walls and the foundations, stirred

by his mighty trident, and tearing the whole city up by its roots.

There, Juno, the fiercest, is first to take the Scaean Gate⁷, and,

sword at her side, calls on her troops from the ships, in rage.

Now, see, Tritonian Pallas⁸, standing on the highest towers,

sending lightning from the storm-cloud, and her grim Gorgon

breastplate. Father Jupiter himself supplies the Greeks with

courage and fortunate strength, himself excites the gods against

the Trojan army. Hurry your departure, son, and put an end

to your efforts. I will not leave you, and I will place you

safe at your father’s door.” She spoke, and hid herself

in the dense shadows of night. Dreadful shapes appeared,

and the vast powers of gods opposed to Troy.

---

Forsitan et Priami fuerint quae fata requiras.

urbis uti captae casum convulsaque 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.

hic Hecuba et natae nequiquam altaria circum,               515

praecipites atra ceu tempestate columbae,

condensae et divum 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 longaeuum 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 vulnere 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 vultus.

at non ille, satum quo te mentiris, Achilles               540

talis in hoste fuit Priamo; sed iura fidemque

supplicis erubuit corpusque exsangue sepulcro

reddidit Hectoreum meque in mea regna remisit.'

sic fatus senior telumque imbelle sine ictu

coniecit, rauco quod protinus aere repulsum,               545

et summo clipei nequiquam umbone pependit.

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,

avulsumque umeris caput et sine nomine corpus.

At me tum primum saevus circumstetit horror.

obstipui; subiit cari genitoris imago,               560

ut regem aequaeuum crudeli vulnere vidi

vitam exhalantem, subiit deserta Creusa

et direpta domus et parvi casus Iuli.

respicio et quae sit me circum copia lustro.

deseruere omnes defessi, et corpora saltu               565

ad terram misere aut ignibus aegra dedere.

Iamque adeo super unus eram, cum limina Vestae

servantem et tacitam secreta in sede latentem

Tyndarida aspicio; dant claram incendia lucem

erranti passimque oculos per cuncta ferenti.               570

illa sibi infestos eversa ob Pergama Teucros

et Danaum poenam et deserti coniugis iras

praemetuens, Troiae et patriae communis Erinys,

abdiderat sese atque aris invisa sedebat.

exarsere ignes animo; subit ira cadentem               575

ulcisci patriam et sceleratas sumere poenas.

'scilicet haec Spartam incolumis patriasque Mycenas

aspiciet, partoque ibit regina triumpho?

coniugiumque domumque patris natosque videbit

Iliadum turba et Phrygiis comitata ministris?               580

occiderit ferro Priamus? Troia arserit igni?

Dardanium totiens sudarit sanguine litus?

non ita. namque etsi nullum memorabile nomen

feminea in poena est, habet haec victoria laudem;

exstinxisse nefas tamen et sumpsisse merentis               585

laudabor poenas, animumque explesse iuvabit

ultricis flammae et cineres satiasse meorum.'

talia iactabam et furiata mente ferebar,

cum mihi se, non ante oculis tam clara, videndam

obtulit et pura per noctem in luce refulsit               590

alma parens, confessa deam qualisque videri

caelicolis et quanta solet, dextraque prehensum

continuit roseoque haec insuper addidit ore:

'nate, quis indomitas tantus dolor excitat iras?

quid furis? aut quonam nostri tibi cura recessit?               595

non prius aspicies ubi fessum aetate parentem

liqueris Anchisen, superet coniunxne Creusa

Ascaniusque puer? quos omnis undique Graiae

circum errant acies et, ni mea cura resistat,

iam flammae tulerint inimicus et hauserit ensis.               600

non tibi Tyndaridis facies invisa Lacaenae

culpatusue Paris, divum inclementia, divum

has evertit opes sternitque a culmine Troiam.

aspice (namque omnem, quae nunc obducta tuenti

mortalis hebetat visus tibi et umida circum               605

caligat, nubem eripiam; tu ne qua parentis

iussa time neu praeceptis parere recusa):

hic, ubi disiectas moles avulsaque saxis

saxa vides, mixtoque undantem pulvere fumum,

Neptunus muros magnoque emota tridenti               610

fundamenta quatit totamque a sedibus urbem

eruit. hic Iuno Scaeas saevissima portas

prima tenet sociumque furens a navibus agmen

ferro accincta vocat.

iam summas arces Tritonia, respice, Pallas               615

insedit nimbo effulgens et Gorgone saeva.

ipse pater Danais animos virisque secundas

sufficit, ipse deos in Dardana suscitat arma.

eripe, nate, fugam finemque impone labori;

nusquam abero et tutum patrio te limine sistam.'               620

dixerat et spissis noctis se condidit umbris.

apparent dirae facies inimicaque Troiae

numina magna deum.

---

Find the glossary for Aeneid Daily here; subscribe to receive daily posts.

1. See Iliad 24, in which Achilles returns Hector’s body to Priam in a moment of peace.

2. An image undeniably reminiscent of the death of Vergil’s pre-contemporary, Pompey the Great, beheaded in Egypt at the culmination of his rivalry with Julius Caesar.

3. Aeneas’s wife

4. An ironic way to describe Helen: Tyndareus was indeed her mother Leda’s husband, but Helen was the daughter of Jupiter.

5. Abducted by Paris with the help of Venus, Helen was taken from her husband Menelaus of Sparta and brought to Troy, the mythological impetus of the Trojan war. The Iliad shows her as having become deeply fond of the Trojans and tormented by her role in their suffering.

6. cf. Iliad 5, in which Athena does the same to Diomedes—but Diomedes’ new sight allows him to gain battle glory, whereas Aeneas’s only shows him the hopelessness of Troy.

7. The main gate in Troy, as referenced in the Iliad.

8. Minerva. “Tritonian” translates a Homeric epithet that may refer to Lake Triton (where Minerva was born or raised); it may also refer to a Greek word meaning “to run away trembling,” as Minerva’s shield and aspect “generate terror” (thank you to @hercorrupterofwords for help with this footnote!).