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 hostes.

aedibus in mediis nudoque sub aetheris axe

ingens ara fuit iuxtaque veterrima laurus

incumbens arae atque umbra complexa penates.

hic Hecuba et natae nequiquam altaria circum, 515

praecipites atra ceu tempestate columbae,

condensae et divum amplexae simulacra sedebant.

forsitan requiras et quae fuerint fata Priami

uti vidit casum captae urbis que convulsa

limina tectorum et hostem in medium penetralibus

senior nequiquam circumdat diu desueta arma umeris

trementibus aevo et cingitur inutile

ferrum ac fertur in hostes densos moriturus.

in mediis aedibus que sub nudo axe aetheris

fuit ingens ara que veterrima laurus iuxta

incumbens arae atque complexa penates umbra

hic Hecuba et natae condensae circum altaria nequiquam

ceu columbae praecipites atra tempestate,

et sedebant amplexae simulacra divum.

Perhaps you may also ask what was the fate of Priam.

When he saw the fall of his captured city and the smashed-in

doors of the buildings and the enemy in the middle of the inner chambers,

the old man in vain put on his long-neglected armour on his shoulders,

which were trembling with old age, and wore the useless

sword, and carried himself into the thick of the enemy, doomed to die.

In the middle of the palace and under the exposed wheel of heaven

there was a huge altar and a very old laurel tree alongside it,

resting on the altar and embracing the household gods with its shade.

Here Hecuba and her daughters were crowded round the altar in vain,

like doves driven headlong in a black storm,

and they sat embracing the statues of the gods.

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 omnes,

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 hostes

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.

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 hostes.

aedibus in mediis nudoque sub aetheris axe

ingens ara fuit iuxtaque veterrima laurus

incumbens arae atque umbra complexa penates.

hic Hecuba et natae nequiquam altaria circum, 515

praecipites atra ceu tempestate columbae,

condensae et divum amplexae simulacra sedebant.

Moreover, when she saw Priam himself, having taken up the arms

of his youth, she said ‘What intention so dreadful, most wretched husband,

drives (you) to gird yourself with these weapons? Where are you

rushing to? The situation is not in need of such assistance, nor of

these defenders; not if my Hector himself were now present,

come here now; this altar will protect everyone,

or you will die with us.’ Having spoken thus, she received the aged man

to her and placed him on the sacred seat.

But look! Having slipped away from the butchery of Pyrrhus, Polites,

one of the sons of Priam, fled through the missiles, through the enemy,

down the long colonnades and wanders around the deserted rooms

wounded. Pyrrhus eagerly pursues him with threatening wound.

Again and again he nearly seizes him with his hand and he presses with his spear,

when at last he emerged before the eyes and the faces of his parents,

he fell and poured out his life with much blood.

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.’

hic Priamus, quamquam iam tenetur in media morte,

tamen non abstinuit nec pepercit voci que irae:

exclamat: ‘at pro scelere, pro talibus ausis,

si est qua pietas caelo quae curet talia,

di persolvant dignas grates et reddant debita praemia,

tibi qui fecisti me cernere letum nati coram

et foedasti patrios vultus funere.

at ille, quo mentiris te satum, Achilles,

non fuit talis in hoste Priamo; sed erubuit

iura que fidem supplicis que reddidit Hectoreum exsangue corpus

sepulcro que remisit me in mea regna.’

Here Priam, although he was now being held in the middle of death,

nevertheless he did not hold back nor spare his voice and anger:

He shouted: ‘For wickedness, for such brazen acts,

if there is any holiness in heaven which takes interest in such matters,

may the gods pay worthy thanks and give due rewards,

you who have made me watch the death of my son in person

and befouled a father’s features with death.

But he, from whom you falsely state that you were born, Achilles

was not such a man in the case of his enemy Priam; but he respected

the laws and trust of a suppliant and returned Hector’s bloodless body

to the tomb and sent me back into my kingdom.’

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.

So spoke the elderly man and he hurled the unwarlike weapon

without a blow, which was repulsed straightaway by the echoing bronze,

and it hung idly from the top of the boss of the shield.

Pyrrhus (replied) to him: ‘So you will take this back and you will go as a

messenger to my father, the son of Peleus. Remember to tell him

of my sorry deeds and the worthless Neoptolemus.

Now die.’ As he said this he dragged him to the altar itself, trembling

and sliding in lots of his son’s blood,

and he entwined his hair with his left hand, and with his right hand raised

his glimmering sword and drove it into his side as far as the hilt.

This was the end of Priam’s destiny, this destruction brought him

by chance a burning Troy and seeing Pergamum

collapsed, once the proud ruler of so many peoples and lands

in Asia. His huge trunk lay on the shore,

and his head ripped from his shoulders and a body without a name.

Dixerat ille, et iam per moenia clarior ignis 705

auditur, propiusque aestus incendia volvunt.

‘ergo age, care pater, cervici imponere nostrae;

ipse subibo umeris nec me labor iste gravabit;

quo res cumque cadent, unum et commune periculum,

una salus ambobus erit. mihi parvus Iulus 710

sit comes, et longe servet vestigia coniunx.

vos, famuli, quae dicam animis advertite vestris.

est urbe egressis tumulus templumque vetustum

desertae Cereris, iuxtaque antiqua cupressus

religione patrum multos servata per annos. 715

hanc ex diverso sedem veniemus in unam.

tu, genitor, cape sacra manu patriosque penates,

me bello e tanto digressum et caede recenti

attrectare nefas, donec me flumine vivo

abluero.’ 720

He had spoken, and now the fire was heard more clearly through

the city, and the fires rolled their fiery flood closer.

‘So come, dear father, place yourself upon my neck;

I myself will support (you) on my shoulders, nor will this task weigh me down;

however things happen, there will be for both of us one common

danger, one salvation. Let little Iulus be my companion,

and let my wife follow our steps from a distance.

You, servants, turn your attention to what I am about to say.

There is, when you have gone out from the city, a tomb and an ancient temple

of deserted Ceres, and close by an ancient cypress tree

protected for many years by the religious observance of our ancestors

From different (directions) we shall come to this single resting-place.

You, father, take the sacred emblems in your hand and the penates of your fathers,

it is sinful for me to touch them, having come from such a mighty war and

fresh slaughter, until I have cleansed myself in a running river.’

haec fatus latos umeros subiectaque colla

veste super fulvique insternor pelle leonis,

succedoque oneri; dextrae se parvus lulus

implicuit sequiturque patrem non passibus aequis;

pone subit coniunx. ferimur per opaca locorum, 725

et me, quem dudum non ulla iniecta movebant

tela neque adverso glomerati ex agmine Grai,

nunc omnes terrent aurae, sonus excitat omnis

suspensum et pariter comitique onerique timentem.

Having said this, I covered myself, on top of my broad shoulders

and bowed neck, with the tawny hide of a lion as clothing,

and I submitted to the burden; little Iulus entwined himself in my

right hand and followed his father with steps not equivalent;

my wife followed behind. We took ourselves through the shades of the region,

725

and me, whom a short time ago not any launched missiles

would move, nor the Greeks massed in opposing ranks,

now all breezes terrified (me), every sound startled (me),

hesitating and equally fearful for both my companion and my burden.

iamque propinquabam portis omnemque videbar 730

evasisse viam, subito cum creber ad aures

visus adesse pedum sonitus, genitorque per umbram

prospiciens ‘nate’ exclamat ‘fuge, nate; propinquant.

ardentes clipeos atque aera micantia cerno.’

hic mihi nescio quod trepido male numen amicum735

confusam eripuit mentem. namque avia cursu

dum sequor et nota excedo regione viarum,

heu misero coniunx fatone erepta Creusa

substitit, erravitne via seu lassa resedit,

incertum; nec post oculis est reddita nostris. 740

And now I was approaching the gates and I thought I had traversed

the whole path, when suddenly, thick upon my ears,

there seemed to be the sound of feet, and my father, looking out

through the shade, shouted: ’Son! Flee, son! They are drawing near.

I see eager shields and gleaming bronze.’

Here, an unfriendly power – I know not what – robbed my perplexed

mind from me as I panicked. For while I was following pathless tracks

with haste and departing from the known direction of the roads –

Alas! – my wife Creusa, snatched away by a wretched destiny,

stood still, or did she wander from the path or sit down tired?

I am not sure; nor later was she restored to our eyes.

ausus quin etiam voces iactare per umbram

implevi clamore vias, maestusque Creusam

nequiquam ingeminans iterumque iterumque vocavi. 770

quaerenti et tectis urbis sine fine ruenti

infelix simulacrum atque ipsius umbra Creusae

visa mihi ante oculos et nota maior imago,

obstipui, steteruntque comae et vox faucibus haesit.

tum sic adfari et curas his demere dictis: 775

‘quid tantum insano iuvat indulgere dolori,

o dulcís coniunx? non haec sine numine divum

eveniunt; nec te hinc comitem asportare Creusam

fas, aut ille sinit superi regnator Olympi.

Why, even daring to cast my cries through the night

I filled the streets with shouting, and gloomily repeating

“Creusa” in vain, I called again and again.

As I searched and as I rushed endlessly among the houses of the city

the sad phantom and ghost of Creusa herself

appeared before my eyes, an even larger likeness than the one I knew,

I was speechless, and my hair stood on end and my voice stuck in my throat.

Then she said this and removed my troubles with these words:

‘Why does it help so much to indulge in frantic grief,

sweet husband? These things are not happening without the will

of the gods; nor is it lawful for you to carry away Creusa from here as a

companion, nor does that ruler of high Olympus allow it.

longa tibi exsilia et vastum maris aequor arandum, 780

et terram Hesperiam venies, ubi Lydius arva

inter opima virum leni fluit agmine Thybris:

illic res laetae regnumque et regia coniunx

parta tibi; lacrimas dilectae pelle Creusae.

non ego Myrmidonum sedes Dolopumve superbas 785

aspiciam aut Grais servitum matribus ibo,

Dardanis et divae Veneris nurus;

sed me magna deum genetrix his detinet oris.

iamque vale et nati serva communis amorem.’

haec ubi dicta dedit, lacrimantem et multa volentem 790

dicere deseruit, tenuesque recessit in auras,

ter conatus ibi collo dare bracchia circum;

ter frustra comprensa manus effugit imago,

par levibus ventis volucrique simillima somno.

Long exile is yours and a vast expanse of sea must you plough,

and you will come to the land of Hesperia, where the Lydian Tiber

flows among the rich fields of men with a gentle course:

there happy times, and a kingdom, and a royal wife

are won for you; banish tears for dear Creusa.

I shall not look upon the proud settlements of the Myrmidons or

the Dolopians, nor shall I go into slavery for Greek mothers,

(I) a Dardanian and the daughter-in-law of the goddess Venus.

But the great mother of the gods keeps me on these shores.

And now farewell, and guard the love for our mutual child.’

When she had granted these words, she left me crying and wanting

to say many things, and withdrew into the faint breezes.

I tried three times on the spot to put my arms around her neck;

three times the phantom escaped my hands, grasping in vain,

like light winds and most similar to winged sleep.