§2.487miscetur, penitusque cavae plangoribus aedes §2.488femineis ululant; ferit aurea sidera clamor.
is thrown into confusion, and deep within, the hollow halls howl with female wailings; the clamor strikes the golden stars.
§2.489Tum pavidae tectis matres ingentibus errant; §2.490amplexaeque tenent postis atque oscula figunt.
Then through the vast palace the trembling mothers wander; they hold the doorposts in their embrace and imprint kisses upon them.
§2.491Instat vi patria Pyrrhus; nec claustra, neque ipsi §2.492custodes sufferre valent; labat ariete crebro §2.493ianua, et emoti procumbunt cardine postes.
Pyrrhus presses on with his father's might; neither barriers nor the guards themselves are able to withstand him; the door totters under the frequent battering-ram, and the doorposts, wrenched from their hinges, fall flat.
§2.494Fit via vi; rumpunt aditus, primosque trucidant §2.495immissi Danai, et late loca milite complent.
A way is made by force; the Greeks, let in, burst the entrance, and slaughter the foremost men, and fill the places far and wide with soldiery.
§2.496Non sic, aggeribus ruptis cum spumeus amnis §2.497exiit, oppositasque evicit gurgite moles, §2.498fertur in arva furens cumulo, camposque per omnis §2.499cum stabulis armenta trahit.
Not so violently, when a foaming river, its barriers burst, has rushed out and overcome the opposing mounds with its swirling torrent, is it borne raging in a heap into the fields, and through all the plains drags herds along with their stables.
Vidi ipse furentem §2.500caede Neoptolemum geminosque in limine Atridas; §2.501vidi Hecubam centumque nurus, Priamumque per aras §2.502sanguine foedantem, quos ipse sacraverat, ignis.
I myself saw Neoptolemus, raging with slaughter, and the twin sons of Atreus on the threshold; I saw Hecuba and her hundred daughters-in-law, and Priam amid the altars defiling with blood the fires which he himself had consecrated.
§2.503Quinquaginta illi thalami, spes tanta nepotum, §2.504barbarico postes auro spoliisque superbi, §2.505procubuere; tenent Danai, qua deficit ignis.
Those fifty bridal chambers, so great a hope of descendants, the doorposts proud with barbaric gold and spoils, fell flat; the Greeks hold whatever the fire spares.
§2.506Forsitan et Priami fuerint quae fata requiras.
Perhaps you may also ask what the fate of Priam was.
§2.507Urbis uti captae casum convolsaque vidit §2.508limina tectorum et medium in penetralibus hostem, §2.509arma diu senior desueta trementibus aevo §2.510circumdat nequiquam umeris, et inutile ferrum §2.511cingitur, ac densos fertur moriturus in hostis.
When he saw the downfall of his captured city and the torn-down entrances of his palace, and the enemy in the midst of his inner chambers, the old man in vain puts his long-disused arms upon his shoulders trembling with age, and girds on his useless sword, and is borne into the thick of the enemy, destined to die.
§2.512Aedibus in mediis nudoque sub aetheris axe §2.513ingens ara fuit iuxtaque veterrima laurus, §2.514incumbens arae atque umbra complexa Penatis.
In the middle of the palace and under the open vault of heaven there was a huge altar, and near it a very ancient laurel tree, leaning over the altar and embracing the Penates with its shade.
§2.515Hic Hecuba et natae nequiquam altaria circum, §2.516praecipites atra ceu tempestate columbae, §2.517condensae et divom amplexae simulacra sedebant.
Here Hecuba and her daughters, in vain around the altars, like doves driven headlong by a black storm, were sitting crowded together and embracing the images of the gods.
§2.518Ipsum autem sumptis Priamum iuvenalibus armis §2.519ut vidit,
Quae mens tam dira, miserrime coniunx, §2.520impulit his cingi telis? Aut quo ruis?
inquit;
But when she saw Priam himself, having taken up the arms of his youth, she said: "What so dreadful thought, most wretched husband, has driven you to gird yourself with these weapons? Or whither do you rush?
§2.521Non tali auxilio nec defensoribus istis §2.522tempus eget, non, si ipse meus nunc adforet Hector.
The time does not need such aid nor such defenders as those, no, not even if my Hector himself were now present.
§2.523Huc tandem concede; haec ara tuebitur omnis, §2.524aut moriere simul. Sic ore effata recepit §2.525ad sese et sacra longaevum in sede locavit.
Come hither at last; this altar will protect us all, or we shall die together." Having thus spoken, she received him to herself and placed the aged man on the sacred seat.
§2.526Ecce autem elapsus Pyrrhi de caede Polites, §2.527unus natorum Priami, per tela, per hostis §2.528porticibus longis fugit, et vacua atria lustrat §2.529saucius: illum ardens infesto volnere Pyrrhus §2.530insequitur, iam iamque manu tenet et premit hasta.
But look, having escaped from the slaughter of Pyrrhus, Polites, one of the sons of Priam, through the weapons, through the enemy, flees along the long porticoes, and traverses the empty halls, wounded: him Pyrrhus, burning, pursues with hostile weapon, and now, even now, holds him in his hand and presses him with his spear.
§2.531Ut tandem ante oculos evasit et ora parentum, §2.532concidit, ac multo vitam cum sanguine fudit.
When at length he escaped before the eyes and faces of his parents, he fell, and poured out his life with much blood.
§2.533Hic Priamus, quamquam in media iam morte tenetur, §2.534non tamen abstinuit, nec voci iraeque pepercit: §2.535At tibi pro scelere
, exclamat,
pro talibus ausis, §2.536di, si qua est caelo pietas, quae talia curet, §2.537persolvant grates dignas et praemia reddant §2.538debita, qui nati coram me cernere letum §2.539fecisti et patrios foedasti funere voltus.
Here Priam, although he is already held in the midst of death, yet did not refrain, nor did he spare his voice and anger: "But to you, for your crime," he exclaims, "for such outrageous deeds, may the gods, if there is any justice in heaven that cares for such things, pay fitting thanks and render the rewards that are due, you who have made me see the death of my son before my face and have defiled a father's countenance with death.
§2.540At non ille, satum quo te mentiris, Achilles §2.541talis in hoste fuit Priamo; sed iura fidemque §2.542supplicis erubuit, corpusque exsangue sepulchro §2.543reddidit Hectoreum, meque in mea regna remisit. §2.544Sic fatus senior, telumque imbelle sine ictu §2.545coniecit, rauco quod protinus aere repulsum §2.546e summo clipei nequiquam umbone pependit.
But that Achilles, from whom you falsely claim you were begotten, was not such toward his enemy Priam; but he respected the rights and honor of a suppliant, and restored the lifeless body of Hector for burial and sent me back into my own kingdom." Thus the old man spoke, and threw his feeble weapon without force, which, immediately repelled by the ringing bronze, hung in vain from the very surface of the shield's boss.
§2.547Cui Pyrrhus:
Referes ergo haec et nuntius ibis §2.548Pelidae genitori; illi mea tristia facta §2.549degeneremque Neoptolemum narrare memento.
To him Pyrrhus replied: "You shall report these things then, and go as a messenger to my father, the son of Peleus; remember to tell him of my grim deeds and of his degenerate Neoptolemus.
§2.550Nunc morere. Hoc dicens altaria ad ipsa trementem §2.551traxit et in multo lapsantem sanguine nati, §2.552implicuitque comam laeva, dextraque coruscum §2.553extulit, ac lateri capulo tenus abdidit ensem.
Now die." Saying this, he dragged him trembling to the very altars, and slipping in the abundant blood of his son, and wound his hair in his left hand, and with his right drew his flashing sword, and buried it in his side up to the hilt.
§2.554Haec finis Priami fatorum; hic exitus illum §2.555sorte tulit, Troiam incensam et prolapsa videntem §2.556Pergama, tot quondam populis terrisque superbum §2.557regnatorem Asiae.
This was the end of Priam's fates; this exit carried him off by destiny, as he beheld Troy ablaze and Pergama ruined, once the proud ruler of Asia over so many peoples and lands.
Iacet ingens litore truncus, §2.558avolsumque umeris caput, et sine nomine corpus.
He lies, a huge trunk upon the shore, the head torn from the shoulders, and a body without a name.
But then for the first time a grim horror encompassed me.
subiit cari genitoris imago, §2.561ut regem aequaevum crudeli volnere vidi §2.562vitam exhalantem; subiit deserta Creüsa, §2.563et direpta domus, et parvi casus Iuli.
I stood aghast; the image of my dear father came to mind, as I saw the king of equal age breathing out his life from his cruel wound; there came to mind the abandoned Creusa, and my plundered house, and the fate of little Iulus.
§2.564Respicio, et quae sit me circum copia lustro.
I look back, and survey what forces are around me.