Aeneid 2.526–558

Aen. 2.526Ecce autem ēlāpsus Pyrrhī dē caede Polītēs,
ūnus nātōrum Priamī, per tēla, per hostīs
porticibus longīs fugit, et vacua ātria lūstrat
saucius: illum ārdēns īnfestō volnere Pyrrhus
530īnsequitur, iam iamque manū tenet et premit hastā.

But look, Polites, one of Priam's sons, escaped from slaughter at Pyrrhus' hands, flees through weapons, through enemies, down the long colonnades, and runs across the empty halls, wounded: Pyrrhus, burning, pursues him with a deadly blow, now, even now, has him in his grasp and presses on him with the spear.

Note. ēlāpsus … dē caede: 'escaped from slaughter'. Pyrrhī: genitive, by Pyrrhus. infēstō volnere: 'with a deadly wound', i.e. ready to strike. iam iamque: 'now, even now', the moment of grasping. Background: Polites, a son of Priam, appears in the Iliad as a scout; in Book 5 his son, named Priam after his grandfather, leads a troop in the boys' parade at Anchises' funeral games.

Aen. 2.531Ut tandem ante oculōs ēvāsit et ōra parentum,
concidit, ac multō vītam cum sanguine fūdit.

When at last he came out before the eyes and faces of his parents, he fell, and poured out his life with much blood.

Note. ut: 'when'. concidit: from concidō, 'fall' (short i), not concīdō, 'cut down'.

Aen. 2.533Hīc Priamus, quamquam in mediā iam morte tenētur,
nōn tamen abstinuit, nec vōcī īraeque pepercit:
535At tibi prō scelere, exclāmat, prō tālibus ausīs,
dī, sī qua est caelō pietās, quae tālia cūret,
persolvant grātēs dignās et praemia reddant
dēbita, quī nātī cōram mē cernere lētum
fēcistī et patriōs foedāstī fūnere voltūs.

At this Priam, although he is already held in the grip of death, did not hold back, nor spare his voice and anger: 'For your crime,' he cries, 'for such outrages, may the gods, if there is any righteousness in heaven to care about such things, pay you the thanks you deserve and render the rewards you are due, you who have made me look upon the death of my son before my face, and have defiled a father's eyes with murder.

Note. quamquam … tenētur: concessive with indicative. vōcī īraeque pepercit: parcō takes the dative. At tibi …: the curse begins with at, a common way to open an imprecation. persolvant, reddant: optative subjunctives, 'may they pay'. sī qua (= aliqua) est caelō pietās: 'if there is any righteousness in heaven'. quae … cūret: relative clause of characteristic. cernere: infinitive after fēcistī, 'made me see'. patriōs vultūs: 'a father's face'.

Aen. 2.540At nōn ille, satum quō tē mentīris, Achillēs
tālis in hoste fuit Priamō;

But not so did that Achilles, whose son you falsely claim to be, deal with Priam his enemy;

Note. satum quō tē mentīris: 'from whom you falsely claim to be born'; satum is the perfect participle of serō, 'sow, beget'. Achillēs tālis in hoste … Priamō: 'that Achilles was not such towards his enemy Priam'.

Aen. 2.541sed iūra fidemque
supplicis ērubuit, corpusque exsangue sepulchrō
reddidit Hectoreum, mēque in mea regna remīsit.

he respected the rights and the trust of a suppliant, gave back Hector's bloodless body for burial, and sent me back to my kingdom.'

Note. iūra fidemque supplicis ērubuit: 'he blushed before (respected) the rights and trust of a suppliant'; ērubēscō with accusative. Background: in Iliad 24 Priam went by night to Achilles' tent, kissed the hands that had killed his son, and Achilles, moved, gave back Hector's body. Priam contrasts that Achilles with his brutal son.

Aen. 2.544Sīc fātus senior, tēlumque imbelle sine ictū
545coniēcit, raucō quod prōtinus aere repulsum
ē summō clipeī nēquīquam umbōne pependit.

So the old man spoke, and hurled his feeble spear without force; it was stopped at once by the clanging bronze and hung uselessly from the top of the shield's boss.

Note. sine ictū: 'without a blow', without force. raucō … aere: the clanging bronze of the shield. repulsum: agrees with quod (telum). The spear just hangs from the boss: an image of how little strength the old king has left.

Aen. 2.547Cui Pyrrhus: Referēs ergō haec et nūntius ībis
Pēlīdae genitōrī;

To him Pyrrhus: 'You will report this, then, and go as a messenger to my father, the son of Peleus;

Note. Cui Pyrrhus (inquit): verb left out. Referēs, ībis: futures used as commands, with savage irony: Priam is about to go, as a dead man, to Achilles in the underworld. Pēlīdae genitōrī: dative, 'to my father, the son of Peleus'.

Aen. 2.548illī mea trīstia facta
dēgeneremque Neoptolemum narrāre mementō.

remember to tell him about my sorry deeds, and that Neoptolemus is a disgrace to his father.

Note. mementō: future imperative of meminī, 'remember to'. dēgenerem: 'unworthy of his father', Pyrrhus mocking Priam's charge.

Aen. 2.550Nunc morere.

Now die.'

Note. Nunc morere: the brief imperative of the deponent morior, 'die'.

Aen. 2.550Hoc dīcēns altāria ad ipsa trementem
trāxit et in multō lāpsantem sanguine nātī,
implicuitque comam laevā, dextrāque coruscum
extulit, ac laterī capulō tenus abdidit ēnsem.

Saying this he dragged him, trembling and slipping in the pool of his son's blood, right up to the altar, twisted his hair in his left hand, with his right raised his flashing sword and buried it in his side up to the hilt.

Note. trementem … lāpsantem: participles describing Priam. lāpsantem: frequentative of lābor, 'slipping again and again'. nātī: genitive, the blood of his son. implicuit … laevā: 'he twisted (his hand in) his hair with the left'. capulō tenus: tenus follows its ablative, 'up to the hilt'. laterī: dative of direction with abdidit.

Aen. 2.554Haec fīnis Priamī fātōrum;

This was the end of Priam's fortunes;

Note. Haec fīnis: fīnis is sometimes feminine in verse. fātōrum: 'of his fortunes'.

Aen. 2.554hic exitus illum
555sorte tulit, Troiam incēnsam et prōlāpsa videntem
Pergama, tot quondam populīs terrīsque superbum
regnātōrem Asiae.

this was the death that fell to him by lot, seeing Troy burned and Pergamum fallen, once the proud ruler of Asia over so many peoples and lands.

Note. illum … videntem: Priam, as he watched. prōlāpsa Pergama: 'Pergamum fallen'. superbum regnātōrem: in apposition to illum. tot … populīs terrīsque: ablatives of cause with superbum, 'proud of so many peoples and lands'.

Aen. 2.557Iacet ingēns lītore truncus,
āvolsumque umerīs caput, et sine nōmine corpus.

He lies, a huge trunk on the shore, the head torn from the shoulders, and a body without a name.

Note. Iacet: subject truncus, caput and corpus. sine nōmine corpus: 'a body without a name', unrecognisable. Background: the headless trunk on the shore matches no account of Priam's death in the palace; it recalls the fate of Pompey the Great, beheaded on the shore of Egypt in 48 BC, a comparison Roman readers would not have missed.