Metamorphoses XIII.280-421
Ulysses continues his tirade against Ajax, but Ajax gets the last word; Troy is sacked.
‘Me miserum, quanto cogor meminisse dolore 280
temporis illius, quo, Graium murus, Achilles
procubuit! nec me lacrimae luctusque timorque
tardarunt, quin corpus humo sublime referrem:
his umeris, his inquam, umeris ego corpus Achillis
et simul arma tuli, quae nunc quoque ferre laboro. 285
sunt mihi, quae valeant in talia pondera, vires,
est animus certe vestros sensurus honores:
scilicet idcirco pro nato caerula mater
ambitiosa suo fuit, ut caelestia dona,
artis opus tantae, rudis et sine pectore miles 290
indueret? neque enim clipei caelamina novit,
Oceanum et terras cumque alto sidera caelo
Pleiadasque Hyadasque inmunemque aequoris Arcton
diversosque orbes nitidumque Orionis ensem.
[postulat, ut capiat, quae non intellegit, arma!] 295
‘Quid, quod me duri fugientem munera belli
arguit incepto serum accessisse labori
nec se magnanimo maledicere sentit Achilli?
si simulasse vocas crimen, simulavimus ambo;
si mora pro culpa est, ego sum maturior illo. 300
me pia detinuit coniunx, pia mater Achillem,
primaque sunt illis data tempora, cetera vobis:
haut timeo, si iam nequeam defendere, crimen
cum tanto commune viro: deprensus Ulixis
ingenio tamen ille, at non Aiacis Ulixes. 305
‘Neve in me stolidae convicia fundere linguae
admiremur eum, vobis quoque digna pudore
obicit. an falso Palameden crimine turpe
accusasse mihi, vobis damnasse decorum est?
sed neque Naupliades facinus defendere tantum 310
tamque patens valuit, nec vos audistis in illo
crimina: vidistis, pretioque obiecta patebant.
‘Nec, Poeantiaden quod habet Vulcania Lemnos,
esse reus merui (factum defendite vestrum!
consensistis enim), nec me suasisse negabo, 315
ut se subtraheret bellique viaeque labori
temptaretque feros requie lenire dolores.
paruit—et vivit! non haec sententia tantum
fida, sed et felix, cum sit satis esse fidelem.
quem quoniam vates delenda ad Pergama poscunt, 320
ne mandate mihi! melius Telamonius ibit
eloquioque virum morbis iraque furentem
molliet aut aliqua producet callidus arte!
ante retro Simois fluet et sine frondibus Ide
stabit, et auxilium promittet Achaia Troiae, 325
quam, cessante meo pro vestris pectore rebus,
Aiacis stolidi Danais sollertia prosit.
sis licet infestus sociis regique mihique
dure Philoctete, licet exsecrere meumque
devoveas sine fine caput cupiasque dolenti 330
me tibi forte dari nostrumque haurire cruorem,
utque tui mihi sit, fiat tibi copia nostri:
te tamen adgrediar mecumque reducere nitar
tamque tuis potiar (faveat Fortuna) sagittis,
quam sum Dardanio, quem cepi, vate potitus, 335
quam responsa deum Troianaque fata retexi,
quam rapui Phrygiae signum penetrale Minervae
hostibus e mediis. et se mihi conferat Aiax?
nempe capi Troiam prohibebant fata sine illo:
fortis ubi est Aiax? ubi sunt ingentia magni 340
verba viri? cur hic metuis? cur audet Ulixes
ire per excubias et se committere nocti
perque feros enses non tantum moenia Troum,
verum etiam summas arces intrare suaque
eripere aede deam raptamque adferre per hostes? 345
quae nisi fecissem, frustra Telamone creatus
gestasset laeva taurorum tergora septem.
illa nocte mihi Troiae victoria parta est:
Pergama tunc vici, cum vinci posse coegi.
‘Desine Tydiden vultuque et murmure nobis 350
ostentare meum: pars est sua laudis in illo!
nec tu, cum socia clipeum pro classe tenebas,
solus eras: tibi turba comes, mihi contigit unus.
qui nisi pugnacem sciret sapiente minorem
esse nec indomitae deberi praemia dextrae, 355
ipse quoque haec peteret; peteret moderatior Aiax
Eurypylusque ferox claroque Andraemone natus
nec minus Idomeneus patriaque creatus eadem
Meriones, peteret maioris frater Atridae:
quippe manu fortes nec sunt mihi Marte secundi, 360
consiliis cessere meis. tibi dextera bello
utilis, ingenium est, quod eget moderamine nostro;
tu vires sine mente geris, mihi cura futuri;
tu pugnare potes, pugnandi tempora mecum
eligit Atrides; tu tantum corpore prodes, 365
nos animo; quantoque ratem qui temperat, anteit
remigis officium, quanto dux milite maior,
tantum ego te supero. nec non in corpore nostro
pectora sunt potiora manu: vigor omnis in illis.
‘At vos, o proceres, vigili date praemia vestro, 370
proque tot annorum cura, quibus anxius egi,
hunc titulum meritis pensandum reddite nostris:
iam labor in fine est; obstantia fata removi
altaque posse capi faciendo Pergama, cepi.
per spes nunc socias casuraque moenia Troum 375
perque deos oro, quos hosti nuper ademi,
per siquid superest, quod sit sapienter agendum,
siquid adhuc audax ex praecipitique petendum est,
[si Troiae fatis aliquid restare putatis,]
este mei memores! aut si mihi non datis arma, 380
huic date!’ et ostendit signum fatale Minervae.
Mota manus procerum est, et quid facundia posset,
re patuit, fortisque viri tulit arma disertus.
Hectora qui solus, qui ferrum ignesque Iovemque
sustinuit totiens, unam non sustinet iram, 385
invictumque virum vicit dolor: arripit ensem
et ‘meus hic certe est! an et hunc sibi poscit Ulixes?
hoc’ ait ‘utendum est in me mihi, quique cruore
saepe Phrygum maduit, domini nunc caede madebit,
ne quisquam Aiacem possit superare nisi Aiax.’ 390
dixit et in pectus tum demum vulnera passum,
qua patuit ferrum, letalem condidit ensem.
nec valuere manus infixum educere telum:
expulit ipse cruor, rubefactaque sanguine tellus
purpureum viridi genuit de caespite florem, 395
qui prius Oebalio fuerat de vulnere natus;
littera communis mediis pueroque viroque
inscripta est foliis, haec nominis, illa querellae.
Victor ad Hypsipyles patriam clarique Thoantis
et veterum terras infames caede virorum 400
vela dat, ut referat Tirynthia tela, sagittas;
quae postquam ad Graios domino comitante revexit,
inposita est sero tandem manus ultima bello.
[Troia simul Priamusque cadunt. Priameia coniunx
perdidit infelix hominis post omnia formam 405
externasque novo latratu terruit auras,
longus in angustum qua clauditur Hellespontus.]
Ilion ardebat, neque adhuc consederat ignis,
exiguumque senis Priami Iovis ara cruorem
conbiberat, tractata comis antistita Phoebi 410
non profecturas tendebat ad aethera palmas;
Dardanidas matres patriorum signa deorum,
dum licet, amplexas succensaque templa tenentes
invidiosa trahunt victores praemia Grai;
mittitur Astyanax illis de turribus, unde 415
pugnantem pro se proavitaque regna tuentem
saepe videre patrem monstratum a matre solebat.
iamque viam suadet Boreas, flatuque secundo
carbasa mota sonant: iubet uti navita ventis;
‘Troia, vale! rapimur’ clamant, dant oscula terrae 420
Troades et patriae fumantia tecta relinquunt.
“Ah me, how grievous is the memory of that time when Achilles fell, the bulwark of the Greeks! And yet neither tears nor grief nor fear kept me from lifting up his body from the ground. On these shoulders, yes, on these very shoulders, I bore Achilles’ body, armour and all, arms which now also I seek to bear. I have strength enough to bear their ponderous weight and I have a mind that can appreciate the honour you would do me. Was it for this, forsooth, that the hero’s mother, goddess of the sea, was ambitious for her son, that those heavenly gifts, the work of heavenly art, should clothe a rough and stupid soldier? For he knows nothing of the relief-work of the shield: the sea, the lands, the deep starry heavens, the Pleiades, the Hyades, the Bear that never bathes in Ocean, and Orion with his glittering sword rotating opposite her. [He asks for armour which he cannot appreciate.]
“What of his chiding me with trying to shun the hardships of the war and of coming late when the struggle had begun? Does he not know that he is reviling the great Achilles also? If it is a crime to have pretended, we both pretended. If delay is culpable, I was the earlier of the two. A loving wife detained me; a loving mother detained Achilles. Our first time was given to them, the rest to you. I do not fear a charge, even if I cannot answer it, which I share with so great a hero. Yet he was discovered by Ulysses’ wit; but not by Ajax’ wit, Ulysses.
“And let us not wonder that he pours out against me the insults of his stupid tongue; for he vents on you also shameful words. Was it base for me to have accused Palamedes on a false charge, and honourable for you to have condemned him? But neither was the son of Nauplius1 able to defend a crime so great, so clearly proved, nor did you merely hear the charge against him: you saw the proof, as it lay clearly revealed by the golden bribe.
“Nor should I be blamed because Vulcanian Lemnos holds the son of Poeas.2 Defend your own deed, for you consented to it. But I will not deny that I advised that he withdraw from the hardships of the war and the journey thither, and seek to soothe his terrible anguish by a time of rest. He took the advice—and lives! And not alone was this advice given in good faith, but it was fortunate as well; though it is enough that it was given in good faith. Now, since our seers say that he is necessary for the fall of Pergama, do not entrust the task to me! Telamon’s son will better go, and by his eloquence he will calm the hero, mad with pain and rage, or else by some shrewd trick will bring him to us. Nay, Simoïs will flow backward, Ida stand without foliage, and Greece send aid to Troy before the craft of stupid Ajax would avail the Greeks in case I should cease to work for your advantage. Though you have a deadly hatred, O harsh Philoctetes, for the allied Greeks and the king and me myself; though you heap endless curses on my head and long in your misery to have me in your power, to drink my blood, and pray that, as I was given a chance at you, so you may have a chance at me; still would I go to you and strive to bring you back with me. And I should get possession of your arrows (should Fortune favour me), just as I got possession of the Dardanian seer, whom I made captive; just as I discovered the oracles of the gods and the fates of Troy; just as I stole away from the midst of the enemy the enshrined image of Phrygian Minerva. And is Ajax to compare himself to me? The fact is, the fates declared that we could not capture Troy without this sacred statue. Where now is the brave Ajax? Where are those big words of the mighty hero? Why do you fear in such a crisis? Why does Ulysses dare to go out beyond the sentinels, commit himself to the darkness and, through the midst of cruel swords, enter not alone the walls of Troy but even the citadel’s top, steal the goddess from her shrine and bear her captured image through the enemy? Had I not done this, in vain would the son of Telamon have worn on his left arm the sevenfold bulls’-hide shield. On that night I gained the victory over Troy; at that moment did I conquer Pergama when I made it possible to conquer her.
“Cease by your looks and mutterings to remind us that Tydides was my partner. He has his share of praise. You, too, when you held your shield in defence of the allied fleet, were not alone. You had a throng of partners; I, but one. And if Diomede did not know that a fighter is of less value than a thinker, and that the prize was not due merely to a right hand, however dauntless, he himself also would be seeking it; so would the lesser Ajax, warlike Eurypylus and the son of illustrious Andraemon, and no less so Idomeneus and his fellow-countryman, Meriones; yes, Menelaiis, too, would seek the prize. But all these men, though stout of hand, fully my equals on the battlefield, have yielded to my superior intelligence. Your good right arm is useful in the battle; but when it comes to thinking you need my guidance. You have force without intelligence; while mine is the care for to-morrow. You are a good fighter; but it is I who help Atrides select the time of fighting. Your value is in your body only; mine, in mind. And, as much as he who directs the ship surpasses him who only rows it, as much as the general excels the common soldier, so much greater am I than you. For in these bodies of ours the heart3 is of more value than the hand; all our real living is in that.
“But do you, O princes, award the prize to your faithful guardian. In return for the many years which I have spent in anxious care, grant me this honour as the reward of all my services. And now my task is at an end; I have removed the obstructing fates and, by making it possible to take tall Pergama, I have taken her. Now, by our united hopes, by the Trojan walls doomed soon to fall, by the gods of which but lately I deprived the foe, by whatever else remains still to be done with wisdom, if still some bold and hazardous deed must be attempted, [if you think aught still is lacking to the fate of Troy,] I beg you remember me! Or if you do not give the arms to me, give them to her!” and he pointed to the fateful statue of Minerva.
The company of chiefs was moved, and their decision proved the power of eloquence: to the eloquent man were given the brave man’s arms. Then he who had so often all alone withstood great Hector, so often sword and fire and Jove, could not withstand one passion; and resentment conquered the unconquered hero. Then, snatching out his sword, he cried: “But this at least is mine; or does Ulysses claim this also for himself? This I must employ against myself; and the sword which has often reeked with Phrygian blood will now reek with its master’s, lest any man save Ajax ever conquer Ajax.” He spoke and deep in his breast, which had not until then suffered any wound, up to the full extent of the blade, he plunged his fatal sword. No hand was strong enough to draw away the deep-driven steel; the blood itself drove it out. The ensanguined ground produced from the green sod a purple flower, which in old time had sprung from Hyacinthus’ blood. The petals are inscribed with letters, serving alike for hero and for boy: this one a name,4 and that, a cry of woe.5
To the land6 of Queen Hypsipyle and the illustrious Thoas, once infamous for its murdered men of olden time, victorious Ulysses now set sail to bring thence the Tirynthian7 arrows. After he had brought these to the Greeks, and their master8 with them, the final blow was at last given to the long-drawn war. [Troy fell and Priam with it. The poor wife of Priam after all else lost her human form and with strange barking affrighted the alien air where the long Hellespont narrows to a strait.] Ilium was in flames, nor had its fires yet died down, and Jove’s altar had drunk up the scanty blood of aged Priam. The priestess9 of Apollo, dragged by the hair, was stretching to the heavens her unavailing hands. The Trojan women, embracing the images of their country’s gods while still they might and crowding their burning temples, the victorious Greeks dragged off, an enviable booty. And Astyanax was hurled down from that tower where he was wont often to sit and watch his father whom his mother pointed out fighting for honour and safeguarding his ancestral realm. And now the North-wind called them on their way and the sails flapped loud, swelled by the favouring breeze. The mariner gives command to sail. “O Troy, farewell! we are forced away,” the Trojan women cry; they kiss their land, and turn their backs upon their smoking homes.
Palamedes.
Philoctetes.
i.e. the mind or understanding. We should make the contrast between head and hand.
AIA∑.
AIAI.
Lemnos.
i.e. of Hercules.
Philoctetes.
Cassandra.