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Tiresias: The Ancient Mediterranean Religions Source Database



11092
Vergil, Aeneis, 2.57-2.198


Nec requievit enim, donec, Calchante ministro—uch hope of mercy for a foe in chains.
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Quidve moror, si omnis uno ordine habetis Achivos“O King! I will confess, whate'er befall


idque audire sat est? Iamdudum sumite poenasthe whole unvarnished truth. I will not hide


hoc Ithacus velit, et magno mercentur Atridae.my Grecian birth. Yea, thus will I begin.


Tum vero ardemus scitari et quaerere causasFor Fortune has brought wretched Sinon low;


ignari scelerum tantorum artisque Pelasgae.but never shall her cruelty impair


Prosequitur pavitans, et ficto pectore fatur:his honor and his truth. Perchance the name


Saepe fugam Danai Troia cupiere relictaof Palamedes, Belus' glorious son


moliri, et longo fessi discedere bello;has come by rumor to your listening ears;


fecissentque utinam! Saepe illos aspera pontiwhom by false witness and conspiracy


interclusit hiemps, et terruit Auster euntis.because his counsel was not for this war


Praecipue, cum iam hic trabibus contextus acernisthe Greeks condemned, though guiltless, to his death


staret equus, toto sonuerunt aethere nimbi.and now make much lament for him they slew.


Suspensi Eurypylum scitantem oracula PhoebiI, his companion, of his kith and kin


mittimus, isque adytis haec tristia dicta reportat:ent hither by my humble sire's command


Sanguine placastis ventos et virgine caesafollowed his arms and fortunes from my youth.


cum primum Iliacas, Danai, venistis ad oras;Long as his throne endured, and while he throve


sanguine quaerendi reditus, animaque litandumin conclave with his kingly peers, we twain


Argolica.ome name and lustre bore; but afterward


obstipuere animi, gelidusque per ima cucurritbecause that cheat Ulysses envied him


ossa tremor, cui fata parent, quem poscat Apollo.(Ye know the deed), he from this world withdrew


Hic Ithacus vatem magno Calchanta tumultuand I in gloom and tribulation sore


protrahit in medios; quae sint ea numina divomlived miserably on, lamenting loud


flagitat; et mihi iam multi crudele canebantmy lost friend's blameless fall. A fool was I


artificis scelus, et taciti ventura videbant.that kept not these lips closed; but I had vowed


Bis quinos silet ille dies, tectusque recusatthat if a conqueror home to Greece I came


prodere voce sua quemquam aut opponere morti.I would avenge. Such words moved wrath, and were


Vix tandem, magnis Ithaci clamoribus actusthe first shock of my ruin; from that hour


composito rumpit vocem, et me destinat arae.Ulysses whispered slander and alarm;


Adsensere omnes, et, quae sibi quisque timebatbreathed doubt and malice into all men's ears


unius in miseri exitium conversa tulere.and darkly plotted how to strike his blow.


Iamque dies infanda aderat; mihi sacra parariNor rest had he, till Calchas, as his tool,-


et salsae fruges, et circum tempora vittae:but why unfold this useless, cruel story?


eripui, fateor, leto me, et vincula rupiWhy make delay? Ye count all sons of Greece


limosoque lacu per noctem obscurus in ulvaarrayed as one; and to have heard thus far


delitui, dum vela darent, si forte dedissent.uffices you. Take now your ripe revenge!


Nec mihi iam patriam antiquam spes ulla videndiUlysses smiles and Atreus' royal sons
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quos illi fors et poenas ob nostra reposcentWe ply him then with passionate appeal


effugia, et culpam hanc miserorum morte piabunt.and question all his cause: of guilt so dire


Quod te per superos et conscia numina verior such Greek guile we harbored not the thought.


per si qua est quae restet adhuc mortalibus usquamSo on he prates, with well-feigned grief and fear


intemerata fides, oro, miserere laborumand from his Iying heart thus told his tale:


tantorum, miserere animi non digna ferentis.“Full oft the Greeks had fain achieved their flight


His lacrimis vitam damus, et miserescimus ultro.and raised the Trojan siege, and sailed away


Ipse viro primus manicas atque arta levariwar-wearied quite. O, would it had been so!


vincla iubet Priamus, dictisque ita fatur amicis:Full oft the wintry tumult of the seas


Quisquis es, amissos hinc iam obliviscere Graios;did wall them round, and many a swollen storm


noster eris, mihique haec edissere vera roganti:their embarcation stayed. But chiefly when


Quo molem hanc immanis equi statuere? Quis auctor?all fitly built of beams of maple fair


Quidve petunt? Quae religio, aut quae machina belli?this horse stood forth,— what thunders filled the skies!


Dixerat. Ille, dolis instructus et arte PelasgaWith anxious fears we sent Eurypylus


sustulit exutas vinclis ad sidera palmas:to ask Apollo's word; and from the shrine


Vos, aeterni ignes, et non violabile vestrumhe brings the sorrowful commandment home:


testor numen ait vos arae ensesque nefandi‘By flowing blood and by a virgin slain


quos fugi, vittaeque deum, quas hostia gessi:the wild winds were appeased, when first ye came


fas mihi Graiorum sacrata resolvere iuraye sons of Greece, to Ilium 's distant shore.


fas odisse viros, atque omnia ferre sub aurasThrough blood ye must return. Let some Greek life


si qua tegunt; teneor patriae nec legibus ullis.your expiation be.’ The popular ear


Tu modo promissis maneas, servataque servesthe saying caught, all spirits were dimmed o'er;


Troia fidem, si vera feram, si magna rependam.cold doubt and horror through each bosom ran


Omnis spes Danaum et coepti fiducia belliasking what fate would do, and on what wretch


Palladis auxiliis semper stetit. Impius ex quoApollo's choice would fall. Ulysses, then


Tydides sed enim scelerumque inventor Ulixesamid the people's tumult and acclaim


fatale adgressi sacrato avellere templothrust Calchas forth, some prophecy to tell


Palladium, caesis summae custodibus arcisto all the throng: he asked him o'er and o'er


corripuere sacram effigiem, manibusque cruentiswhat Heaven desired. Already not a few


virgineas ausi divae contingere vittas;foretold the murderous plot, and silently


ex illo fluere ac retro sublapsa referriwatched the dark doom upon my life impend.


spes Danaum, fractae vires, aversa deae mens.Twice five long days the seer his lips did seal


Nec dubiis ea signa dedit Tritonia monstris.and hid himself, refusing to bring forth


Vix positum castris simulacrum, arsere coruscaeHis word of guile, and name what wretch should die.


luminibus flammae arrectis, salsusque per artusAt last, reluctant, and all loudly urged


sudor iit, terque ipsa solo—mirabile dictu—By false Ulysses, he fulfils their plot


emicuit, parmamque ferens hastamque trementem.and, lifting up his voice oracular


Extemplo temptanda fuga canit aequora Calchaspoints out myself the victim to be slain.


nec posse Argolicis exscindi Pergama telisNor did one voice oppose. The mortal stroke


omina ni repetant Argis, numenque reducanthorribly hanging o'er each coward head


quod pelago et curvis secum avexere carinis.was changed to one man's ruin, and their hearts


Et nunc, quod patrias vento petiere Mycenasendured it well. Soon rose th' accursed morn;


arma deosque parant comites, pelagoque remensothe bloody ritual was ready; salt


improvisi aderunt: ita digerit omina Calchas.was sprinkled on the sacred loaf; my brows


Hanc pro Palladio moniti, pro numine laesowere bound with fillets for the offering.


effigiem statuere, nefas quae triste piaret.But I escaped that death—yes! I deny not!


Hanc tamen immensam Calchas attollere molemI cast my fetters off, and darkling lay


roboribus textis caeloque educere iussitconcealed all night in lake-side sedge and mire


ne recipi portis, aut duci in moenia possitawaiting their departure, if perchance


neu populum antiqua sub religione tueri.they should in truth set sail. But nevermore


Nam si vestra manus violasset dona Minervaehall my dear, native country greet these eyes.


tum magnum exitium (quod di prius omen in ipsumNo more my father or my tender babes


convertant!) Priami imperio Phrygibusque futurum;hall I behold. Nay, haply their own lives


sin manibus vestris vestram ascendisset in urbemare forfeit, when my foemen take revenge


ultro Asiam magno Pelopea ad moenia bellofor my escape, and slay those helpless ones


venturam, et nostros ea fata manere nepotes.in expiation of my guilty deed.


Talibus insidiis periurique arte SinonisO, by yon powers in heaven which witness truth


credita res, captique dolis lacrimisque coactisby aught in this dark world remaining now


quos neque Tydides, nec Larisaeus Achillesof spotless human faith and innocence


non anni domuere decem, non mille carinae.I do implore thee look with pitying eye


Ecce, manus iuvenem interea post terga revinctumthus hailed the people: “O unhappy men!


pastores magno ad regem clamore trahebantWhat madness this? Who deems our foemen fled?


Dardanidae, qui se ignotum venientibus ultroThink ye the gifts of Greece can lack for guile?


hoc ipsum ut strueret Troiamque aperiret AchivisHave ye not known Ulysses? The Achaean


obtulerat, fidens animi atque in utrumque paratushides, caged in yonder beams; or this is reared


seu versare dolos, seu certae occumbere morti.for engin'ry on our proud battlements


Undique visendi studio Troiana iuventusto spy upon our roof-tops, or descend


circumfusa ruit, certantque inludere capto.in ruin on the city. 'T is a snare.


Accipe nunc Danaum insidias, et crimine ab unoTrust not this horse, O Troy, whate'er it bode!


disce omnes.I fear the Greeks, though gift on gift they bear.”


Namque ut conspectu in medio turbatus, inermisSo saying, he whirled with ponderous javelin


constitit atque oculis Phrygia agmina circumspexit:a sturdy stroke straight at the rounded side


Heu, quae nunc tellus inquit quae me aequora possuntof the great, jointed beast. A tremor struck


accipere? Aut quid iam misero mihi denique restatits towering form, and through the cavernous womb


cui neque apud Danaos usquam locus, et super ipsirolled loud, reverberate rumbling, deep and long.


Dardanidae infensi poenas cum sanguine poscunt?If heaven's decree, if our own wills, that hour


Quo gemitu conversi animi, compressus et omnishad not been fixed on woe, his spear had brought


impetus. Hortamur fari; quo sanguine cretusa bloody slaughter on our ambushed foe


quidve ferat, memoret, quae sit fiducia capto.and Troy were standing on the earth this day!
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Cuncta equidem tibi, Rex, fuerit quodcumque, fateborBut, lo! with hands fast bound behind, a youth


vera, inquit; neque me Argolica de gente negabo:by clamorous Dardan shepherds haled along


hoc primum; nec, si miserum Fortuna Sinonemwas brought before our king,—to this sole end


finxit, vanum etiam mendacemque improba finget.a self-surrendered captive, that he might


Fando aliquod si forte tuas pervenit ad aurisalthough a nameless stranger, cunningly


Belidae nomen Palamedis et incluta famadeliver to the Greek the gates of Troy .


gloria, quem falsa sub proditione PelasgiHis firm-set mind flinched not from either goal,—


insontem infando indicio, quia bella vetabatuccess in crime, or on swift death to fall.


demisere neci, nunc cassum lumine lugent.The thronging Trojan youth made haste his way


Illi me comitem et consanguinitate propinquumfrom every side, all eager to see close


pauper in arma pater primis huc misit ab annistheir captive's face, and clout with emulous scorn.


dum stabat regno incolumis regumque vigebatHear now what Greek deception is, and learn


consiliis, et nos aliquod nomenque decusquefrom one dark wickedness the whole. For he


gessimus. Invidia postquam pellacis Ulixi—a mark for every eye, defenceless, dazed


haud ignota loquor—superis concessit ab oristood staring at our Phrygian hosts, and cried:


adflictus vitam in tenebris luctuque trahebam“Woe worth the day! What ocean or what shore


et casum insontis mecum indignabar amici.will have me now? What desperate path remains


Nec tacui demens, et me, fors si qua tulissetfor miserable me? Now have I lost


si patrios umquam remeassem victor ad Argosall foothold with the Greeks, and o'er my head


promisi ultorem, et verbis odia aspera movi.Troy 's furious sons call bloody vengeance down.”


Hinc mihi prima mali labes, hinc semper UlixesSuch groans and anguish turned all rage away


criminibus terrere novis, hinc spargere vocesand stayed our lifted hands. We bade him tell


in volgum ambiguas, et quaerere conscius arma.his birth, his errand, and from whence might be


Intertexts (texts cited often on the same page as the searched text):

13 results
1. Homer, Iliad, 6.153 (8th cent. BCE - 7th cent. BCE)

6.153. /Howbeit, if thou wilt, hear this also, that thou mayest know well my lineage; and many there be that know it. There is a city Ephyre in the heart of Argos, pasture-land of horses, and there dwelt Sisyphus that was craftiest of men, Sisyphus, son of Aeolus; and he begat a son Glaucus;
2. Homer, Odyssey, 11.593-11.600 (8th cent. BCE - 7th cent. BCE)

3. Aeschylus, Persians, 249-512, 248 (6th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)

4. Theognis, Elegies, 704, 703 (6th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)

5. Euripides, Hippolytus, 1215-1218, 1214 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)

6. Herodotus, Histories, 6.21.2, 8.75 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)

6.21.2. The Athenians acted very differently. The Athenians made clear their deep grief for the taking of Miletus in many ways, but especially in this: when Phrynichus wrote a play entitled “The Fall of Miletus” and produced it, the whole theater fell to weeping; they fined Phrynichus a thousand drachmas for bringing to mind a calamity that affected them so personally, and forbade the performance of that play forever. 8.75. When the Peloponnesians were outvoting him, Themistocles secretly left the assembly, and sent a man by boat to the Median fleet after ordering him what to say. His name was Sicinnus, and he was Themistocles' servant and his sons' attendant. Later Themistocles enrolled him as a Thespian, when the Thespians were adopting citizens, and made him wealthy with money. ,He now came by boat and said to the generals of the barbarians, “The Athenian general has sent me without the knowledge of the other Hellenes. He is on the king's side and prefers that your affairs prevail, not the Hellenes'. I am to tell you that the Hellenes are terrified and plan flight, and you can now perform the finest deed of all if you do not allow them to escape. ,They do not all have the same intent, and they will no longer oppose you. Instead you will see them fighting against themselves, those who are on your side against those who are not.” After indicating this to them he departed.
7. Sophocles, Philoctetes, 417, 1311 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)

8. Livy, History, 1.39.1-1.39.3 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)

9. Vergil, Aeneis, 2.1-2.13, 2.15, 2.19, 2.21-2.30, 2.34-2.99, 2.101-2.249, 2.258-2.265, 2.268-2.297, 2.307-2.308, 2.314-2.318, 2.320-2.321, 2.324-2.325, 2.337, 2.343, 2.351-2.358, 2.361-2.363, 2.368-2.434, 2.438-2.558, 2.615-2.616, 2.693-2.700, 2.762, 3.629 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)

2.1. A general silence fell; and all gave ear 2.2. while, from his lofty station at the feast 2.3. Father Aeneas with these words began :— 2.4. A grief unspeakable thy gracious word 2.5. o sovereign lady, bids my heart live o'er: 2.6. how Asia 's glory and afflicted throne 2.7. the Greek flung down; which woeful scene I saw 2.8. and bore great part in each event I tell. 2.9. But O! in telling, what Dolopian churl 2.10. or Myrmidon, or gory follower 2.11. of grim Ulysses could the tears restrain? 2.12. 'T is evening; lo! the dews of night begin 2.13. to fall from heaven, and yonder sinking stars 2.21. build a huge horse, a thing of mountain size 2.22. with timbered ribs of fir. They falsely say 2.23. it has been vowed to Heaven for safe return 2.24. and spread this lie abroad. Then they conceal 2.25. choice bands of warriors in the deep, dark side 2.26. and fill the caverns of that monstrous womb 2.27. with arms and soldiery. In sight of Troy 2.28. lies Tenedos, an island widely famed 2.29. and opulent, ere Priam's kingdom fell 2.30. but a poor haven now, with anchorage 2.40. of fierce Achilles here; here lay the fleet; 2.41. and here the battling lines to conflict ran.” 2.42. Others, all wonder, scan the gift of doom 2.43. by virgin Pallas given, and view with awe 2.44. that horse which loomed so large. Thymoetes then 2.45. bade lead it through the gates, and set on high 2.46. within our citadel,—or traitor he 2.47. or tool of fate in Troy 's predestined fall. 2.48. But Capys, as did all of wiser heart 2.49. bade hurl into the sea the false Greek gift 2.50. or underneath it thrust a kindling flame 2.51. or pierce the hollow ambush of its womb 2.52. with probing spear. Yet did the multitude 2.54. Then from the citadel, conspicuous 2.55. Laocoon, with all his following choir 2.56. hurried indigt down; and from afar 2.57. thus hailed the people: “O unhappy men! 2.58. What madness this? Who deems our foemen fled? 2.59. Think ye the gifts of Greece can lack for guile? 2.60. Have ye not known Ulysses? The Achaean 2.61. hides, caged in yonder beams; or this is reared 2.62. for engin'ry on our proud battlements 2.63. to spy upon our roof-tops, or descend 2.64. in ruin on the city. 'T is a snare. 2.65. Trust not this horse, O Troy, whate'er it bode! 2.66. I fear the Greeks, though gift on gift they bear.” 2.67. So saying, he whirled with ponderous javelin 2.68. a sturdy stroke straight at the rounded side 2.69. of the great, jointed beast. A tremor struck 2.70. its towering form, and through the cavernous womb 2.71. rolled loud, reverberate rumbling, deep and long. 2.72. If heaven's decree, if our own wills, that hour 2.73. had not been fixed on woe, his spear had brought 2.74. a bloody slaughter on our ambushed foe 2.75. and Troy were standing on the earth this day! 2.77. But, lo! with hands fast bound behind, a youth 2.78. by clamorous Dardan shepherds haled along 2.79. was brought before our king,—to this sole end 2.80. a self-surrendered captive, that he might 2.81. although a nameless stranger, cunningly 2.82. deliver to the Greek the gates of Troy . 2.83. His firm-set mind flinched not from either goal,— 2.84. uccess in crime, or on swift death to fall. 2.85. The thronging Trojan youth made haste his way 2.86. from every side, all eager to see close 2.87. their captive's face, and clout with emulous scorn. 2.88. Hear now what Greek deception is, and learn 2.89. from one dark wickedness the whole. For he 2.90. a mark for every eye, defenceless, dazed 2.91. tood staring at our Phrygian hosts, and cried: 2.92. “Woe worth the day! What ocean or what shore 2.93. will have me now? What desperate path remains 2.94. for miserable me? Now have I lost 2.95. all foothold with the Greeks, and o'er my head 2.96. Troy 's furious sons call bloody vengeance down.” 2.97. Such groans and anguish turned all rage away 2.98. and stayed our lifted hands. We bade him tell 2.99. his birth, his errand, and from whence might be 2.102. “O King! I will confess, whate'er befall 2.103. the whole unvarnished truth. I will not hide 2.104. my Grecian birth. Yea, thus will I begin. 2.105. For Fortune has brought wretched Sinon low; 2.106. but never shall her cruelty impair 2.107. his honor and his truth. Perchance the name 2.108. of Palamedes, Belus' glorious son 2.109. has come by rumor to your listening ears; 2.110. whom by false witness and conspiracy 2.111. because his counsel was not for this war 2.112. the Greeks condemned, though guiltless, to his death 2.113. and now make much lament for him they slew. 2.114. I, his companion, of his kith and kin 2.115. ent hither by my humble sire's command 2.116. followed his arms and fortunes from my youth. 2.117. Long as his throne endured, and while he throve 2.118. in conclave with his kingly peers, we twain 2.119. ome name and lustre bore; but afterward 2.120. because that cheat Ulysses envied him 2.121. (Ye know the deed), he from this world withdrew 2.122. and I in gloom and tribulation sore 2.123. lived miserably on, lamenting loud 2.124. my lost friend's blameless fall. A fool was I 2.125. that kept not these lips closed; but I had vowed 2.126. that if a conqueror home to Greece I came 2.127. I would avenge. Such words moved wrath, and were 2.128. the first shock of my ruin; from that hour 2.129. Ulysses whispered slander and alarm; 2.130. breathed doubt and malice into all men's ears 2.131. and darkly plotted how to strike his blow. 2.132. Nor rest had he, till Calchas, as his tool,- 2.133. but why unfold this useless, cruel story? 2.134. Why make delay? Ye count all sons of Greece 2.135. arrayed as one; and to have heard thus far 2.136. uffices you. Take now your ripe revenge! 2.137. Ulysses smiles and Atreus' royal sons 2.139. We ply him then with passionate appeal 2.140. and question all his cause: of guilt so dire 2.141. or such Greek guile we harbored not the thought. 2.142. So on he prates, with well-feigned grief and fear 2.143. and from his Iying heart thus told his tale: 2.144. “Full oft the Greeks had fain achieved their flight 2.145. and raised the Trojan siege, and sailed away 2.146. war-wearied quite. O, would it had been so! 2.147. Full oft the wintry tumult of the seas 2.148. did wall them round, and many a swollen storm 2.149. their embarcation stayed. But chiefly when 2.150. all fitly built of beams of maple fair 2.151. this horse stood forth,— what thunders filled the skies! 2.152. With anxious fears we sent Eurypylus 2.153. to ask Apollo's word; and from the shrine 2.154. he brings the sorrowful commandment home: 2.155. ‘By flowing blood and by a virgin slain 2.156. the wild winds were appeased, when first ye came 2.157. ye sons of Greece, to Ilium 's distant shore. 2.158. Through blood ye must return. Let some Greek life 2.159. your expiation be.’ The popular ear 2.160. the saying caught, all spirits were dimmed o'er; 2.161. cold doubt and horror through each bosom ran 2.162. asking what fate would do, and on what wretch 2.163. Apollo's choice would fall. Ulysses, then 2.164. amid the people's tumult and acclaim 2.165. thrust Calchas forth, some prophecy to tell 2.166. to all the throng: he asked him o'er and o'er 2.167. what Heaven desired. Already not a few 2.168. foretold the murderous plot, and silently 2.169. watched the dark doom upon my life impend. 2.170. Twice five long days the seer his lips did seal 2.171. and hid himself, refusing to bring forth 2.172. His word of guile, and name what wretch should die. 2.173. At last, reluctant, and all loudly urged 2.174. By false Ulysses, he fulfils their plot 2.175. and, lifting up his voice oracular 2.176. points out myself the victim to be slain. 2.177. Nor did one voice oppose. The mortal stroke 2.178. horribly hanging o'er each coward head 2.179. was changed to one man's ruin, and their hearts 2.180. endured it well. Soon rose th' accursed morn; 2.181. the bloody ritual was ready; salt 2.182. was sprinkled on the sacred loaf; my brows 2.183. were bound with fillets for the offering. 2.184. But I escaped that death—yes! I deny not! 2.185. I cast my fetters off, and darkling lay 2.186. concealed all night in lake-side sedge and mire 2.187. awaiting their departure, if perchance 2.188. they should in truth set sail. But nevermore 2.189. hall my dear, native country greet these eyes. 2.190. No more my father or my tender babes 2.191. hall I behold. Nay, haply their own lives 2.192. are forfeit, when my foemen take revenge 2.193. for my escape, and slay those helpless ones 2.194. in expiation of my guilty deed. 2.195. O, by yon powers in heaven which witness truth 2.196. by aught in this dark world remaining now 2.197. of spotless human faith and innocence 2.198. I do implore thee look with pitying eye 2.199. on these long sufferings my heart hath borne. 2.201. Pity and pardon to his tears we gave 2.202. and spared his life. King Priam bade unbind 2.203. the fettered hands and loose those heavy chains 2.204. that pressed him sore; then with benigt mien 2.205. addressed him thus: “ Whate'er thy place or name 2.206. forget the people thou hast Iost, and be 2.207. henceforth our countryman. But tell me true! 2.208. What means the monstrous fabric of this horse? 2.209. Who made it? Why? What offering to Heaven 2.210. or engin'ry of conquest may it be?” 2.211. He spake; and in reply, with skilful guile 2.212. Greek that he was! the other lifted up 2.213. his hands, now freed and chainless, to the skies: 2.214. “O ever-burning and inviolate fires 2.215. witness my word! O altars and sharp steel 2.216. whose curse I fled, O fillets of the gods 2.217. which bound a victim's helpless forehead, hear! 2.218. 'T is lawful now to break the oath that gave 2.219. my troth to Greece . To execrate her kings 2.220. is now my solemn duty. Their whole plot 2.221. I publish to the world. No fatherland 2.222. and no allegiance binds me any more. 2.223. O Troy, whom I have saved, I bid thee keep 2.224. the pledge of safety by good Priam given 2.225. for my true tale shall my rich ransom be. 2.226. The Greeks' one hope, since first they opened war 2.227. was Pallas, grace and power. But from the day 2.228. when Diomed, bold scorner of the gods 2.229. and false Ulysses, author of all guile 2.230. rose up and violently bore away 2.231. Palladium, her holy shrine, hewed down 2.232. the sentinels of her acropolis 2.233. and with polluted, gory hands dared touch 2.234. the goddess, virgin fillets, white and pure,— 2.235. thenceforth, I say, the courage of the Greeks 2.236. ebbed utterly away; their strength was Iost 2.237. and favoring Pallas all her grace withdrew. 2.238. No dubious sign she gave. Scarce had they set 2.239. her statue in our camp, when glittering flame 2.240. flashed from the staring eyes; from all its limbs 2.241. alt sweat ran forth; three times (O wondrous tale!) 2.242. it gave a sudden skyward leap, and made 2.243. prodigious trembling of her lance and shield. 2.244. The prophet Calchas bade us straightway take 2.245. wift flight across the sea; for fate had willed 2.246. the Trojan citadel should never fall 2.247. by Grecian arm, till once more they obtain 2.248. new oracles at Argos, and restore 2.249. that god the round ships hurried o'er the sea. 2.258. that they should build a thing of monstrous size 2.259. of jointed beams, and rear it heavenward 2.260. o might it never pass your gates, nor come 2.261. inside your walls, nor anywise restore 2.262. unto the Trojans their lost help divine. 2.263. For had your hands Minerva's gift profaned 2.264. a ruin horrible—O, may the gods 2.265. bring it on Calchas rather!—would have come 2.272. our doubt dispelled. His stratagems and tears 2.273. wrought victory where neither Tydeus' son 2.274. nor mountain-bred Achilles could prevail 2.275. nor ten years' war, nor fleets a thousand strong. 2.276. But now a vaster spectacle of fear 2.277. burst over us, to vex our startled souls. 2.279. priest unto Neptune, was in act to slay 2.281. Lo! o'er the tranquil deep from Tenedos 2.289. their monstrous backs wound forward fold on fold. 2.290. Soon they made land; the furious bright eyes 2.291. glowed with ensanguined fire; their quivering tongues 2.292. lapped hungrily the hissing, gruesome jaws. 2.293. All terror-pale we fled. Unswerving then 2.294. the monsters to Laocoon made way. 2.295. First round the tender limbs of his two sons 2.296. each dragon coiled, and on the shrinking flesh 2.314. eized now on every heart. “ of his vast guilt 2.315. Laocoon,” they say, “receives reward; 2.316. for he with most abominable spear 2.317. did strike and violate that blessed wood. 2.320. in general acclaim. Ourselves did make 2.324. were 'neath its feet; great ropes stretched round its neck 2.325. till o'er our walls the fatal engine climbed 2.337. and in the consecrated citadel 2.343. The skies rolled on; and o'er the ocean fell 2.351. on to the well-known strand. The King displayed 2.352. torch from his own ship, and Sinon then 2.353. whom wrathful Heaven defended in that hour 2.354. let the imprisoned band of Greeks go free 2.361. the son of Peleus, came, and Acamas 2.362. King Menelaus, Thoas and Machaon 2.363. and last, Epeus, who the fabric wrought. 2.369. That hour it was when heaven's first gift of sleep 2.370. on weary hearts of men most sweetly steals. 2.371. O, then my slumbering senses seemed to see 2.372. Hector, with woeful face and streaming eyes; 2.373. I seemed to see him from the chariot trailing 2.374. foul with dark dust and gore, his swollen feet 2.375. pierced with a cruel thong. Ah me! what change 2.376. from glorious Hector when he homeward bore 2.377. the spoils of fierce Achilles; or hurled far 2.378. that shower of torches on the ships of Greece ! 2.379. Unkempt his beard, his tresses thick with blood 2.380. and all those wounds in sight which he did take 2.381. defending Troy . Then, weeping as I spoke 2.382. I seemed on that heroic shape to call 2.383. with mournful utterance: “O star of Troy ! 2.384. O surest hope and stay of all her sons! 2.385. Why tarriest thou so Iong? What region sends 2.386. the long-expected Hector home once more? 2.387. These weary eyes that look on thee have seen 2.388. hosts of thy kindred die, and fateful change 2.389. upon thy people and thy city fall. 2.390. O, say what dire occasion has defiled 2.391. thy tranquil brows? What mean those bleeding wounds?” 2.392. Silent he stood, nor anywise would stay 2.393. my vain lament; but groaned, and answered thus: 2.394. “Haste, goddess-born, and out of yonder flames 2.395. achieve thy flight. Our foes have scaled the wall; 2.396. exalted Troy is falling. Fatherland 2.397. and Priam ask no more. If human arm 2.398. could profit Troy, my own had kept her free. 2.399. Her Lares and her people to thy hands 2.400. Troy here commends. Companions let them be 2.401. of all thy fortunes. Let them share thy quest 2.402. of that wide realm, which, after wandering far 2.403. thou shalt achieve, at last, beyond the sea.” 2.404. He spoke: and from our holy hearth brought forth 2.405. the solemn fillet, the ancestral shrines 2.407. Now shrieks and loud confusion swept the town; 2.408. and though my father's dwelling stood apart 2.409. embowered deep in trees, th' increasing din 2.410. drew nearer, and the battle-thunder swelled. 2.411. I woke on sudden, and up-starting scaled 2.412. the roof, the tower, then stood with listening ear: 2.413. 't was like an harvest burning, when wild winds 2.414. uprouse the flames; 't was like a mountain stream 2.415. that bursts in flood and ruinously whelms 2.416. weet fields and farms and all the ploughman's toil 2.417. whirling whole groves along; while dumb with fear 2.418. from some far cliff the shepherd hears the sound. 2.419. Now their Greek plot was plain, the stratagem 2.420. at last laid bare. Deiphobus' great house 2.421. ank vanquished in the fire. Ucalegon's 2.422. hard by was blazing, while the waters wide 2.423. around Sigeum gave an answering glow. 2.424. Shrill trumpets rang; Ioud shouting voices roared; 2.425. wildly I armed me (when the battle calls 2.426. how dimly reason shines!); I burned to join 2.427. the rally of my peers, and to the heights 2.428. defensive gather. Frenzy and vast rage 2.429. eized on my soul. I only sought what way 2.438. is still our own?” But scarcely could I ask 2.439. when thus, with many a groan, he made reply:— 2.440. “Dardania's death and doom are come to-day 2.441. implacable. There is no Ilium now; 2.442. our Trojan name is gone, the Teucrian throne 2.443. Quite fallen. For the wrathful power of Jove 2.444. has given to Argos all our boast and pride. 2.453. is flashing naked, making haste for blood. 2.454. Our sentries helpless meet the invading shock 2.455. and give back blind and unavailing war.” 2.456. By Panthus' word and by some god impelled 2.457. I flew to battle, where the flames leaped high 2.458. where grim Bellona called, and all the air 2.459. resounded high as heaven with shouts of war. 2.460. Rhipeus and Epytus of doughty arm 2.461. were at my side, Dymas and Hypanis 2.462. een by a pale moon, join our little band; 2.463. and young Coroebus, Mygdon's princely son 2.464. who was in Troy that hour because he loved 2.465. Cassandra madly, and had made a league 2.466. as Priam's kinsman with our Phrygian arms: 2.468. When these I saw close-gathered for the fight 2.469. I thus addressed them: “Warriors, vainly brave 2.470. if ye indeed desire to follow one 2.471. who dares the uttermost brave men may do 2.472. our evil plight ye see: the gods are fled 2.473. from every altar and protecting fire 2.474. which were the kingdom's stay. Ye offer aid 2.475. unto your country's ashes. Let us fight 2.476. unto the death! To arms, my men, to arms! 2.477. The single hope and stay of desperate men 2.478. is their despair.” Thus did I rouse their souls. 2.479. Then like the ravening wolves, some night of cloud 2.480. when cruel hunger in an empty maw 2.481. drives them forth furious, and their whelps behind 2.482. wait famine-throated; so through foemen's steel 2.483. we flew to surest death, and kept our way 2.484. traight through the midmost town . The wings of night 2.485. brooded above us in vast vault of shade. 2.486. But who the bloodshed of that night can tell? 2.487. What tongue its deaths shall number, or what eyes 2.488. find meed of tears to equal all its woe? 2.489. The ancient City fell, whose throne had stood 2.490. age after age. Along her streets were strewn 2.491. the unresisting dead; at household shrines 2.492. and by the temples of the gods they lay. 2.493. Yet not alone was Teucrian blood required: 2.494. oft out of vanquished hearts fresh valor flamed 2.495. and the Greek victor fell. Anguish and woe 2.496. were everywhere; pale terrors ranged abroad 2.498. Androgeos, followed by a thronging band 2.499. of Greeks, first met us on our desperate way; 2.500. but heedless, and confounding friend with foe 2.501. thus, all unchallenged, hailed us as his own : 2.502. “Haste, heroes! Are ye laggards at this hour? 2.503. Others bear off the captives and the spoil 2.504. of burning Troy . Just from the galleys ye?” 2.505. He spoke; but straightway, when no safe reply 2.506. returned, he knew himself entrapped, and fallen 2.507. into a foeman's snare; struck dumb was he 2.508. and stopped both word and motion; as one steps 2.509. when blindly treading a thick path of thorns 2.510. upon a snake, and sick with fear would flee 2.511. that lifted wrath and swollen gorge of green: 2.512. o trembling did Androgeos backward fall. 2.513. At them we flew and closed them round with war; 2.514. and since they could not know the ground, and fear 2.515. had whelmed them quite, we swiftly laid them low. 2.516. Thus Fortune on our first achievement smiled; 2.517. and, flushed with victory, Cormbus cried: 2.518. “Come, friends, and follow Fortune's finger, where 2.519. he beckons us what path deliverance lies. 2.520. Change we our shields, and these Greek emblems wear. 2.521. 'Twixt guile and valor who will nicely weigh 2.522. When foes are met? These dead shall find us arms.” 2.523. With this, he dons Androgeos' crested helm 2.524. and beauteous, blazoned shield; and to his side 2.525. girds on a Grecian blade. Young Rhipeus next 2.526. with Dymas and the other soldiery 2.527. repeat the deed, exulting, and array 2.528. their valor in fresh trophies from the slain. 2.529. Now intermingled with our foes we moved 2.530. and alien emblems wore; the long, black night 2.531. brought many a grapple, and a host of Greeks 2.532. down to the dark we hurled. Some fled away 2.533. eeking their safe ships and the friendly shore. 2.534. Some cowards foul went clambering back again 2.536. But woe is me! If gods their help withhold 2.537. 't is impious to be brave. That very hour 2.538. the fair Cassandra passed us, bound in chains 2.539. King Priam's virgin daughter, from the shrine 2.540. and altars of Minerva; her loose hair 2.541. had lost its fillet; her impassioned eyes 2.542. were lifted in vain prayer,—her eyes alone! 2.543. For chains of steel her frail, soft hands confined. 2.544. Coroebus' eyes this horror not endured 2.545. and, sorrow-crazed, he plunged him headlong in 2.546. the midmost fray, self-offered to be slain 2.547. while in close mass our troop behind him poured. 2.548. But, at this point, the overwhelming spears 2.549. of our own kinsmen rained resistless down 2.550. from a high temple-tower; and carnage wild 2.551. ensued, because of the Greek arms we bore 2.552. and our false crests. The howling Grecian band 2.553. crazed by Cassandra's rescue, charged at us 2.554. from every side; Ajax of savage soul 2.555. the sons of Atreus, and that whole wild horde 2.556. Achilles from Dolopian deserts drew. 2.557. 'T was like the bursting storm, when gales contend 2.558. west wind and South, and jocund wind of morn 2.615. reared skyward from the roof-top, giving view 2.616. of Troy 's wide walls and full reconnaissance 2.693. Like panic-stricken doves in some dark storm 2.694. close-gathering they sate, and in despair 2.695. embraced their graven gods. But when the Queen 2.696. aw Priam with his youthful harness on 2.697. “What frenzy, O my wretched lord,” she cried 2.698. “Arrayed thee in such arms? O, whither now? 2.699. Not such defences, nor such arm as thine 2.700. the time requires, though thy companion were 2.762. I stood there sole surviving; when, behold 3.629. corning the Sibyl's shrine. But deem not thou
10. Statius, Achilleis, 1.94 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)

11. Tryphiodorus, Sack of Troy, 220 (3rd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)

12. Servius, Commentary On The Aeneid, 2.557 (4th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE)

13. Quintus Smyrnaeus, Posthomerica, 12.387-12.388



Subjects of this text:

subject book bibliographic info
achaemenides Farrell, Juno's Aeneid: A Battle for Heroic Identity (2021) 201
achilles, arms of Farrell, Juno's Aeneid: A Battle for Heroic Identity (2021) 201
achilles, kills hector Farrell, Juno's Aeneid: A Battle for Heroic Identity (2021) 201
achilles Farrell, Juno's Aeneid: A Battle for Heroic Identity (2021) 201
aeneas, intertextual identities, achilles Farrell, Juno's Aeneid: A Battle for Heroic Identity (2021) 201
aeneas, narrator Farrell, Juno's Aeneid: A Battle for Heroic Identity (2021) 201
aeneas, reader Farrell, Juno's Aeneid: A Battle for Heroic Identity (2021) 201
aeneas Farrell, Juno's Aeneid: A Battle for Heroic Identity (2021) 201; Jouanna, Sophocles: A Study of His Theater in Its Political and Social Context (2018) 166; de Bakker, van den Berg, and Klooster, Emotions and Narrative in Ancient Literature and Beyond (2022) 543, 544, 552
aeneid (virgil) Jouanna, Sophocles: A Study of His Theater in Its Political and Social Context (2018) 166, 596
aeschylus, and sisyphus Jouanna, Sophocles: A Study of His Theater in Its Political and Social Context (2018) 596
aeschylus de Bakker, van den Berg, and Klooster, Emotions and Narrative in Ancient Literature and Beyond (2022) 543
ajax the locrian Jouanna, Sophocles: A Study of His Theater in Its Political and Social Context (2018) 166
argonauts Jouanna, Sophocles: A Study of His Theater in Its Political and Social Context (2018) 596
aristotle, on homeric epics Jouanna, Sophocles: A Study of His Theater in Its Political and Social Context (2018) 166
arms (arma) Farrell, Juno's Aeneid: A Battle for Heroic Identity (2021) 201
athena de Bakker, van den Berg, and Klooster, Emotions and Narrative in Ancient Literature and Beyond (2022) 543
athens de Bakker, van den Berg, and Klooster, Emotions and Narrative in Ancient Literature and Beyond (2022) 543
cameron, alan Greensmith, The Resurrection of Homer in Imperial Greek Epic: Quintus Smyrnaeus' Posthomerica and the Poetics of Impersonation (2021) 123
dialogue, in drama de Bakker, van den Berg, and Klooster, Emotions and Narrative in Ancient Literature and Beyond (2022) 543
diomedes, tydides (son of tydeus) Farrell, Juno's Aeneid: A Battle for Heroic Identity (2021) 201
divine intervention de Bakker, van den Berg, and Klooster, Emotions and Narrative in Ancient Literature and Beyond (2022) 543
dreams Farrell, Juno's Aeneid: A Battle for Heroic Identity (2021) 201
education, instruction Farrell, Juno's Aeneid: A Battle for Heroic Identity (2021) 201
epeos Farrell, Juno's Aeneid: A Battle for Heroic Identity (2021) 201
epithets, generic Greensmith, The Resurrection of Homer in Imperial Greek Epic: Quintus Smyrnaeus' Posthomerica and the Poetics of Impersonation (2021) 123
ethical qualities, craftiness, deceit, deception, disguise, feigning, guile, sleight of hand, trickery (dolus, dolos) Farrell, Juno's Aeneid: A Battle for Heroic Identity (2021) 201
ethical qualities, duplicity Farrell, Juno's Aeneid: A Battle for Heroic Identity (2021) 201
ethical qualities, insight Farrell, Juno's Aeneid: A Battle for Heroic Identity (2021) 201
ethical qualities, intelligence (sapientia, mêtis) Farrell, Juno's Aeneid: A Battle for Heroic Identity (2021) 201
ethical qualities, restraint, self-control, self-restraint Farrell, Juno's Aeneid: A Battle for Heroic Identity (2021) 201
ethical qualities, treachery Farrell, Juno's Aeneid: A Battle for Heroic Identity (2021) 201
ethics Farrell, Juno's Aeneid: A Battle for Heroic Identity (2021) 201
eurupulos (sophocles) Jouanna, Sophocles: A Study of His Theater in Its Political and Social Context (2018) 166
eurypylus (sophocles) Jouanna, Sophocles: A Study of His Theater in Its Political and Social Context (2018) 166
fragments, of sophocles works Jouanna, Sophocles: A Study of His Theater in Its Political and Social Context (2018) 596
general polyxena Jouanna, Sophocles: A Study of His Theater in Its Political and Social Context (2018) 166
hector Farrell, Juno's Aeneid: A Battle for Heroic Identity (2021) 201
herodotus de Bakker, van den Berg, and Klooster, Emotions and Narrative in Ancient Literature and Beyond (2022) 543, 544
hippolytus de Bakker, van den Berg, and Klooster, Emotions and Narrative in Ancient Literature and Beyond (2022) 544
honor Farrell, Juno's Aeneid: A Battle for Heroic Identity (2021) 201
hoplon krisis Greensmith, The Resurrection of Homer in Imperial Greek Epic: Quintus Smyrnaeus' Posthomerica and the Poetics of Impersonation (2021) 123
laconian women, the (sophocles) Jouanna, Sophocles: A Study of His Theater in Its Political and Social Context (2018) 166
laocoon, laocoön (sophocles) Jouanna, Sophocles: A Study of His Theater in Its Political and Social Context (2018) 166
laocoon Farrell, Juno's Aeneid: A Battle for Heroic Identity (2021) 201; de Bakker, van den Berg, and Klooster, Emotions and Narrative in Ancient Literature and Beyond (2022) 544
little iliad Jouanna, Sophocles: A Study of His Theater in Its Political and Social Context (2018) 166
livy de Bakker, van den Berg, and Klooster, Emotions and Narrative in Ancient Literature and Beyond (2022) 552
medea Jouanna, Sophocles: A Study of His Theater in Its Political and Social Context (2018) 596
messenger-speech de Bakker, van den Berg, and Klooster, Emotions and Narrative in Ancient Literature and Beyond (2022) 543, 544, 552
metalepsis de Bakker, van den Berg, and Klooster, Emotions and Narrative in Ancient Literature and Beyond (2022) 552
miletus, fall of miletus, by phrynichus de Bakker, van den Berg, and Klooster, Emotions and Narrative in Ancient Literature and Beyond (2022) 543, 544
myths, and sophocles Jouanna, Sophocles: A Study of His Theater in Its Political and Social Context (2018) 166
narratee de Bakker, van den Berg, and Klooster, Emotions and Narrative in Ancient Literature and Beyond (2022) 544, 552
neoptolemus Jouanna, Sophocles: A Study of His Theater in Its Political and Social Context (2018) 166
odysseus Farrell, Juno's Aeneid: A Battle for Heroic Identity (2021) 201; Jouanna, Sophocles: A Study of His Theater in Its Political and Social Context (2018) 166
odyssey, epithets Greensmith, The Resurrection of Homer in Imperial Greek Epic: Quintus Smyrnaeus' Posthomerica and the Poetics of Impersonation (2021) 123
palamedes Farrell, Juno's Aeneid: A Battle for Heroic Identity (2021) 201
patroclus Farrell, Juno's Aeneid: A Battle for Heroic Identity (2021) 201
persians de Bakker, van den Berg, and Klooster, Emotions and Narrative in Ancient Literature and Beyond (2022) 543, 544
phrynichus de Bakker, van den Berg, and Klooster, Emotions and Narrative in Ancient Literature and Beyond (2022) 543
plays, lost Jouanna, Sophocles: A Study of His Theater in Its Political and Social Context (2018) 596
poetics (aristotle), on homeric epics Jouanna, Sophocles: A Study of His Theater in Its Political and Social Context (2018) 166
polytropos Greensmith, The Resurrection of Homer in Imperial Greek Epic: Quintus Smyrnaeus' Posthomerica and the Poetics of Impersonation (2021) 123
poseidon de Bakker, van den Berg, and Klooster, Emotions and Narrative in Ancient Literature and Beyond (2022) 544
priam Jouanna, Sophocles: A Study of His Theater in Its Political and Social Context (2018) 166; de Bakker, van den Berg, and Klooster, Emotions and Narrative in Ancient Literature and Beyond (2022) 552
punishment de Bakker, van den Berg, and Klooster, Emotions and Narrative in Ancient Literature and Beyond (2022) 544
sack of troy, the Jouanna, Sophocles: A Study of His Theater in Its Political and Social Context (2018) 166
scythians, the (sophocles) Jouanna, Sophocles: A Study of His Theater in Its Political and Social Context (2018) 596
sinon Farrell, Juno's Aeneid: A Battle for Heroic Identity (2021) 201; Greensmith, The Resurrection of Homer in Imperial Greek Epic: Quintus Smyrnaeus' Posthomerica and the Poetics of Impersonation (2021) 123
sinon (sophocles) Jouanna, Sophocles: A Study of His Theater in Its Political and Social Context (2018) 166, 596
sisuphos, sisyphus (sophocles) Jouanna, Sophocles: A Study of His Theater in Its Political and Social Context (2018) 596
skuthai (sophocles) Jouanna, Sophocles: A Study of His Theater in Its Political and Social Context (2018) 596
sophocles, lost plays and fragments of Jouanna, Sophocles: A Study of His Theater in Its Political and Social Context (2018) 596
stylistics, generic Greensmith, The Resurrection of Homer in Imperial Greek Epic: Quintus Smyrnaeus' Posthomerica and the Poetics of Impersonation (2021) 123
tradition, mythic Jouanna, Sophocles: A Study of His Theater in Its Political and Social Context (2018) 166
trauma de Bakker, van den Berg, and Klooster, Emotions and Narrative in Ancient Literature and Beyond (2022) 543, 544
triphiodorus Greensmith, The Resurrection of Homer in Imperial Greek Epic: Quintus Smyrnaeus' Posthomerica and the Poetics of Impersonation (2021) 123
trojan horse Jouanna, Sophocles: A Study of His Theater in Its Political and Social Context (2018) 596
trojan war, and sophocles Jouanna, Sophocles: A Study of His Theater in Its Political and Social Context (2018) 166
trojans, trojan horse Farrell, Juno's Aeneid: A Battle for Heroic Identity (2021) 201
trojans Farrell, Juno's Aeneid: A Battle for Heroic Identity (2021) 201
troy, and sinon Jouanna, Sophocles: A Study of His Theater in Its Political and Social Context (2018) 596
troy, fall of de Bakker, van den Berg, and Klooster, Emotions and Narrative in Ancient Literature and Beyond (2022) 543, 544, 552
troy Farrell, Juno's Aeneid: A Battle for Heroic Identity (2021) 201; de Bakker, van den Berg, and Klooster, Emotions and Narrative in Ancient Literature and Beyond (2022) 543, 544, 552
ulysses, ithacus Farrell, Juno's Aeneid: A Battle for Heroic Identity (2021) 201
ulysses Farrell, Juno's Aeneid: A Battle for Heroic Identity (2021) 201
underworld, and sisyphus Jouanna, Sophocles: A Study of His Theater in Its Political and Social Context (2018) 596
vergil, aeneid, intertextual identity, iliadic Farrell, Juno's Aeneid: A Battle for Heroic Identity (2021) 201
vergil, aeneid Greensmith, The Resurrection of Homer in Imperial Greek Epic: Quintus Smyrnaeus' Posthomerica and the Poetics of Impersonation (2021) 123
virgil, and socrates Jouanna, Sophocles: A Study of His Theater in Its Political and Social Context (2018) 166
virgil, on sinon Jouanna, Sophocles: A Study of His Theater in Its Political and Social Context (2018) 596
virgil de Bakker, van den Berg, and Klooster, Emotions and Narrative in Ancient Literature and Beyond (2022) 543, 544, 552
words Farrell, Juno's Aeneid: A Battle for Heroic Identity (2021) 201
xerxes' de Bakker, van den Berg, and Klooster, Emotions and Narrative in Ancient Literature and Beyond (2022) 543