[28] Traïa fata. As every thing that happensis by the order and decree of Fate, the poets have sometimes taken the liberty of using the word fata for the things done by Fate, as in the passage now before us. By Fate the ancients understood a succession of events which must unavoidably take place, and which gave rise alway the one to the other. Thus the whole train of events that preceded and occasioned the destruction of Troy were said to be the Trojan Fates.
There were several circumstances upon which the fate of Troy was said to depend. First, the life of Troilus, the son of Priam, who was slain by Achilles. Secondly, the preservation of the Palladium, or image of Pallas Athena, which was kept in the city; thi swas carried off by Ulysses and Diomedes, who entered the city by night, and slew the guards of the place where it was deposited. Thirdly, the horses of Rhesus; if they shoud not be captured before they "had tasted of the pastures of Troy, and the waters of Xanthus," as Virgil says (Aen. 1.469-473); they were also carried off by Ulysses and Diomedes. And lastly, the sepulchre of Laomedon, in the Scaean gate, which was to remain untouched; this was partly destroyed, when that gate was taken down by the Trojans, for the purpose of admitting the wooden horse.This text is part of:
P. Ovidius Naso. The Epistles of Ovid, translated into English prose, as near the original as the different idioms of the Latin and English languages will allow; with the Latin text and order of construction on the same page; and critical, historical, geographical, and classical notes in English, from the very best commentators both ancient and modern; beside a very great number of notes entirely new. Anne Mahoney. edited for Perseus. London. J. Nunn, Great-Queen-Street; R. Priestly, 143, High-Holborn; R. Lea, Greek-Street, Soho; and J. Rodwell, New-Bond-Street. 1813.
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