Homer, The Iliad
Samuel Butler, Ed.

they halted at their ships, calling upon one another and praying every man instantly as they lifted up their hands to the gods; but Hektor wheeled his horses this way and that, his eyes glaring like those of Gorgo or murderous Ares.

Hera when she saw them had pity upon them, and at once said to Athena, "Alas, child of aegis-bearing Zeus, shall you and I take no more thought for the dying Danaans, though it be the last time we ever do so? See how they perish and come to a bad end before the onset of but a single man. Hektor the son of Priam rages with intolerable fury, and has already done great mischief."

Athena answered, "Would, indeed, this man might die in his own land, and fall by the hands of the Achaeans; but my father Zeus is mad with spleen, ever foiling me, ever headstrong and unjust. He forgets how often I saved his son when he was worn out by the labors [athloi] Eurystheus had laid on him. He would weep till his cry came up to heaven, and then Zeus would send me down to help him; if I had had the sense to foresee all this, when Eurystheus sent him to the house of Hades, to fetch the hell-hound from Erebos, he would never have come back alive out of the deep waters of the river Styx. And now Zeus hates me, while he lets Thetis have her way because she kissed his knees and took hold of his beard, when she was begging him to do honor to Achilles. I shall know what to do next time he begins calling me his gray-eyed darling. Get our horses ready, while I go within the house of aegis-bearing Zeus and put on my armor; we shall then find out whether Priam's son Hektor will be glad to meet us in the highways of battle, or whether the Trojans will glut hounds and vultures with the fat of their flesh as they he dead by the ships of the Achaeans."

Thus did she speak and white-armed Hera, daughter of great Kronos, obeyed her words; she set about harnessing her gold-bedizened steeds, while Athena daughter of aegis-bearing Zeus

flung her richly vesture, made with her own hands, on to the threshold of her father, and donned the shirt of Zeus, arming herself for battle. Then she stepped into her flaming chariot, and grasped the spear so stout and sturdy and strong with which she quells the ranks of heroes who have displeased her. Hera lashed her horses, and the gates of heaven bellowed as they flew open of their own accord- gates over which the Hours preside, in whose hands are heaven and Olympus, either to open the dense cloud that hides them or to close it. Through these the goddesses drove their obedient steeds.

But father Zeus when he saw them from Ida was very angry, and sent winged Iris with a message to them. "Go," said he, "fleet Iris, turn them back, and see that they do not come near me, for if we come to fighting there will be mischief. This is what I say, and this is what I mean to do. I will lame their horses for them; I will hurl them from their chariot, and will break it in pieces. It will take them all ten years to heal the wounds my lightning shall inflict upon them; my gray-eyed daughter will then learn what quarreling with her father means. I am less surprised and angry with Hera, for whatever I say she always contradicts me."

With this Iris went her way, fleet as the wind, from the heights of Ida to the lofty summits of Olympus. She met the goddesses at the outer gates of its many valleys and gave them her message. "What," said she, "are you about? Are you mad? The son of Kronos forbids going. This is what he says, and this is he means to do, he will lame your horses for you, he will hurl you from your chariot, and will break it in pieces. It will take you all ten years to heal the wounds his lightning will inflict upon you, that you may learn, gray-eyed goddess, what quarreling with your father means. He is less hurt and angry with Hera, for whatever he says she always contradicts him but you, bold hussy, will you really dare to raise your huge spear in defiance of Zeus?"

With this she left them, and Hera said to Athena, "Of a truth, child of aegis-bearing Zeus, I am not for fighting men's battles further in defiance of Zeus. Let them live or die as luck will have it, and let Zeus mete out his judgments upon the Trojans and Danaans according to his own pleasure."