Ἰλιάδος Υ

Thus they armed beside the curved ships,

around you, son of Peleus, insatiate for battle, the Achaeans,

The Trojans, on the other side, upon a rise of the plain,

Zeus commanded Themis to call the gods to council

from the crest of many-folded Olympus; and she went everywhere,

making her rounds, and bade them come to the house of Zeus.

Not one of the rivers was absent, except Oceanus,

nor any of the nymphs who dwell in the lovely groves

and the springs of rivers and the grassy meadows.

When they came to the house of Zeus the cloud-gatherer,

they sat down in the polished colonnades that Hephaestus

had made for father Zeus with his skillful mind.

Thus they were gathered inside the house of Zeus; nor did the Earth-shaker

disobey the goddess, but came from the sea to join them,

and sat in their midst, then asked the purpose of Zeus:

"Why, bright-lightning god, have you again called the gods to council?

Are you pondering some matter concerning the Trojans and Achaeans?

For now their battle and war blaze very near."

Then Zeus the cloud-gatherer answered him and said:

"You know, Earth-shaker, the purpose within my breast

for whose sake I gathered them; though they are dying, they are my concern.

Yet I shall remain here upon a fold of Olympus,

seated, and delight my heart as I watch; but all you others,

go, so that you may reach the Trojans and Achaeans,

and aid either side according to each god's own mind.

For if Achilles fights the Trojans alone,

they will not hold back the swift son of Peleus even briefly.

Even before now they would tremble at the sight of him;

but now, when he is terribly enraged in spirit for his companion,

I fear he may storm the wall beyond what fate allows."

So the son of Cronos spoke, and roused insatiable war.

The gods went on toward war, divided in their hearts:

Hera went to the gathering by the ships, and Pallas Athena,

and Poseidon the earth-holder, and the luck-bringing

Hermes, who surpasses all in shrewd designs;

and Hephaestus went with them, exulting in his strength,

limping, while his slender legs moved swiftly beneath him.

To the Trojans went Ares of the flashing helm, and with him

unshorn-haired Phoebus and Artemis, showerer of arrows,

and Leto, Xanthus, and laughter-loving Aphrodite.

While the gods remained apart from mortal men,

the Achaeans gloried greatly because Achilles

had appeared after holding back so long from grievous battle.

but terrible trembling came over every Trojan's limbs,

as they looked in fear upon the swift son of Peleus,

blazing in armor, equal to Ares, bane of mortals.

But when the Olympians entered the throng of men,

mighty Strife, rouser of hosts, arose, and Athena cried aloud,

standing now beside the dug trench outside the wall,

now on the thunderous shores, where she shouted far and wide.

Ares cried aloud from the other side, like a dark storm,

shrilly urging the Trojans from the city's highest point,

at other times running beside the Simoeis upon Callicolone.

Thus the blessed gods spurred both armies on

and brought them together, unleashing heavy strife among them;

and terribly thundered the father of men and gods

from high above; and from below Poseidon shook

the boundless earth and the steep peaks of the mountains.

All the foothills of many-springed Ida trembled,

and its summits, and the Trojan city, and the Achaeans' ships.

Below, Hades, lord of the dead, was afraid,

and in fear sprang from his throne and cried aloud, lest above him

Poseidon the earth-shaker should split the ground open,

and the houses be revealed to mortals and immortals,

dread and dank, which even the gods themselves abhor;

so great a din arose as the gods met one another in strife.

For against lord Poseidon

stood Phoebus Apollo, holding his winged arrows;

against Enyalius stood the goddess, bright-eyed Athena;

against Hera stood loud-sounding

Artemis of the golden arrows, showerer of arrows, sister of the far-shooter;

against Leto stood Hermes, the strong luck-bringer;

and against Hephaestus stood the great deep-swirling river,

whom the gods call Xanthus, and mortals Scamander.

So the gods went against the gods; but Achilles

longed above all to plunge into the throng against Hector,

Priam's son; for Hector above all Achilles' heart urged him

to glut Ares with blood, the steadfast shield-bearing warrior.

But Apollo, rouser of hosts, drove Aeneas straight

against the son of Peleus and poured brave strength into him;

he made his voice like that of Lycaon, son of Priam.

In his likeness Apollo, son of Zeus, addressed Aeneas:

"Aeneas, counselor of the Trojans, where are the boasts

you pledged before the Trojan kings as you drank your wine,

that you would fight Achilles, son of Peleus, face to face?"

Then Aeneas answered him and said:

"Son of Priam, why do you command me, though I am unwilling,

to fight face to face with the high-hearted son of Peleus?

This will not be the first time I have stood against

swift-footed Achilles; once before he routed me with his spear

down from Ida, when he came against our cattle

and sacked Lyrnessus and Pedasus. But Zeus

rescued me, rousing strength in me and speed in my knees.

Otherwise I would have fallen beneath the hands of Achilles and Athena,

who went before him, cast light ahead, and urged him

to kill Leleges and Trojans with his bronze spear.

So no man can stand and fight against Achilles,

for always some one god is near to ward death from him.

Besides, his missile flies straight and does not cease

before it passes through a mortal man's flesh. But if a god

should stretch the issue of war level between us, he would not

defeat me with ease, not even if he boasts that he is all bronze."

Then lord Apollo, son of Zeus, answered him:

"Hero, come, pray in your turn to the everlasting gods.

For they say that you were born from Aphrodite, daughter of Zeus,

while that man comes from a goddess of lower rank:

the one is Zeus's daughter; the other's father is the old man of the sea.

Come, bear your unyielding bronze straight at him, and do not let him

turn you away with grievous words and threats."

So speaking, he breathed great might into the shepherd of the people.

And he strode out through the front ranks, helmed in gleaming bronze.

Nor did Anchises' son escape the notice of white-armed Hera

as he went against the son of Peleus through the mass of men.