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off the chariot on to the ground. In a second he was on the
ground, whereupon the goddess mounted the car and placed
herself by the side of Diomed. The oaken axle groaned
aloud under the burden of the awful goddess and the hero;
Pallas Minerva took the whip and reins, and drove straight
at Mars. He was in the act of stripping huge Periphas, son
of Ochesius and bravest of the Aetolians. Bloody Mars was
stripping him of his armour, and Minerva donned the hel-
met of Hades, that he might not see her; when, therefore,
he saw Diomed, he made straight for him and let Periphas
lie where he had fallen. As soon as they were at close quar-
ters he let fly with his bronze spear over the reins and yoke,
thinking to take Diomed’s life, but Minerva caught the
spear in her hand and made it fly harmlessly over the chari-
ot. Diomed then threw, and Pallas Minerva drove the spear
into the pit of Mars’s stomach where his under-girdle went
round him. There Diomed wounded him, tearing his fair
flesh and then drawing his spear out again. Mars roared as
loudly as nine or ten thousand men in the thick of a fight,
and the Achaeans and Trojans were struck with panic, so
terrible was the cry he raised.
As a dark cloud in the sky when it comes on to blow af-
ter heat, even so did Diomed son of Tydeus see Mars ascend
into the broad heavens. With all speed he reached high
Olympus, home of the gods, and in great pain sat down be-
side Jove the son of Saturn. He showed Jove the immortal
blood that was flowing from his wound, and spoke piteous-
ly, saying, ‘Father Jove, are you not angered by such doings?
We gods are continually suffering in the most cruel manner

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