Page 292 - the-iliad

hear the wicked designs which he has avowed. Many a one,
mortal and immortal, will be angered by them, however
peaceably he may be feasting now.’
On this Juno sat down, and the gods were troubled
throughout the house of Jove. Laughter sat on her lips but
her brow was furrowed with care, and she spoke up in a
rage. ‘Fools that we are,’ she cried, ‘to be thus madly an-
gry with Jove; we keep on wanting to go up to him and stay
him by force or by persuasion, but he sits aloof and cares
for nobody, for he knows that he is much stronger than any
other of the immortals. Make the best, therefore, of whatev-
er ills he may choose to send each one of you; Mars, I take it,
has had a taste of them already, for his son Ascalaphus has
fallen in battle—the man whom of all others he loved most
dearly and whose father he owns himself to be.’
When he heard this Mars smote his two sturdy thighs
with the flat of his hands, and said in anger, ‘Do not blame
me, you gods that dwell in heaven, if I go to the ships of
the Achaeans and avenge the death of my son, even though
it end in my being struck by Jove’s lightning and lying in
blood and dust among the corpses.’
As he spoke he gave orders to yoke his horses Panic and
Rout, while he put on his armour. On this, Jove would have
been roused to still more fierce and implacable enmity
against the other immortals, had not Minerva, alarmed for
the safety of the gods, sprung from her seat and hurried
outside. She tore the helmet from his head and the shield
from his shoulders, and she took the bronze spear from his
strong hand and set it on one side; then she said to Mars,

1