Page 294 - the-iliad

me, let him consider well whether he is strong enough to
hold his own against me if I attack him. I am older and
much stronger than he is; yet he is not afraid to set him-
self up as on a level with myself, of whom all the other gods
stand in awe.’
Iris, fleet as the wind, obeyed him, and as the cold hail
or snowflakes that fly from out the clouds before the blast
of Boreas, even so did she wing her way till she came close
up to the great shaker of the earth. Then she said, ‘I have
come, O dark-haired king that holds the world in his em-
brace, to bring you a message from Jove. He bids you leave
off fighting, and either join the company of the gods or go
down into the sea; if, however, you take no heed and dis-
obey him, he says he will come down here and fight you.
He would have you keep out of his reach, for he is older and
much stronger than you are, and yet you are not afraid to
set yourself up as on a level with himself, of whom all the
other gods stand in awe.’
Neptune was very angry and said, ‘Great heavens! strong
as Jove may be, he has said more than he can do if he has
threatened violence against me, who am of like honour
with himself. We were three brothers whom Rhea bore to
Saturn—Jove, myself, and Hades who rules the world below.
Heaven and earth were divided into three parts, and each
of us was to have an equal share. When we cast lots, it fell
to me to have my dwelling in the sea for evermore; Hades
took the darkness of the realms under the earth, while air
and sky and clouds were the portion that fell to Jove; but
earth and great Olympus are the common property of all.