Page 399 - the-iliad

BOOK XX

HUS, then, did the Achaeans arm by their ships round
Tyou, O son of Peleus, who were hungering for battle;
while the Trojans over against them armed upon the rise
of the plain.
Meanwhile Jove from the top of many-delled Olympus,
bade Themis gather the gods in council, whereon she went
about and called them to the house of Jove. There was not a
river absent except Oceanus, nor a single one of the nymphs
that haunt fair groves, or springs of rivers and meadows of
green grass. When they reached the house of cloud-com-
pelling Jove, they took their seats in the arcades of polished
marble which Vulcan with his consummate skill had made
for father Jove.
In such wise, therefore, did they gather in the house of
Jove. Neptune also, lord of the earthquake, obeyed the call
of the goddess, and came up out of the sea to join them.
There, sitting in the midst of them, he asked what Jove’s
purpose might be. ‘Why,’ said he, ‘wielder of the lightning,
have you called the gods in council? Are you considering
some matter that concerns the Trojans and Achaeans—for
the blaze of battle is on the point of being kindled between
them?’
And Jove answered, ‘You know my purpose, shaker of
earth, and wherefore I have called you hither. I take thought

The Iliad