he maiden, with plentiful gifts for Apollo;
But in the selfsame hour have his messengers left my pavilion,
Leading Briseis away, my award from the host of Achaia.
Therefore I call upon thee, if with thee be the power to assist me,
Up to Olympus to go, and to supplicate Zeus for thine offspring,
If, or by word or by deed, thou hast pleasur'd the heart of the Highest:
And I have heard thee of old, full oft, in the halls of my father,
Boast how of all the immortals thy ministry only avail'd him
Then when the rest of the Gods were combin'd for his humiliation,
Hera herself at the head, with Poseidon and Pallas Athena,
All in conspiracy swearing to fetter the Lord of the Black Cloud;
But thou, Goddess, approaching, wast able to rescue from bondage,
Summoning swiftly to join thee, and leading to lofty Olympus,
Him who is Briareus nam'd among men, by Immortals, AEgeon,
Him of the hundred hands, who surpasses his father[12] in puissance;
And by Kronion he sat in the pride of his glory rejoicing,
Filling with terror the Blest; for they saw and desisted from binding.
Sit by the side of the God, and remind him of this, and entreat him,
Grasping his knees, if perchance it may please him to succour the
Trojans,
Granting them back on the galleys to trample the sons of Achaia,
Scatter'd in dread, till they all have contentment enough of their
Captain--
Yea, till Atreides himself, Agamemnon, the chief in dominion,
Rues the infatuate pride that dishonour'd the best of Achaians."
Sad was the mother at hearing, and thus amid weeping she answer'd:--
"Woe to me! why did I bear thee, my child, in an hour of misfortune?
Would I could see thee nor harm'd by injustice nor yielding to sadness,
Here by the ships, since the days of thy doom are the few and the
fleeting!
Woe to me! both to a death premature and a sorrowful lifetime
Thee, in the darkness of Fate, did I bear in the house of thy father!
Surely thy word will I carry to thunder-delighting Kronion,
Up unto snowy Olympus, and prayer may prevail for persuasion.
Thou meanwhile for a season lie still by the Myrmidon galleys,
Hating the Danaeid host, and abstaining entirely from battle.
Yesterday forth-far'd Zeus to a feast with the AEthiops blameless,
Far over ocean's stream, and the rest of the Gods in attendance;
Twelve are the signified days ere again he returns to Olympus.
Instantly then will I pass t