Homer, Iliad

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Then made answer to her Aphrodite, daughter of Zeus:Hera, queenly goddess, daughter of great Cronos, [195] speak what is in thy mind; my heart bids me fulfill it, if fulfill it I can, and it is a thing that hath fulfillment. Then with crafty thought spake to her queenly Hera:Give me now love and desire, wherewith thou art wont to subdue all immortals and mortal men. [200] For I am faring to visit the limits of the all-nurturing earth, and Oceanus, from whom the gods are sprung, and mother Tethys, even them that lovingly nursed and cherished me in their halls, when they had taken me from Rhea, what time Zeus, whose voice is borne afar, thrust Cronos down to dwell beneath earth and the unresting sea. [205] Them am I faring to visit, and will loose for them their endless strife, since now for a long time's space they hold aloof one from the other from the marriage-bed and from love, for that wrath hath come upon their hearts. If by words I might but persuade the hearts of these twain, and bring them back to be joined together in love, [210] ever should I be called dear by them and worthy of reverence. To her again spake in answer laughter-loving Aphrodite:It may not be that I should say thee nay, nor were it seemly; for thou sleepest in the arms of mightiest Zeus. She spake, and loosed from her bosom the broidered zone, [215] curiously-wrought, wherein are fashioned all manner of allurements; therein is love, therein desire, therein dalliance--beguilement that steals the wits even of the wise. This she laid in her hands, and spake, and addressed her:Take now and lay in thy bosom this zone, [220] curiously-wrought, wherein all things are fashioned; I tell thee thou shalt not return with that unaccomplished, whatsoever in thy heart thou desirest. So spake she, and ox-eyed, queenly Hera smiled, and smiling laid the zone in her bosom. She then went to her house, the daughter of Zeus, Aphrodite, [225] but Hera darted down and left the peak of Olympus; on Pieria she stepped and lovely Emathia, and sped over the snowy mountains of the Thracian horsemen, even over their topmost peaks, nor grazed she the ground with her feet; and from Athos she stepped upon the billowy sea, [230] and so came to Lemnos, the city of godlike Thoas. There she met Sleep, the brother of Death; and she clasped him by the hand, and spake and addressed him: Sleep, lord of all gods and of all men, if ever thou didst hearken to word of mine, so do thou even now obey, [235] and I will owe thee thanks all my days. Lull me to sleep the bright eyes of Zeus beneath his brows, so soon as I shall have lain me by his side in love. And gifts will I give thee, a fair throne, ever imperishable, wrought of gold, that Hephaestus, mine own son, [240] the god of the two strong arms, shall fashion thee with skill, and beneath it shall he set a foot-stool for the feet, whereon thou mayest rest thy shining feet when thou quaffest thy wine.

There are a total of 22 comments on and cross references to this page.

Cross references from Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898):
hellas [Hellas]

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This text is based on the following book(s):
Homer. The Iliad with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924.
OCLC: 38101377
ISBN: 0674991885, 0674991893

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