“O Father Jove, canst thou behold unmov’d These acts of violence? the greatest ills We Gods endure, we each to other owe Who still in human quarrels interpose. Of thee we all complain; thy senseless child Is ever on some evil deed intent. The other Gods, who on Olympus dwell, Are all to thee obedient and submiss; But thy pernicious daughter, nor by word Nor deed dost thou restrain; who now excites Th’ o’erbearing son of Tydeus, Diomed, Upon th’ immortal Gods to vent his rage. Venus of late he wounded in the wrist, And, as a God, but now encounter’d me: Barely I ’scap’d by swiftness of my feet; Else, ’mid a ghastly heap of corpses slain, In anguish had I lain; and, if alive, Yet liv’d disabl’d by his weapon’s stroke.” Whom answer’d thus the Cloud-compeller, Jove, With look indignant: “Come no more to me, Thou wav’ring turncoat, with thy whining pray’rs: Of all the Gods who on Olympus dwell I hate thee most; for thou delight’st in nought But strife and war; thou hast inherited Thy mother, Juno’s, proud, unbending mood, Whom I can scarce control; and thou, methinks, To her suggestions ow’st thy present plight. Yet since thou art my offspring, and to me Thy mother bore thee, I must not permit That thou should’st long be doom’d to suffer pain; But had thy birth been other than it is, For thy misdoings thou hadst long ere now Been banish’d from the Gods’ companionship.” He said: and straight to Paeon gave command To heal the wound; with soothing anodynes He heal’d it quickly; soon as liquid milk Is curdled by the fig-tree’s juice, and turns In whirling flakes, so soon was heal’d the wound. By Hebe bath’d, and rob’d afresh, he sat In health and strength restor’d, by Saturn’s son. Mars thus arrested in his murd’rous course, Together to th’ abode of Jove return’d The Queen of Argos and the blue-ey’d Maid. ARGUMENT. THE EPISODES OF GLAUCUS AND DIOMED, AND OF HECTOR AND ANDROMACHE. The gods having left the field, the Grecians prevail. Helenus, the chief augur of Troy, commands Hector to return to the city, in order to appoint a solemn procession of the Queen and the Trojan matrons to the temple of Minerva, to entreat her to remove Diomed from the fight. The battle relaxing during the absence of Hector, Glaucus and Diomed have an interview between the two armies; where, coming to the knowledge of the friendship and hospitality past between their ancestors, they make exchange of their arms. Hector, having performed the orders of Helenus, prevailed upon Paris to return to the battle, and taken a tender leave of his wife Andromache, hastens again to the field. The scene is first in the field of battle, between the rivers Simois and Scamander, and then changes to Troy. BOOK VI. The Gods had left the field, and o’er the plain Hither and thither surg’d the tide of war, As couch’d th’ opposing chiefs their brass-tipp’d spears, Midway ’twixt Simois’ and Scamander’s streams.