Agrius; the second Melas; and the third Brave Oeneus, father of my father, famed For virtuous qualities above the rest.140 Oeneus still dwelt at home; but wandering thence My father dwelt in Argos; so the will Of Jove appointed, and of all the Gods. There he espoused the daughter of the King Adrastus, occupied a mansion rich145 In all abundance; many a field possess’d Of wheat, well-planted gardens, numerous flocks, And was expert in spearmanship esteem’d Past all the Grecians. I esteem’d it right That ye should hear these things, for they are true.150 Ye will not, therefore, as I were obscure And of ignoble origin, reject What I shall well advise. Expedience bids That, wounded as we are, we join the host. We will preserve due distance from the range155 Of spears and arrows, lest already gall’d, We suffer worse; but we will others urge To combat, who have stood too long aloof, Attentive only to their own repose. He spake, whom all approved, and forth they went,160 Imperial Agamemnon at their head. Nor watch’d the glorious Shaker of the shores In vain, but like a man time-worn approach’d, And, seizing Agamemnon’s better hand, In accents wing’d the monarch thus address’d.165 Atrides! now exults the vengeful heart Of fierce Achilles, viewing at his ease The flight and slaughter of Achaia’s host; For he is mad, and let him perish such, And may his portion from the Gods be shame!170 But as for thee, not yet the powers of heaven Thee hate implacable; the Chiefs of Troy Shall cover yet with cloudy dust the breadth Of all the plain, and backward from the camp To Ilium’s gates thyself shalt see them driven.175 He ceased, and shouting traversed swift the field. Loud as nine thousand or ten thousand shout In furious battle mingled, Neptune sent His voice abroad, force irresistible Infusing into every Grecian heart,180 And thirst of battle not to be assuaged. But Juno of the golden throne stood forth On the Olympian summit, viewing thence The field, where clear distinguishing the God Of ocean, her own brother, sole engaged185 Amid the glorious battle, glad was she. Seeing Jove also on the topmost point Of spring-fed Ida seated, she conceived Hatred against him, and thenceforth began Deliberate how best she might deceive190 The Thunderer, and thus at last resolved; Attired with skill celestial to descend On Ida, with a hope to allure him first Won by her beauty to a fond embrace, Then closing fast in balmy sleep profound195 His eyes, to elude his vigilance, secure. She sought her chamber; Vulcan her own son That chamber built. He framed the solid doors, And to the posts fast closed them with a key Mysterious, which, herself except, in heaven200 None understood. Entering she secured The splendid portal. First, she laved all o’er Her beauteous body with ambrosial lymph, Then polish’d it with richest oil divine Of boundless fragrance;[2] oil that in the courts205 Eternal only shaken, through the skies Breathed odors, and through all the distant earth.