And as he spake he threw his spear. Through nose and teeth and tongue it passed, and stood out below the chin. Headlong from the chariot he fell, and his armour clashed about him. Straightway Æneas leapt off with spear and shield to guard the body of his friend, and stood as a lion stands over a carcass. But Diomed lifted a great stone, such as two men of our day could scarcely carry, and cast it. It struck Æneas on the hip, crushing the bone. The hero stooped on his knee, clutching the ground with his hand, and darkness covered his eyes. That hour he would have perished, but his mother Aphrodite caught him in her white arms, and threw her veil about him. But even so, Diomed was loath to let his foe escape, and he rushed on her and wounded her on the wrist, and the blood gushed out--such blood as flows in the veins of the immortal gods, who eat not the meat and drink not the drink of men. With a loud shriek she dropped her son, but Apollo caught him up and covered him with a dark mist, lest perchance one of the Greeks should spy him and slay him. But Diomed called aloud after Aphrodite: "Haste thee from the battle, daughter of Zeus. It is enough for thee to beguile weak women." Wildly did the goddess rush from the battle. And Iris, swift as the winds, took her by the hand, and led her out of the press, for she was tormented with the pain. She found Ares on the left of the field, and knelt before him, begging for his horses with many prayers. "Help me, dear brother," she said, "and lend me thy horses to carry me to Olympus, for I am tormented with a wound which a mortal man gave me, even Diomed, who would fight with Father Zeus himself." A'-res. Then Ares gave her his chariot, and Iris took the reins, and touched the horses with the whip. Speedily came they to Olympus, and then Iris reined in the horses, and Aphrodite fell on the lap of her mother Dione, who took her daughter in her arms, and caressed her, saying:-- "Dear child, which of the immortals hath harmed thee thus?" Aphrodite answered, "No immortal hath done it, but a mortal man, even Diomed, who now fighteth with the immortal gods." But Dione answered: "Bear up and endure thy pain, for many who dwell in Olympus have suffered pain at the hands of mortal men." Di-o'-ne. So spake she, and wiped the moisture from the wound with both her hands, and the grievous hurt was healed. But Hera and Athene looked on and mocked. And Athene said to Zeus, "Now hath thy daughter been moving one of the Greek women to follow the Trojans whom she loveth so well, and lo! she hath wounded her hand with the pin of a golden brooch." But the father smiled, and called Aphrodite to him, and said, "My child, deeds of war are not for thee, but love and marriage; leave the rest to Athene and Ares."