In anguish he threw the weapon away, when a sudden gust

Of wind came and snatched it up and gave it back to Apollo

On his way to Zeus’s hallowed ground, for it could not be

That a deathless bolt should go missing from a deathless god.

Apollo caught it and quickly gained the height of Olympos,

The general assembly of the immortals, the place where most

They gathered in force to watch the fighting of mortal men.

Some were eager to grant a triumph to the Trojans

And others to the Danaans. Such was their division

As they viewed the killing and dying in the battle.

As soon as Zeus’s wise consort caught sight of him

She reproached him with these words of bitterness:

“Phoibos, what monstrous crime have you committed today,

Forgetful of that marriage which we immortals ourselves

Arranged for godlike Peleus? Amid the dining gods

Your sweet song told how Thetis of the silver feet

Left the depths of the sea to be the bride of Peleus.

As you played the lyre all creatures came together:

The savage beasts and birds, the hills with towering crags,

The rivers and all the deeply shaded forest came.

You’ve forgotten all that and done a heartless thing

In killing a great man, one who you and the other immortals,

Pouring libations of nectar, prayed would be the son

Of Peleus by Thetis. You’ve forgotten that prayer of yours

Just to oblige the race of the tyrant Laomedon,

For whom you kept the cattle. Mortal though he was,

He troubled you who are a god. You’re fool enough

To forget your former labor and oblige the Trojans.

You wretch, is your pitiful mind unable to see

Which man for his wickedness deserves to suffer

And which the gods should hold in honor? For Achilles

Was well disposed to us and belonged to our race.

But I don’t think the Trojans’ labor will be lighter

For the fall of Aiakos’ grandson, because his son

Shall very soon come from Skyros to help the Argives

In this harsh and bitter conflict, in his strength

His father’s equal, bringing disaster to many a foe.

You’re not really concerned for the Trojans, but are envious

Of Achilles’ greatness as the best of men.

You fool, how will you face the daughter of Nereus now,

When she comes to the house of Zeus to join the immortals?

She used to honor you and regard you as her son.”

Thus did Hera in her bitterness sharply rebuke

The son of almighty Zeus. He answered her not a word

Because of his respect for his powerful father’s spouse.

He couldn’t so much as look her in the face,

But sat apart from the gods who live forever,

His eyes upon the ground. Resentment against him was strong

From all the Olympian gods who supported the Danaan cause,