Next the queen of goddesses placed on her headĪ fine new dazzling shawl, white as the sun. Hera then fixed earrings in her pierced ear lobes,Įach with three gemstones, an enchanting glitter. On her waist she put a belt with a hundred tassels. She pinned the robe around her breast with golden brooches. Which Athena made for her from silky fabric, Then she wrapped around herself a heavenly robe, With her own hands she combed her shining locks in braids,Ī stunning style for an immortal goddess. She used this perfume 210Īll over her fair body, then arranged her hair. Inside Zeus’s bronze-floored house, its scent would then diffuse Then rubbed her skin with fragrant oil, divinely sweet, She washed from her lovely body all the stains, Set against their posts, secured with a secret lock, Her dear son, had made for her, with close-fitting doors She went off to her bedroom, which Hephaestus,

On his eyelids and his crafty mind a deep warm sleep. Then see if Zeus would want to lie down with her,Įmbrace her, and make love. To make herself look most attractive, go to Ida, In her heart the best course of action seemed to be How she might deceive the mind of aegis-bearing Zeus. So ox-eyed queen Hera then began considering Sitting on the highest peak on top of Ida, She recognized her brother-in-law at once,Īs he kept busy in the war where men win glory,įor he was her brother and her husband’s, too. Hera of the golden throne was standing watching. Hera now decides to seduce Zeus and then have Hypnos (Sleep) make Zeus fall asleep so that Poseidon can continue help the Greeks for as long as possible.Īs this was happening, on a peak of Mount Olympus The gods are furious, and Poseidon, in disguise, is already helping the Greek, ignoring Zeus’s order. Zeus is now watching the battle from the top of Mount Ida, just outside Troy.

In this section of the Iliad, Zeus has forbidden the pro-Greek gods (among them Hera, Athena, and Poseidon) to intervene by helping the Greeks in the battle against the Trojans. Johnston’s complete translation of the Iliad can be found at: Homer, Iliad, book 14, lines 185-419, translated by Ian Johnston, 2019.

The iliad ian johnston