Verse
Iliad
Book 13, Line 345 by Samuel Butler (English)
Thus did the two mighty sons of Kronos devise evil for mortal heroes. Zeus was minded to give victory to the Trojans and to Hektor, so as to do honor to fleet Achilles, nevertheless he did not mean to utterly overthrow the Achaean host before Ilion , and only wanted to glorify Thetis and her valiant son. Poseidon on the other hand went about among the Argives to incite them, having come up from the gray sea in secret, for he was grieved at seeing them vanquished by the Trojans, and was furiously angry with Zeus. Both were of the same race and country, but Zeus was elder born and knew more, therefore Poseidon feared to defend the Argives openly, but in the likeness of man, he kept on encouraging them throughout their host. Thus, then, did these two devise a knot of war and battle, that none could unloose or break, and set both sides tugging at it, to the failing of men's knees beneath them.
IliadBook 13, Line 345Samuel ButlerEnglishVerse permalinkRead in Book 13
HomerProseID iliad-iliad-butler-en-prose-13-345