Smiling she |answered in |turn, that |chaste Tri|tonid A|thené:
‘Dear unto |me, no |less than to |thee, is the |wedlock of |heroes;
Dear, who can |worthily |win him a |wife not un|worthy; and |noble,
Pure with the |pure to be|get brave |children, the |like of their |father.

Happy, who |thus stands |linked to the |heroes who |were, and who |shall be;
Girdled with |holiest |awe, not |sparing of |self; for his |mother
Watches his |steps with the |eyes of the |gods; and his |wife and his |children
Move him to |plan and to |do in the |farm and the |camp and the |council.
Thence comes |weal to a |nation: but |woe upon |woe, when the |people
Mingle in |love at their |will, like the |brutes, not |heeding the |future.’

Then from her |gold-strung |loom, where she |wrought in her |chamber of |cedar,
Awful and |fair she a|rose; and she |went by the |glens of O|lympus;
Went by the |isles of the |sea, and the |wind never |ruffled her |mantle;
Went by the |water of |Crete, and the |black-beaked |fleets of the |Phœnics;
came to the |sea-girt |rock which is |washed by the |surges for |ever,
Bearing the |wealth of the |gods, for a |gift to the |bride of a |hero.

There she met |Androme|den and |Persea, |shaped like I|mmortals;
Solemn and |sweet was her |smile, while their |hearts beat |loud at her |coming;
Solemn and |sweet was her |smile, as she |spoke to the |pair in her |wisdom.

‘Three things |hold we, the |Rulers, who |sit by the |founts of O|lympus,
Wisdom, and |prowess, and |beauty; and |freely we |pour them on |mortals;
Pleased at our |image in |man as |father at |his in his |children.
One thing |only we |grudge to man|kind, when a |hero, un|thankful,
Boasts of our |gifts as his |own, stiff|necked, and dis|honours the |givers,
Turning our |weapons a|gainst us. |Him Até |follows a|venging;
Slowly she |tracks him and |sure, as a |lyme-hound |sudden she |grips him,
Crushing him, |blind in his |pride, for a |sign and a |terror to |folly.
This we a|venge, as is |fit; in all |else never |weary of |giving.
Come then, |damsel, and |know if the |gods grudge |pleasure to |mortals.’

Loving and |gentle she |spoke: but the |maid stood in |awe, as the |goddess
Plaited with |soft swift |finger her |tresses, and |decked her in |jewels,
Armlet and |anklet and |earbell; and |over her |shoulders a |necklace,
Heavy, e|namelled, the |flower of the |gold and the |brass of the |mountain.
Trembling with |joy she |gazed, so |well Haph|aistos had |made it,
Deep in the |forges of |Ætna, while |Charis his |lady be|side him,
Mingled her |grace in his |craft, as he |wrought for his |sister A|thené.

Then on the |brows of the |maiden a |veil bound |Pallas A|thené;
Ample it |fell to her |feet, deep-|fringed, a |wonder of |weaving.
Ages and |ages a|gone it was |wrought on the |heights of O|lympus,
Wrought in the |gold-strung |loom, by the |finger of |cunning A|thené.
In it she |wove all |creatures that |teem in the |womb of the |ocean;
Nereid, |siren, and |triton, and |dolphin, and |arrowy |fishes
Glittering |round, many|-hued, on the |flame-red |folds of the |mantle.
In it she |wove, too, a |town where |grey-haired |kings sat in |judgment;
Sceptre in |hand in the |market they |sat, doing |right by the |people,
Wise: while a|bove watched |Justice, and |near, far-|seeing A|pollo.
Round it she |wove for a |fringe all |herbs of the |earth and the |water,
Violet, |asphodel, |ivy, and |vine-leaves, |roses and |lilies,
Coral and |sea-fan, and |tangle, the |blooms and the |palms of the |ocean:
Now from O|lympus she |bore it, a |dower to the |bride of a |hero.

Over the |limbs of the |damsel she |wrapt it: the |maid still |trembled,
Shading her |face with her |hands; for the |eyes of the |goddess were |awful.