Day 67: Hephaestus Intercedes

Lines 573-89
"ῆ δὴ λοίγια ἔργα τάδ' ἔσσεται οὐδ ἀνεκτά,
εἰ δὴ σφω' ἕνεκα θνητῶν ἐριδαίνετον ὧδε,
ἐν δὲ θεοῖσι κολῳὸν ἐλαύετον· οὐδέ τι δαιτὸς
ἐσθλῆς ἔσσεται ἦδος, ἐπεὶ τὰ χερείονα νικᾷ.
μητρὶ δ' ἐγὼ παράφημι, καὶ αὐτῇ περ νοεούσῃ,
πατρὶ φίλῳ ἐπὶ ἦρα φέρειν Διί, ὄφρα μὴ αὖτε
νεικείῃσι πατήρ, σὺν δ' ἡμῖν δαῖτα ταράξῃ.
εἴ περ γάρ κ' ἐθέλῃσιν Ὀλύμπιος ἀστεροπητὴς
ἐξ ἐδέων στυφελίξαι· ὁ γὰρ πολὺ φέρτατός ἐστιν.
ἀλλὰ σὺ τόν γ' ἐπέεσσι καθάπτεσθαι μαλακοῖσιν."

ὧς ἄρ ἔφη, καὶ ἀναΐξας δέπας ἀμφικύπελλον
μητρὶ φίλῃ χειρὶ τίθει, καὶ μιν προσέειπεν·
"τέτλαθι, μῆτερ ἐμή, καὶ ἀνάσχεο, κηδομένη περ,
μή σε φίλην περ ἐοῦσαν ἐν ὀφθαλοῖσιν ἴδωμαι
θεινομένην· τότε δ' οὔ τι δυνήσομαι ἀχνύμενός περ
χραισομεῖν· ἀργαλέος γὰρ Ὀλύμπιος ἀντιφέρεσθαι.





"Indeed this will be a nasty mess, nor will it be bearable
If you two quarrel so on account of mortals,
And carry on this wrangling among the gods, nor will it be any use
For such a noble feast, since things will be worse if this prevails.
So I advise you mother, though you yourself must know,
To bring kindness to our dear father Zeus, so that
He may not strive with us anew and ruin the feast.
For if the Olympian who hurls the lightning should desire
To send us from our seats... For he is by far the most powerful among us,
But address him please with soft and gentle words
Then soon the Olympian will be kindly towards us."

Thus he spoke, and darted up and brought the double sided cup
In hand to his dear mother and addressed her:
"Take courage my mother, and endure the great affliction;
Let not me see you who are so to dear to me
Struck down before my eyes. And then I, though grieving,
Will not be able to give you any aid; for it is an awful thing
To oppose the Olympian.



Pharr here makes an interesting point about how Hepahaestus plays the same role in the squabble between Zeus and Hera that Nestor attempted to play in the quarrel between Agamemnon and Achilles, though to infinitely better reviews. In fact I think that this whole section of the wrangling among the gods is a parody of the quarrel between the two heroes on the beach at Troy. But the key difference here is that the gods are immortal and men are not. This means that the gods never really have to suffer the consequences of their actions. Even for all his threats, what can Zeus really do to Hera besides cause her temporary discomfort that will be alleviated and forgotten once his anger abates, as it usually does rather quickly. After all Achilles recalled the story of the revolt of the gods to his mother, which had this occurred in the world of men all the perpetrators would have been hanged and their bodies displayed at the city gate, yet here they all are feasting with one another and their only concern seems to be that Zeus anger might ruin that feast. The contrast between the frivolity of the gods and the sternness of mortal men is astounding here and this I think is one of the main themes of the epic.