And then the homeward journey of the Greeks would have begun too soon, before due time, if Hera had not spoken to Athena. She said, “This is disastrous! Look, Athena, unwearied child of aegis-bearing Zeus! Those Greeks will sail back home to their own country, riding the broad sea’s back, and leaving Helen 160 for Priam and the Trojans to gloat over! 190 So many Greeks have died for her at Troy, so distant from their own dear native lands. Now mingle with the bronze-clad warrior Greeks and coax each man with mollifying words. They must not drag those curving ships to sea.”
