While the Greeks armed themselves by their ships Around you, Achilles, the vortex of war, And while the Trojans waited for them on the high plain, Zeus ordered Themis to call the gods to assembly. She ranged far along Olympus’ ridgeline, Commanding them to come to the house of Zeus. They all came—every last river (except Ocean) And every last spirit-woman who ever haunted A pretty copse, spring, or meadow— [10] They all came to the house of Zeus in the clouds And sat in the stone colonnades that Hephaestus, The master architect, had built for his father.
