daughter of Tyndareus, justly counted among the captives. And if you would see that queen of misery, Hecuba, you can; for there she lies before the gates, weeping many tears for many sorrows; at Achilles’ tomb, without her knowledge, her daughter Polyxena has died most piteously; Priam is gone, and her children too; Cassandra, whom the lord Apollo left to be a virgin, frenzied maid, has been forced by Agamemnon, in contempt of the god’s ordinance and of piety, to a dishonored wedlock. Farewell, O city once prosperous! farewell, you ramparts of polished stone! if Pallas, daughter of Zeus, had not decreed your ruin, you would be standing firmly still.AthenaMay I address the mighty god whom the gods revere and who to my own father is very near in blood, laying aside our former enmity?PoseidonYou may; for over the soul the ties of kin exert no feeble spell, great queen Athena.AthenaFor your forgiving mood my thanks! I have messages to impart affecting both yourself and me, lord.PoseidonDo you bring fresh tidings from some god, from Zeus, or from some lesser power?AthenaFrom none of these; but on behalf of Troy, whose soil we tread, I have come to seek your mighty aid, to make it one with mine.PoseidonWhat! have you laid your former hate aside to take compassion on the town now that it is burnt to ashes?AthenaFirst go back to the former point; will you make common cause with me in the scheme I purpose?PoseidonYes, surely; but I want to learn your wishes, whether you have come to help Achaeans or Phrygians.AthenaI wish to give my former foes, the Trojans, joy, and on the Achaean army impose a bitter return.PoseidonWhy do you leap thus from mood to mood? Your love and hate both go too far, on whomever centred.AthenaDo you not know the insult done to me and to the shrine I love?PoseidonI do: when Aias dragged away Cassandra by force.AthenaYes, and the Achaeans did nothing, said nothing to him.