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LXIII.
Beware, for Gods by mortal Arms may smart,
And Wounds, and Pain, and Shame have oft endur'd.
Juno and Pluto felt Alcides' Dart,
Whom Pæons healing Medicines hardly cur'd.
625 Otus and Ephialtes dar'd confine,
Ev'n Me, for thirteen Moons in Prison bound;
Till Hermes stole me thence, sly Thief divine.
Nor Jove[1] had milder Fate from Pallas found,
Had not a Giant timely Succour giv'n,
630 By Men Ægæon call'd, but Briareus in Heav'n.
Beware, for Gods by mortal Arms may smart,
And Wounds, and Pain, and Shame have oft endur'd.
Juno and Pluto felt Alcides' Dart,
Whom Pæons healing Medicines hardly cur'd.
625 Otus and Ephialtes dar'd confine,
Ev'n Me, for thirteen Moons in Prison bound;
Till Hermes stole me thence, sly Thief divine.
Nor Jove[1] had milder Fate from Pallas found,
Had not a Giant timely Succour giv'n,
630 By Men Ægæon call'd, but Briareus in Heav'n.
- ↑ v. 628. Nor Jove.] Thetis brought up this Succour to Jupiter; that is, the watry Element taking its natural Place, put an end to that Combat of the Elements, which is signified by the Wars of the Gods.
- ↑ v. 632. From Dangers.] Tully and Longinus, say Homer, makes Mortals of his Gods, not of the inferior ones only. Pythagoras and Plato tax him with Impiety on this Account, in whose Times the Gods were reckon'd altogether as corporeal as in our Poet's Age. Bossu owns the learned Men of Antiquity, either out of Pride, Envy, or Error, have gone upon wrong Grounds in a Matter of the highest Importance, and deceiv'd almost all Mankind with deform'd and dangerous Figures, instead of necessary and solid Truths.
Minerva
