Iliad 14.150-222

Standing on a crag of Olympus
Gold-throned Hera saw her brother, 150
Who was her husband’s brother too,
Busy on the fields of human glory,
And her heart sang. Then she saw Zeus
Sitting on the topmost peak of Ida
And was filled with resentment. Cow-eyed Hera 155
Mused for a while on how to trick
The mind of Zeus Aegis-Holder,
And the plan that seemed best to her
Was to make herself up and go to Ida,
Seduce him, and then shed on his eyelids
And cunning mind a sleep gentle and warm.
She went to the bedroom her darling son
Hephaestus had built for her, and closed
Behind her the solid, polished doors
He had fitted out with a secret latch
And that no other god could open.
First she cleansed her lovely skin
With ambrosia, then rubbed on scented oil
So immortally perfumed that if the jar
Were just shaken in Zeus’ bronze-floored house
The fragrance would spread to heaven and earth.
She rubbed this into her beautiful skin,
And she combed her hair and plaited
The lustrous, ambrosial locks that fell
Gorgeously from her immortal head.
Then she put on a robe that Athena
Had embroidered for her, pinning it
At her breast with brooches of gold.
A sash with a hundred tassels
Circled her waist, and in her pierced ears
She put earrings with three mulberry drops
Beguilingly bright. And the shining goddess
Veiled over everything with a beautiful veil
That was as white as the sun, and bound
Lovely sandals on her oiled, supple feet.

When everything was perfect, she stepped
Out of her room and called Aphrodite
And had a word with her in private:

“My dear child, will you do something for me,
I wonder, or will you refuse, angry because
I favor the Greeks and you the Trojans?”

And Zeus’ daughter Aphrodite replied:

“Goddess revered as Cronus’ daughter,
Speak your mind. Tell me what you want
And I’ll oblige you if I possibly can.”

And Hera, with every intention to deceive:

“Give me now the Sex and Desire
You use to subdue immortals and humans.
I’m off to visit the ends of the earth
And Father Ocean and Mother Tethys
Who nursed and doted on me in their house
When they got me from Rhea, after Zeus
Had exiled Cronus to the regions below.
I’m going to see them and try to resolve
Their endless quarrel. For eons now
They’ve been angry and haven’t made love.
If I can talk to them and have them make up—
And get them together in bed again—
They will worship the ground I walk on."

And Aphrodite, who loved to smile:

“How could I, or would I, refuse someone
Who sleeps in the arms of almighty Zeus?”

And with that she unbound from her breast
An ornate sash inlaid with magical charms.
Sex is in it, and Desire, and seductive
Sweet Talk, that fools even the wise.
She handed it to Hera and said:

“Here, put this sash in your bosom.
It has everything built in. I predict
You will accomplish what your heart desires.”

She spoke, and ox-eyed Hera,
Smiling, tucked the sash in her bosom.

[... Hera then makes her way to Ida]

Hera was fast approaching Gargarus,
Ida’s highest peak, when Zeus saw her.
And when he saw her, lust enveloped him,
Just as it had the first time they made love,
Slipping off to bed behind their parents’ backs.
He stood close to her and said:

“Hera, why have you left Olympus?
And where are your horses and chariot?”

And Hera, with every intention to deceive:

“I’m off to visit the ends of the earth
And Father Ocean and Mother Tethys
Who nursed and doted on me in their house.
I’m going to see them and try to resolve
Their endless quarrel. For eons now
They’ve been angry and haven’t made love.
My horses stand at the foot of Ida,
Ready to bear me over land and sea.
I came here from Olympus for your sake,
So you wouldn’t be upset that I left
To visit Ocean without a word to you.”

And Zeus, clouds scudding about him:

“You can go there later just as well.
Let’s get in bed now and make love.
No goddess or woman has ever
Made me feel so overwhelmed with lust,
Not even when I fell for Ixion's wife,
Who bore Peirithous, wise as a god;
Or Danae, with lovely, slim ankles,
Who bore Perseus, a paragon of men;
Or the daughter of far-famed Phoenix,
Who bore Minos and godlike Rhadamanthus;
Or Semele; or Alcmene in Thebes,
Who bore Heracles, a stouthearted son;
And Semele bore Dionysus, a joy to humans;
Or Demeter, the fair-haired queen;
Or glorious Leto; or even you—
I’ve never loved anyone as I love you now,
Never been in the grip of desire so sweet.”

And Hera, with every intention to deceive:

“What a thing to say, my awesome lord.
The thought of us lying down here on Ida
And making love outdoors in broad daylight!
What if one of the Immortals saw us
Asleep, and went to all the other gods
And told them? I could never get up
And go back home. It would be shameful.
But if you really do want to do this,
There is the bedroom your dear son Hephaestus
Built for you, with good solid doors. Let’s go
There and lie down, since you’re in the mood.”

And Zeus, who masses the clouds, replied:

“Hera, don’t worry about any god or man
Seeing us. I’ll enfold you in a cloud so dense
And golden not even Helios could spy on us,
And his light is the sharpest vision there is."

With that he caught his wife in his arms.
Beneath them the shining soil sprouted
Fresh grass, and dewy lotus, and crocus,
And hyacinth, soft and thick, that kept them
Up off the ground. And as they lay there
A beautiful, golden cloud enfolded them
And precipitated drops of glimmering dew.

And so the Father slept soundly on Gargaron’s peak,
Mastered by Sleep and Love, and held his wife close.