She spake, and laid her hand on Sthenelus, To draw him from the horses; instantly He leaped to earth; the indignant deity Took by the side of Diomed her place; The beechen axle groaned beneath the weight Of that great goddess and that man of might. Then Pallas seized the lash and caught the reins, And, urging the firm-footed coursers, drave Full against Mars, who at that moment slew Huge Periphas, the mightiest one of all The Aetolian band⁠—Ochesius’ famous son. While bloody-handed Mars was busy yet About the slain, Minerva hid her face In Pluto’s helmet, that the god might fail To see her. As that curse of humankind Beheld the approach of noble Diomed, He left the corpse of Periphas unspoiled Where he had fallen, and where he breathed his last, And came in haste to meet the Grecian knight. And now, when they were near, and face to face, Mars o’er the chariot-yoke and horses’ reins First hurled his brazen spear, in hope to take His enemy’s life; but Pallas with her hand Caught it and turned it, so that it flew by