And then did Neptune, he who shakes the earth, Make answer: “Juno, it becomes thee ill To be so greatly vexed. I cannot wish A contest with the other gods, though we In power excel them. Rather let us sit Apart, where we can look upon the war, And leave it to mankind. And yet if Mars Or Phoebus should begin the fight, or seek To thwart Achilles or restrain his arm, There will be cause for us to join the strife In earnest, and I deem that they full soon, The contest ended, will return to join The assembled gods upon the Olympian mount, Forced to withdraw by our all-potent hands.”