τὴνδ' ἀπαμειβόμενος προσεφώνεε, νήδυμος Ὕπνος:
Ἥρη. πρέσβα θεὰ, θύγατερ μεγάλοιο Κρόνοιο.
ἄλλον μέν κεν ἔγωγε θεῶν αἰειγενετάων
ῥεῖα κατευνήσαιμι: καὶ ἂν ποταμοῖο ῥέεθρα
Ὠκεανοῦ. ὅς περ γένεσις πάντεσσι τέτυκται:
Ζηνὸς δ' οὐκ ἂν ἔγωγε Κρονίονος άσσον ἰ̈κοίμην,
οὐδὲ κατευνήσαιμ' ὅτε μὴ αὐτός γε κελεύοι:
ἤδη γάρ με καὶ ἄλλο, τεὴ ἐπίνυσσεν ἐφετμὴ.
ἤματι, τῷ: ὅτε, κεῖνος ὑπέρθυμος Διὸς υἱὸς
ἔπλεεν, Ἰλιόθεν. Τρώων πόλιν ἐξαλαπάξας.
ἤτοι ἐγὼ μὲν ἔλεξα Διὸς νόον αἰγιόχοιο
νήδυμος ἀμφιχυθείς: σὺ δέ οἱ, κακὰ μήσαο θυμῷ.
ὄρσασ' ἀργαλέων ἀνέμων ἐπι πόντον ἀήτας,
καί μιν ἔπειτα Κόων δ' εὖ ναιομένην ἀπένεικας
νόσφι, φίλων πάντων. ὁ δ' ἐπεγρόμενος, χαλέπαινε
ῥιπτάζων κατα δῶμα θεοὺς: ἐμὲ δ' ἔξοχα πάντων
ζήτει: καί κέ μ' ἄϊστον ἀπ' αἰθέρος ἔμβαλε πόντῳ.
εἰ μὴ Νὺξ δμήτειρα θεῶν ἐσάωσε καὶ ἀνδρῶν:
τὴν ϊκόμην φεύγων. ὁ δ' ἐπαύσατο χωόμενός περ,
ἅζετο γὰρ, μὴ Νυκτὶ θοῇ ἀποθύμια ἔρδοι:
νῦν αὖ, τοῦτό μ' ἄνωγας ἀμήχανον ἄλλο τελέσσαι.
τὸνδ' αὖτε προσέειπε βοῶπις πότνια Ἥρη:
Ὕπνε. τί ὴ δὲ σὺ ταῦτα μετα φρεσὶ σῇσι μενοινᾶς:
ῆ φῂς. ὡς Τρώεσσιν ἀρηξέμεν εὐρύοπα ζῆ
ν' ὡς Ἡρακλῆος περιχώσατο παιδὸς ἑοῖο
ἂλλ' ἴ̈θ', ἐγὼ δέ κέ τοι Χαρίτων μίαν ὁπλοτεράων
δώσω ὀπυιέμεναι, καὶ σὴν κεκλῆσθαι ἄκοιτιν:
Then sweet Sleep made answer to her, saying: "Hera, queenly goddess, daughter of great Cronos, another of the gods, that are for ever, might I lightly lull to sleep, aye, were it even the streams of the river Oceanus, from whom they all are sprung; but to Zeus, son of Cronos, will I not draw nigh, neither lull him to slumber, unless of himself he bid me. For ere now in another matter did a behest of thine teach me a lesson, on the day when the glorious son of Zeus, high of heart, sailed forth from Ilios, when he had laid waste the city of the Trojans. I, verily, beguiled the mind of Zeus, that beareth the aegis, being shed in sweetness round about him, and thou didst devise evil in thy heart against his son, when thou hadst roused the blasts of cruel winds over the face of the deep, and thereafter didst bear him away unto well-peopled Cos, far from all his kinsfolk. But Zeus, when he awakened, was wroth, and flung the gods hither and thither about his palace, and me above all he sought, and would have hurled me from heaven into the deep to be no more seen, had Night not saved me—Night that bends to her sway both gods and men. To her I came in my flight, and besought her, and Zeus refrained him, albeit he was wroth, for he had awe lest he do aught displeasing to swift Night. And now again thou biddest me fulfill this other task, that may nowise be done."
