Lines 665-690
APOLLO:
Here is the truth, I tell you - see how right I am.
The woman you call the mother of the child is not the parent, just a nurse to the seed, the
new-sown seed that grows and swells inside her. The man is the source of life - the one who
mounts. She, like a stranger for a stranger, keeps
the shoot alive unless god hurts the roots.
I give you proof that all I say is true.
The father can father forth without a mother.
Here she stands, our living witness. Look -
Exhibiting ATHENA.
Child sprung full-blown from Olympian Zeus,
never bred in the darkness of the womb but such a stock no goddess could conceive!
And I, Pallas, with all my strong techniques
will rear your host and battlements to glory.
So I dispatched this suppliant to your hearth
that he might be your trusted friend for ever,
that you might win a new ally, dear goddess.
He and his generations arm-in-arm with yours,
your bonds stand firm for all posterity
Athena:
Now have we heard enough? May I have them cast
their honest lots as conscience may decide?
Leader:
For us, we have shot our arrows, every one. I wait to hear how this ordeal will end.
Athena:
Of course. And what can I do to merit your respect?
Apollo: You have heard what you have heard.