"If not at once,
Yet soon or late will Jove assert their claim,
And heavy penalty the perjured pay
With their own blood, their children's, and their wives'." [936]
At the same time the belief is expressed that the gods may be, and often are, propitiated by prayers and sacrifices, and thus the penalty is remitted.
"The Gods themselves, in virtue, honor, strength,
Excelling thee, may yet be mollified;
For they when mortals have transgressed, or fail'd
To do aright, by sacrifice and pray'r,
Libations and burnt-off'rings, may be sooth'd." [937]