The purpose, Neptune, well thou know'st thyself
For which I called thee; true, they needs must die,
But still they claim my care.
And in other places (I. xxii. 168):—
A woful sight mine eyes behold: a man
I love in plight around the walls! my heart
For Hector grieves.
He refers to the royal dignity of the gods and their loving care of men, saying (O. i. 65):—
How should I forget divine Odysseus, who in understanding is
beyond mortals, and beyond all men hath done sacrifice to the
deathless gods who keep the wide heaven?
How he makes the gods mingling with and working with men themselves it is possible to learn completely in many passages for just as he represents Athene once helping Achilles and always aiding Odysseus, so he represents Hermes helping Priam, and again Odysseus, for he says (O. xvii. 485):—
Yea even the gods, in the likeness of strangers from far
countries, put on all manner of shapes, and wander through
cities to watch the violence and the righteousness of men.
It is the characteristic of divine providence to wish men to live justly. This the poet indicates very clearly (O. xiv. 83):—
Verily it is not forward deeds the gods love, but they
reverence justice and the righteous acts of men.
And (O. xvi. 386):—