And now would Menelaus have dragged him away, and won glory unspeakable, had not Aphrodite, daughter of Zeus, been quick to see, and to his cost broken in two the thong, cut from the hide of a slaughtered ox;
καί νύ κεν εἴρυσσέν τε καὶ ἄσπετον ἤρατο κῦδος , εἰ μὴ ἄρ' ὀξὺ νόησε Διὸς θυγάτηρ Ἀφροδίτη , ἥ οἱ ῥῆξεν ἱμάντα βοὸς ἶφι κταμένοιο · [0]
καί νῦν ἄν ἐρύω1 τε καί ἄσπετος αἴρω κῦδος , εἰ μή ἄρα ὀξύς νοέω Ζεύς θυγάτηρ Ἀφροδίτη , ὅς ἕ ῥήγνυμι ἱμάς βοῦς ἶφι κτείνω ·