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.