Snare of The Fowler, parts 2212 - 2215

 2212. Just as the ring Otis and Leon were in was surrounded by unsavory types, the sort of men and women who could take pleasure in watching innocent animals hurt each other, so too, having been informed by the crow, the Immortals invisibly surrounded the ring and all of them wanted to see a contest, and not and endless preamble. So they set to work to breath courage and determination into Leon, so that he would stand some chance against Otis.

 2213. Those pagan Gods were doing this only because they wanted an entertainment. Did they consider the fix they had put Otis in? Otis knew very well that his gods were able to assume the forms of humans and animals for a short time. How many times had he come across the occurrence in all the classic literature? Athena takes the form of a dove or a hawk and coming down from Olympus gives advice to one of the ancient heroes, and then flies away.

 2214. But here was a novel situation. One of those gods was now assuming the form of Leon, and was facing him in the ring. He could see clearly the change that came over Leon at this transformation. No longer did he lunge it him in a futile expenditure of energy. He bided his time, breathed deeply, and waited for that tiny moment when Otis should be distracted by something which might happen in the crowd.

2215. By now you have probably guessed which of the immortal Gods it was that had entered Leon and was facing Otis in the ring. If you think it was Poseidon, or Neptune if you are using the Roman terminology, you are correct. It was only natural for Poseidon to oppose Otis, because this was the same immortal that gave Odysseus such a hard time for so many years. But at least Odysseus never had to come to actual blows with any of the gods.