PA 3827 P8 W46 1916 ■NRLF MAIN Hi ^^ 1 ^' ^■k il)");!)!!!!! 1 M iili: THE PROMETHEUS BOUND OF ^SCHYLUS THE PROMETHEUS BOUND OF AESCHYLUS TRANSLATED BY MARION CLYDE WIER INSTRUCTOR IN RHETORIC, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN NEW YORK THE CENTURY CO. 1916 Copyright, 1916, by The Century Co. /M-^ /^•. TO LYDIA DORSEY WIER A little souvenir of summer days When all secure from summer's ardent rays We mused upon the shrill cicala's lyre Thrilling the drowsy woodland with its lays ; Or turning gazed across the pulsing bay Whereover Phcebus shook the fires of day, And marked the merry sails go on agleam Down to the world that far beyond us lay. A little souvenir of summer days, A gleam late stolen from the ancient blaze ; — If for an hour it light some dim heart-fane, Thou art the inspiration, thine the praise. \ STRUCTURE OF THE PROMETHEUS BOUND Prologue I- 88 First scene. Kratos and Bla enter with Prometheus; Hephaestus follows with his tools. 89- 126 Second scene. Prometheus alone; invo- cation of nature. The ancients thought that such an invocation pro- voked pity. It has become a literary commonplace. Parodos 128- 191 Prometheus and chorus. Kommos. Cho- rus enters in winged chariot. Motive stated in first strophe. First Episode 192- 395 192- 284 First scene. Prometheus and Coryphaeus. Prometheus longs for sympathy. Chorus sympathetic and curious. The STRUCTURE exposition of the situation is complete at 284. 285- 395 Second scene of the first episode. Ocea- nus, the father of the Oceanides, enters on winged steed. Beginning of the ac- tion that leads to the catastrophe. First Stasimon 396- 435 " Tears from the depths of some divine despair." Second Episode 436- 527 Prometheus recounts to Coryphaeus his kindness to gods and men and waxes bitter at his plight. Second Stasimon 528- 566 Peace w^ith heaven; peace and calm on earth. Third Episode 567- 908 lo and Prometheus. Third Stasimon 909- 938 Calm after storm. Exodus 939-1072 STRUCTURE 939- 975 First scene. Prometheus and Cory- phaeus ; preparation of the catastrophe. 975-1072 Second scene. Prometheus and Hermes. Development of the catastrophe. Catastrophe 1073-1124 Prometheus and Hermes; Coryphaeus sings mesode. CHARACTERS Kratos and Bia Heph^stus Prometheus Chorus of Ocean Nymphs OCEANUS lo, THE Daughter of Inachus Hermes INTRODUCTION I am told that there is not much to be said for trans- lations, particularly for Greek translations. To schol- ars they are considered superfluous, while to the rest of us, if not misleading, certainly a source of frequent misunderstanding. At times I have been almost con- vinced that we should try to get along without them. But in these days when Greek is practically relegated to the curriculum of antiquity it would seem that a good translation might prolong to some degree the memory of a language that has contributed to the world so generously of its beauty of thought and form. I have a friend, however, who maintains on the other hand that for the consummation of the desuetude of a language there is no agent more potent than the translation. He insists that when we consider the English Bible and perceive how useless that great trans- lation has made the original, we have reason for re- joicing in the thought that Greek is still moribund only; that it has not gone down to death for the very reason that in its own case no such translations exist; INTRODUCTION that should they be forthcoming they would give at once to all literarj' study of Greek originals the coup de grace. I have comforr in the thought that there is no imminent danger of such a death; " 6 A(o(/)^o-tov yap ou TrecpvKe ttw. As for this translation, I was impelled to make it by curiosity; I wanted to find out what I could make iEschylus sound like in English. I chose the " Prome- theus " to translate because to me it was the most in- teresting of his shorter plays. In my version I have kept as close as I could to the original, endeavoring to preserve all the author's ideas in their true literary set- ting. And I have made special effort to avoid the careless " washing away " of the metaphors and other figures of speech. I have also striven to avoid intro- ducing figures and ideas foreign to the text. To the matter of emphasis I have given some care, following as closely as possible in my lines the important word order of the original, particularly where this seemed to depart from the normal order. In the dialogue I have employed the usual English blank verse. For the choruses I had hoped to develop a form that would closely approximate the rhythms of the original ; but after considerable experimenting I gave up the design; I still feel, however, that most of INTRODUCTION the complicated Greek meters and rhythms could be reproduced in English if a man of leisure and learning should undertake the task with sufficient diligence and enthusiasm. I have used instead the conventional English stanza forms that seemed to me best to re- produce and maintain the mood of the original. The anapests I have endeavored to reproduce throughout, adding rimes *' as necessary makeweights for the im- perfections of an otherwise inadequate language." The debt of many English writers to -^schylus is well known. What Shelley thought of him and owed him is set forth to some extent in the introduction and text of his " Prometheus Unbound." Browning used him so subtly that even to-day we scarcely realize the extent of his debt. But of modern writers it was Swinburne who borrowed his beliefs, ideas, and ex- pressions with most consummate daring. No i^schy- lean thought of importance has escaped a gorgeous set- ting in some one or other of his poems. Reference to his adaptations from the " Prometheus " will be found in the notes. I feel indebted to the editions of Weclein, Weil, and Case, and am very grateful to Professors John G. Win- ter, Fred N. Scott, and Carl E. Eggert for valuable criticism and suggestions. THE PROMETHEUS BOUND OF .ESCHYLUS THE PROMETHEUS BOUND OF iESCHYLUS PROLOGUE [Enter Cratos and BiA, dragging the figure of Pro- metheus. Heph^STUS with his tools accompa- nies themJ\ Cratos Now we are come to the utmost land of earth, The Scythian trail, a desert void of men. Hephaestus, thine the need to obey commands The Father cast upon thee, firm to fix ^ On high-based crag this fool that stops at naught, In riveless bonds of adamantine chains. For thine own flower, the burning gleam of fire ^ Whose bud outblossoms into every art, This has he stolen and then bestowed on man. 3 :;4; THE PROMETHEUS BOUND Such sifi mUvSt ke to the gods now expiate To learn to bear content the rule of Zeus ^ And turn him from his mankind-loving bent. HepH/^stus Cratos and Bia, for you two the behest Of Zeus is final ; naught stands in the way. But I have not the heart a kindred god Perforce to bind in storm-besieged ravine. But I must get me daring for the deed ; Light honor of God's word weighs down the heart. High-hearted son of Themis who counsels fair, Thy pain is mine that I with bonds secure Shall nail thee unto this rock remote from men Where thou shalt hear no voice nor see the form Of any mortal; stung by the sunbeam's glow Thy skin shall lose its bloom; thou shalt be glad When night bedecked in stars obscures the day Or Helios dissipates the frost of morn ; Forever will the weight of woe at hand Wear on thee, for thy savior is yet unborn. Such profit for thy mankind-loving bent. A god, nor cowering at the rage of gods, OF AESCHYLUS Their gift to man thou gavest more than meet. Wherefore now guard this rock of no delight, Upstanding, sleepless, bending not the knee. Many the cries and groans of no avail That thou shalt utter! For the heart of Zeus Is difficult to reconcile with prayer. Yea, wholly ruthless he whose rule is young. Cratos Well, wherefore lingering pity him in vain? Why him to gods most hateful hatest not thou, A god who stole from thee thy prize for man? Heph^stus Kinship is strong and strong, companionship. Cratos Agreed ; but heeding not the sire's command, — Is not the dread of this more potent still? Heph^stus Pitiless ever thou and fierce of heart. Cratos A cure for him comes not on thy lament; In bootless travail labor not in vain. 6 THE PROMETHEUS BOUND Heph^stus O curses many on this my handicraft. Cratos Why curse thy craft? Of all these present woes, Plainly to speak, thy craft is no wise cause. Heph^stus Would it had graced at least another's lot. Cratos All things are hard except for gods to rule. Heph^stus In this I know it well, and have no answer. Cratos Well, why not haste to cast his bonds about him Or ever the sire behold thee tarrying? Heph^stus Right here the bonds for any one to see. Cratos Cast them about his arms, then mightily Smite with thy hammer; nail him to the rocks. Heph/estus It nears its close nor lags, this task of mine. OF .ESCHYLUS Cratos Strike harder, faster bind, leave nothing loose; He 's clever to find from hopeless straits a way. Heph^stus This arm at least is fixed and wnll not move. Cratos Now pin the other fast that he may learn, Wise though he be, he 's witless matched with Zeus. Heph^stus Save him, no one will justly censure me. Cratos The heartless fang of adamantine spike Mightily drive thou straightway through his breast. Heph^stus Ah me, Prometheus, I bewail thy woes. Cratos Dost shrink again, bemoan the foes of Zeus? See that one day thou pitiest not thyself. Heph^stus Thou seest a sight to eyes that see unsightly. 8 THE PROMETHEUS BOUND Cratos I see but one obtaining his own due. Strap now about his ribs the binding bonds. Heph^stus Necessity compels; spare sharp commands. Cratos Nay but I will command ; — howl on to boot ; Go down and ring by force his legs around. Heph^stus Well, this is done, and that right speedily. Cratos Strike strongly now the fetters sharp and keen ; For stem indeed is our new taskmaster. Heph^stus Thy tongue doth utter words that match thy mold. Cratos Be thou soft-hearted ; for my temper firm And stubbornness of spirit, no reproach. Heph^stus The bonds are on his limbs ; come, let us go. OF iESCHYLUS 9 Cratos Now wanton where thou art and from the gods Strip honors for the creatures of a day.* What of thy pain can mortal man abate? False naming thee the gods Prometheus called ^ Who hast indeed of forethought grievous need To win thee exit from this keen device. Prometheus [Alone.] O divine Ether and swift w^inged winds ^ And river fountains, Ocean's countless smiles, And earth, the mother of all things, and thou orb Of him, the all-beholding sun, I call ; See what, a god, I suffer at the hands of gods. Behold with what wickedness ground into dust Through the oncoming centuries wrestle I must Down the myriad years; Such, such is the bond the new ruler would claim To have fashioned against me, the bondage of shame. And the stream of my tears Must flow for the present and what is to come, As I seek where the fates of my woes hid the sum. lo THE PROMETHEUS BOUND And yet what am I ? surely I foreknow All that the future holds, nor shall one ill Come on me unforeseen ; my destined lot As lightly must I suffer as I may, Knowing necessity is not withstood. Yet neither can I silent be nor speak Of this my fortune; for because I gave To man a boon I bear this yoke of need. For I am he who sought the stolen fount Of fire stored in a fennel stalk, which proved Teacher of arts to men, a great resource. And this the penalty that I must pay For my transgression, chained beneath the sky. Ah, ah! What sound, what scent is winged to me unseen? God-sped or mortal or mingled both in one? Has witness come to this far rock remote To view my toils or wills he what instead ? Ye see me bound, a wretched god ill-starred,'' The hated of Zeus, yes, the hated of all The deities, many as range in his hall, Through my over-much fondness for mortals. Ah me, ah me, what rustling, say, Do I hear hard by as of birds of prey? OF .$:SCHYLUS II Air whirs with the beat quick-stirring of wings And fearful is everything round me that springs. [Parados, divided between Chorus and actor (CoM- MATic). Chorus enter in a winged car.l ^ Chorus O fear thee naught, this is a friendly choir That on our wind-swift oarage lightly vying Comes, w^inning scarce the sanction of our sire ; The breezes keen to carry sent us flying, The echo from the din of smiting ire Pierced through the cavern hall where we were lying And struck from me my grave-eyed shame afar, And I sped barefoot in my winged car. Prometheus O offspring of Tethys whose children are many, His daughters who rolls round the whole of the world In a stream that the magic of sleep has not furled, — ^ O daughters of Ocean your father, behold, — Regard the close bonds wherein compassed I lie On a rock jutting up from its gorge to the sky Where I watch for what no one would envy mine eye. 12 THE PROMETHEUS BOUND Chorus I see, Prometheus, and a fearful cloud Tear-colored, gushes up before mine eyes When I behold thy form, how, shackle-bowed High up in adamantine bonds it lies.^^ Under the pall of dim Oblivion's shroud Zeus hides the wreck of older dynasties ; New rulers lord it up Olympus' way, And lawless statutes, newly furbished, sway. Prometheus If under earth only or down into hell ^^ Where the corpses are garnered he 'd cast me to dwell Gripped round by the rings of my harsh clinging chains, Where no man nor god might exult in my pains ! ^- But now am I sport of the wind as it blows. While my sorrows increase in the joy of my foes. Chorus Who of the gods can be so hard of heart That he would gladden at thy foul abuse ? Who does not feel his soul indignant start At thy affliction, saving only Zeus? Bitter and stern, he holds his mind apart. OF iESCHYLUS 13 Ouranos' children trampling with no truce; Nor till he 's sated will he ever cease Unless one seize his realm and w^in release. Prometheus But verily me, though I 'm bound in the chain And rankled in limbs by the fronts keen pain, Shall the potentate new of the gods sorely need To show the new counsel whereby he must bleed And be reft of his scepter and honor's fair meed. Then me not at all with his honey-tongued ways ^^ That gloze the grieved soul with harmonious phrase Shall he ever win o'er that I '11 come to forget Or cower in terror or cringe at his threat And reveal him this secret, before he sets free My limbs from the shackles that eat into me And then to atone for my anguish agree. Chorus Thou art right bold and in thy bitter throes Thou yieldest nothing; far too free of tongue; My heart is pierced with terror at thy foes, For into such a gale thy bark is flung I wonder who the appointed season knows 14 THE PROMETHEUS BOUND When thou mayest beach thy ship with sails loose- hung. The son of Kronos' mind and heart are such As humble word or prayer may never touch. Prometheus I know it is hard, that he setteth apart The workings of justice to please his own heart; But he none the less in his day shall wax mild, When his peace shall be broken, his rest be defiled; Then willing with me will he stand reconciled ; His deeply pent rage shall be blasted and waste, And in friendship's close bonds shall we, both of us haste. FIRST EPISODE [Prometheus and Coryph^us.] Chorus Uncover now and tell us all thy tale ; On thee accused of what does Zeus lay hold, Thus using thee with bitterness and shame? Tell us, if from the telling comes no harm. Prometheus Painful to me even to speak of this. But silence too is pain ; both ways unwelcome. When first the gods made prelude of their rage And strife within their midst was moved to stand, Some fain to cast out Kronos from his throne That Zeus might thenceforth reign ; and others then Intent that Zeus might never rule the gods ; Then I, devising counsel to persuade For best the Titans, sons of Ouranos And Chthon, failed utterly; the subtle wiles 15 i6 THE PROMETHEUS BOUND They set at naught within their stubborn hearts And hoped unmoiled of war to rule by might. But unto me not once but oft my mother Themis and Gaia, one being of many names,^* Had mention made of destiny foredoomed ; That not through force nor ruthless powder of hand But by their craft w^ould the mightier win and rule. This secret, when I tried to tell in full, They saw not worthy of the least regard. So circumstanced, it better seemed to me To win the approval of my mother's mind And willing take my stand by willing Zeus. Through my designs the gloomy deep abyss Of Tartarus the ancient Kronos hides And them that fought beside him ; in this wise The master of the gods by me advanced My kindliness with evil compensates. Somehow inherent lurks in the heart of kings A strange disease, to hold no faith in friends. But let that go ; your question, what the charge Whereon he works me ill, this will I answer. As speedily as he had taken seat Upon his father's throne to the gods straightway OF iESCHYLUS 17 Their own peculiar honors he assigned, And then bethought his kingdom to arrange. For man long wretched made he no provision, But had in mind to sweep the race from sight And then create another all anew. 'Gainst this none took a stand save me alone; But I grew bold ; I saved the race of man From falling rent in ruin down to Hades. Wherefore with these afflictions am I bowed, Painful to suffer, piteous to see. In my compassion mortals I upheld, But I am not deemed worthy of compassion, So ruthlessly in harmony I 'm tuned, A sight that looks to Zeus in condemnation. Chorus Of iron heart and fashioned out of stone,^^ Who has no share in these thy toils, Prometheus, I should have chosen not to see thy plight, But seeing it, I take to heart thy pain. Prometheus Ah me, my friends, I 'm piteous to behold. Chorus In truth, didst thou no further go than this? i8 THE PROMETHEUS BOUND Prometheus I hid from men foreknowledge of their doom.^® Chorus Finding what drug to medicine the ill? Prometheus Blind hope I planted deep within their hearts.^^ Chorus Great blessing this, didst thou bestow on man. Prometheus And more than this, I gave them also fire. Chorus The things of a day now use the flame-bright fire? Prometheus Wherefrom they too shall master many arts. Chorus On such a charge as this is now doth Zeus — Prometheus Abuse me, nor a respite give from pain. Chorus Is there no end appointed for thy toil ? OF iESCHYLUS 19 Prometheus None other save when seems It good to him. Chorus How seem good ? What the hope ? Dost thou not see That thou hast sinned? But how, no joy for me To mention and my words would bring thee pain. But let this go, seek thou release from toll. Prometheus Easy it is for him who keeps his foot Outside the path of woe to advise, to warn Him faring ill; this knew I all too well. Willing, willing I sinned, I '11 not deny. In helping men I got me naught but trouble. But never I thought in retribution thus To waste away upon these lofty crags, My lot this bare Inhospitable rock. So do not grieve for this my present plight ; Dismount and hear the fate that is to come. That ye may learn my sufferings entire. Give heed, give heed and give your sympathy To one who suffers ; sorrow roaming wide Impartial stops and stays awhile with me, To tarry later seated close by thee. 20 THE PROMETHEUS BOUND Chorus To us, Prometheus, keen listeners all, In the throes of thy sorrows thou raisedst thy call. And now with light foot from our wind-driven car And the ether serene and the bird-ways afar To this rock-riddled desert we straightway draw near; Thy sorrows and toils to the end we would hear. [OCEANUS, father of the Oceanides, enters, mounted upon a winged steed. The anaptssts of Oceanus accompany the descent of the Chorus from their chariot into the orchestra. This scene and the sec- ond episode form the second act^ the beginning of the action which leads to the catastrophe^] Oceanus I have come to the term of this far-stretching road, Prometheus, I Ve come to thee ; long I bestrode This feather-swift bird unguided of rein. But bent by my will hath he measured the main. With thee in thy fortunes know well that I grieve; For such is the bond that our kinship w^ould weave. But apart from our kinship, there is no other friend OF iESCHYLUS 21 To whom greater share than to thee I 'd extend ; More staunch than Oceanus hast thou no friend. Prometheus Ah me, the marvel of it ; hast thou come To visit me and look upon my toils? How didst thou dare to leave thy namesake stream, Thy cave self-wrought, rock-vaulted, here to come Unto this dreary land, the mother of iron ? Verily hast thou come to see my plight And raise indignant voice with me in ills? Behold a sight; the very friend of Zeus, Who helped establish him upon his throne, How bowed with what requital at his hands. Oceanus I see, Prometheus, and I have in mind To urge thee for the best, for all thy wit. Know thyself; come, fashion anew thy ways; New is the tyrant now who rules the gods.^^ But if thou wilt thus vent rough, whetted words, Speedily, though he sits so very high, Zeus, hearing thee, will make thy present horde Of troubles seem the merest play of children. 22 THE PROMETHEUS BOUND Come, wretched man, the rage that thou hast nursed, Cast from thee; Seek from these thy pains release. Old-fashioned, perhaps, the word I speak to thee; Yet such, Prometheus, comes to be the wage Of him whose tongue upvaunteth overhigh. But thou art not yet prostrate nor dost yield To present ills, but seekest rather more. But never, if thou take me for thy guide, Wilt thou extend thy leg unto the goad. Seeing that he who rules is a rough king And monarch sole who gives account to none. Now will I go and win thee from these bonds ; But thou be silent, not in speech perverse ; For knowest thou not, who art exceeding wise. The penalty that plagues an idle tongue ? ^^ Prometheus Happy I deem thee, being free from blame. Though thou didst share and dare all things with me; And now have done, nor give thee any care ; Never wilt thou persuade him ; he is hard. But peer about, lest pain beset thy path. OCEANUS Thy nature shows thee better far to counsel OF iESCHYLUS 23 Thy neighbor than thyself ;J[ judge by deeds, Not words; restrain me not upon my way. My heart is certain that this boon on me Zeus will bestow, to loose thee from thy toils. Prometheus For this I thank thee and will never cease ; Of zeal thou hast omitted not a mite. But labor not; in vain and gaining naught For me thou 'It toil, if toil be in thy heart. But calm thyself and keep thee from the issue. For I, though faring ill, would not for this See trouble come to many; surely not. Even my brother Atlas' sorry plight Wears on my heart; he stands in the w^st remote, Upon his mighty shoulders bearing up The pillar of earth and heaven, no arm-delight. And him, earth-born, that haunts Cillcian caves, I saw with eye of pity, a monster dire ; The raging Typhon of a hundred heads By might laid low, who stood against all the gods. From horrid jaws hissing his terror forth, While from his eyes he flashed a piercing flame As he perforce the realm of Zeus would storm. 24 THE PROMETHEUS BOUND But on him came the sleepless shaft of Zeus, The downward-swooping thunder breathing fire, That struck from him his tongue's highmounting boast ; For smitten through his very soul he fell To crumbling ashes, thunder-reft of might. And now his corse, a bootless thing outstretched, Lies still beside the narrows of the sea, Pressed hard beneath the weight of /Etna's roots. But seated upon the very topmost crags Hephaestus with his hammer smites his ore, Whence from the molten mass will break one day Rivers of fire to glean with savage jaws "^ The fair Sicilian fruitlands on the plains. Such is the wrath Typhon shall send upseething With shafts of hot insatiate surge of fire. Though with his thunder Zeus hath made him dust. But thou, not witless, hast no need of me To teach thee ; save thee by thine own device ; And I my present fortune still must bear Until the heart of Zeus is slaked with rage. OCEANUS Surely, Prometheus, surely thou knowest this, A temper distraught is often cured by words? OF ^SCHYLUS 25 Prometheus Aye, if betimes one soften down his heart, Nor check perforce the rage that swells wuthin. OCEANUS For wise foreknowledge and for heart that dares What penalty seest thou waiting? Tell me that. Prometheus Overmuch trouble and senseless stultitude.^^ OCEANUS Let me be sick of this disease since most It profits wisdom to appear the fool. Prometheus This failing will appear to be mine ow^n. OCEANUS Plainly back home thy speech would send me straight. Prometheus Yes ; win disfavor not by pity for me. OCEANUS With him who now sits on the almighty throne? Prometheus Of him beware lest he be vexed in heart. 26 THE PROMETHEUS BOUND OCEANUS Prometheus, thy misfortune teaches me. Prometheus Away, begone ; cleave to thy present mind. OcEANUS Me starting on my way thou urgest loud ; The smooth wind-plain my swift four-footed bird Chafes with his wings and doubtless will be glad In his own stall at home to bend his knee. FIRST STASIMOxN Chorus I mourn thine ills, thy lot that kills, Prometheus; The falling drops of tears that rise Over the fountains of mine eyes Distil a tender stream that goes To wet the cheek wheredown it flows. For thus unenviably Zeus Rules with the laws he made whose use Shows to the gods of ancient days The insolence his reign displays. From every side the country wide Has shrieked aloud; Raising indignant voice it cried That the ancient honor once its pride, Magnificent and mighty, thine And thine own kins', has fallen supine. And mortals, they that stablished dwell 27 28 THE PROMETHEUS BOUND In homes of sacred Asia, tell Their tale of long lament; thy fate Has touched them all compassionate; And they that dwell in Colchis' land, Bold virgins who in battle stand All undismayed, and Scythian host That dwells on Earth's most distant strand Afar along Malotis' coast; Arabia's Ares-grafted flower Whose citadel stands like a tower Rock-built, with Caucasus hard by; Whose hosts the sharp-beaked spearshafts shower Amid the moil and shriek and cry; One other Titan god alone I saw beset in days of old; Subdued, in cruel bondage thrown, — Atlas, exceeding strong to hold Upon his back the vaulted sky Whereunder pleads his laboring cry. And roars the surge accordant woe Harmonious to the deep's lament; OF i^SCHYLUS 29 Dark Hades mutters far below, Over thy piteous plight Intent ; While all the springs of rivers pure Bewail the pain thou dost endure. Prometheus Think not my silence stubborn-souled or proud ; With anxious care I eat my heart away, Seeing myself so smothered In my shame. And yet their honors to these same young gods, What other than myself dispensed them all, From first to last ? Of this I hold my peace ; I should but speak to you who clearly know. But hear men's woes, — how when they were mere children I made them thoughtful, filled their minds with wit. I do not speak to cast reproach on man, Merely to show goodwill in what I gave. At first they seeing, only saw In vain ; And hearing, heard not; like to forms of dreams Through a long life confounding everything. Nor knew they brick-built homes that front the sun Nor any craft of carpentry ; but dwelt 30 THE PROMETHEUS BOUND Beneath the ground like emmets swarming thick In caves that see no sunshine; not a sign Was theirs of winter nor of blooming spring Nor fruitful summer that was fixed and firm. Intelligence was none in what they wrought Till unto them I showed the rising stars And wanings, to discernment ever dark. Nay even numbers, chief among cunning arts I found them, marshalings of graven signs, And memory of all things, skilled muse-mother. And first was I who brought the beasts to yoke,^" Slaves to the yoke straps and the harnessed pack, That they might bear for men their greatest burdens. And unto the chariot I brought horses fond Of pulling at the reins, proud wealth's delight. And I, none other, fashioned sea-borne ships. The sailors' ocean chariots hempen-winged.^^ These are the arts that I, alas, devised For man, but for myself can find no wile Whereby to win release from present pain. Chorus Thou sufferest shame; thyself distraught in mind, OF yESCHYLUS 31 Thou wanderest and like a wretched leech Fallen on sickness, thou hast lost thy heart And nothing canst thou find to make thee whole. Prometheus Hearing me through still further wilt thou marvel At all the arts and means that I devised, And this the greatest; if a man fell ill There was no help in food nor drink nor ointment ; But in their need of remedies they pined Until I showed them mixings of mild simples Wherewith they grew immune from all disease. And many forms of prophecy I ordered,^* And separated first from dreams of night Those destined to become a living truth; And omens from sounds, of understanding hard, I fitted to their knowledge; signs foretold By meetings on the way, and lonely flights ^^ Of solitary birds of crooked claws, — These I determined, which the luckier kind, Which boded ill, the way of life in each. The enmities, the loves, associations; The smoothness of the entrails and what color They must possess when pleasing most the gods, 32 THE PROMETHEUS BOUND The gall and liver's streaked shapeliness, The limbs enwrapt in fat and the long chine I burned, and thus I blazed the way for man Into an art whose signs art hard to read ; I opened their eyes to signs that lurk in flame, Erstwhile too dim for aught significant. So much for this ; but down beneath the earth Resources hidden from the race of men, Bronze, iron, silver, gold, — who can declare That he before me hath discovered these? No one, I know, unless he boasts in vain. In one short statement learn the matter entire, Man's every art hath from Prometheus sprung. Chorus Nay, mortals help not thou unseasonably And heedless of thine own self evil-starred. For I am of good hope to see thee freed From bondage and in strength no less than Zeus. Prometheus Not thus hath Fate who bringeth all to pass Decreed that this be done ; but bent and bowed By sufferings and tortures without end OF i^SCHYLUS 33 Am I to find escape from these my bonds. Craft is far weaker than necessity. Chorus Who plies the rudder of necessity ? Prometheus Fates threefold and the mindful Erinyes. Chorus And Zeus, is he less mighty than are these? Prometheus Not even he shall refuge find from doom. Chorus What doom for Zeus, except to reign forever? Prometheus This mayest thou learn not; urge me not with prayer. Chorus Surely a thing exalted dost thou veil. Prometheus Another tale bethink thee of, for this 34 THE PROMETHEUS BOUND The season guards with silence ; nay, it must Be covered away with care ; for keeping this I shall escape my shackles and my pain. SECOND STASIMON Chorus Zeus, that orders all aright, Never let him on my heart Set antagonistic might; Let me not be slow to start On my way the gods to praise Offering on the quenchless plain Hard beside old Ocean's ways Sacred dues of oxen slain; May I not in word offend ; May this thought through life extend, Fading not while ages end. Sweet it IS with hopes loud vaunted Through a life that reaches long To pursue our way undaunted Cheering heart with gladsome song! But I tremble at the sight Of thee in labors worn and wan ; 35 36 THE PROMETHEUS BOUND Zeus in reverence holding light Too much thou dost honor man, Even now pursuing still, Prometheus, thine own stubborn will. Thy grace, how graceless see, O friend, I pray; Whence comes the help that makes thy pain the less? What ward is thine from creatures of a day? Hast thou not seen the impotent shiftlessness Dreamlike and stirring little, wherein they Are bound, poor blinded race in dire distress? In no wise shall the plans that mortals lay The harmony of mighty Zeus gainsay. This learned I when I first beheld the sight, Prometheus, of thy fatal, deadly plight. How different utterly this tune to me That just upon my ear came lightly winging, And the sweet bridal song I raised for thee About thy bath and bed, in honor singing Of wedded joys, when fair Hesione Thou camest homeward to thy chamber bringing. Our father*s child, winning with gifts to wed, To be thy bride and share thy marriage bed. THIRD EPISODE [lo and Prometheus.] lo What land, what race, whom say that I see Fast bitted and bridled in rock — who is he Gripped hard by the blast,— In atonement for what art thou perishing fast? And where upon earth, O tell me, I pray, Have I, hapless of maidens, wandered away, O! O! Again the gadfly stings awake my woe; The Argos-shade, to whom thy pangs gave binh,- Keephim away, O Earth! The herdsman of a thousand eyes I see. Onward he comes, alas, shrewd glance on me Whom, even dead. Earth cannot all conceal, But back from out the shades his footsteps steal While like a dog he hounds me through the lands And drives me hungry down the sea-beat sands. 37 38 THE PROMETHEUS BOUND And consonant the wax-bound reed is droning, A slumber-spell upon my eyes intoning; Ah me, the toil! O whither will ye lead. Ye wanderings that naught of distance heed? What have I done, O Kronos-sprung, — Finding me sinning in what hast thou flung On my neck as a burden the yoke of despair? Me frantic with fright That the stings incite Me away utterly must thou wear? Burn me with fire, cover with earth or dash Me down to sea-born things to nibble and gnash, And grudge, O grudge not me, O king, my prayers to thee; Enough my wanderings that no distance heed Have worn me ; I can find no ways that lead From my afflictions hard upon me laid ; Hearest the voice of her, the horned maid ? Prometheus Surely I hear the gadfly-driven maid. Daughter of Inachus, who inflamed the heart Of Zeus with love and, hated now of Hera, Is tried perforce with all too lengthy running. OF iESCHYLUS 39 lo Whence name of father mine thou utterest, And who art thou, tell me, a maid unblest; Who art thou, being forlorn, that namest aright Me roaming wretched in an evil plight, And namest too the godsent ill That wears me down, goading me still With stings that strike me frantic ; woe ! In hunger-pangs of leaps I furious go, Through others' wild resentment thus brought low ; And who of all the ill-starred race is so Wretched as I ? But quickly state The woes that await Me still to suffer ; what drug to try, What healing remedy, prithee tell. If aught of this thou knowest well ; Speak it aloud till it 's clear displayed To the evil-voyaging hapless maid. Prometheus I will speak clearly all that thou w^ouldst learn, Weaving no riddles, but in language plain Even as is just to open lips to friends. Thou seest Prometheus, giver of fire to man. 40 THE PROMETHEUS BOUND lo A boon for man in common showing thyself, Wretched Prometheus, why dost thou suffer thus? Prometheus I 've just made end of weeping on my woes. lo Wilt thou not grant me this, the boon I ask? Prometheus Say what thou askest ; all shalt thou learn from me. lo Say who has nailed thee up within the gorge? Prometheus The will of Zeus, Hephaestus' handicraft. lo Atonement makest thou for what offense? Prometheus Making this clear alone, I Ve told enough. To Added to this, show me my journey's end. And what the time for me to wander still. OF ^SCHYLUS 41 Prometheus To know not this is better than to learn. lo Hide not thou from me what I must endure. Prometheus I grudge thee not a giving such as this. lo Then why delay to speak me now the whole? Prometheus No ill intent ; I dread to roil thy wits. lo Spare me not more than I w^ould have thee spare. Prometheus Since thou art eager I must speak; now hear. Chorus Not yet; this pleasure also grant to me; Come, let us first inquire of her disease, She telling all her death-abounding doom ; Her future fate then let us hear from thee. 42 THE PROMETHEUS BOUND Prometheus lo, it is thy task to favor these For other reasons, and because they are The sisters of thy father; since to moan And make lament where one may win a tear From those who listen is to waste time well. lo I know not how your will to disobey ; In language clear the sum of your desire Ye shall obtain ; yet pains me even the telling My god-sent storm of ills, the blight of my form, Whence sped, how cleaving unto me evil starred. Ever would nightly visions haunting oft My maiden chamber greet and speak me fair In pleasant language ; " Maiden, greatly blest, Why rest a maid so long, since thou canst make A marriage most high ? Zeus by the shaft of desire Shot forth of thee is kindled, and he longs The Cyprian rite with thee to share ; O child, Spurn not the bed of Zeus, but get thee gone To the deep mead of Lerna unto the flocks And ox-stalls of thy sire, that the eye of Zeus May sate itself and rest from its desire." OF i^SCHYLUS 43 By dreams like these that lasted nights entire Was I oppressed unhappy till I dared To tell my sire of the fear that roams by night. And he to Pytho and Dodona-ward Sped many messengers to learn whereby He might in word or deed make glad the gods. But they returned bringing back oracles Of shifting words significant of naught, Hard of interpretation once when spoken. At last a straight word came to Inachus To thrust me forth from home and fatherland To range at will the utmost bounds of earth. And if he would not, thunder fiery-eyed Would come from Zeus to track my race to death. By such decrees of Loxias convinced. He drove me forth and locked me out from home Unwilling he as I ; but him compelled The bit of Zeus perforce to do his will. And straight my form and wits were all distraught ; Horned, as you see ; stung by the sharp-lipped fly With frantic bound I sought Kerchneia's stream Fresh-flowing, and I rushed toward Lerna's spring. The herdsman earthborn Argus with his wrath Unmixed with pity following close behind 44 THE PROMETHEUS BOUND With endless eyes watching me step by step. But him an unsuspected sudden doom Stripped of his life, while I by the gadfly stung With goad divine am scourged from land to land. Thou hearest the past; if thou canst tell me what My future woes are, signify, nor let Thy pity warm my heart in falsehood's flame. For words fictitious deem I doubly foul. Chorus Woe, woe, alas, alas, forbear! I never, never dreamed that words so strange Could ever come to strike upon the ear ; Evil of sentience, past all feelings' range, The suffering and sorrow and the fear That chill my soul with goad whose edges change ; Alas for me, for me alas, O fate ; I shudder as I look on lo's state. Prometheus Early you groan and seem as one afraid ; Forbear until you learn what still must come. Chorus Speak ; tell us all ; to those who bear disease *T is sweet to know the pain that still must come. OF i^SCHYLUS 45 Prometheus Your first desire you won with labor light On my part ; for you first would hear from her Recital of her wretchedness that 's past. The rest hear now ; what sufferings are decreed For the poor maid at Hera's hands to bear. Thou seed of Inachus, lay my words to heart, To learn in full where terminates thy road. First turn thee toward the rising of the sun And travel onward o'er the unplowed lands And thou shalt reach the wandering Scythians Who, raised aloft on cars with well-wrought wheels. Live out their lives beneath their wattled roofs, All well equipped with bows that shoot afar. Whom go not near, but following close the shore, Sea-beaten by the surge, pass from the land. And on thy left the iron-workers dwell, The Chalybes, against whom be on thy guard ; Ungentle they, for guests' approach unmeet. Thou 'It reach Hybristes stream, not falsely named, Which cross not over, for to cross is hard. Until thou reach to Caucasus itself Of mountains highest, where the river pours In might from out between its very brows. 46 THE PROMETHEUS BOUND And crossing summits neighbors to the stars, Must thou perforce the southern path pursue Where thou shalt come to the hosts of Amazons Man-haters, who shall one day make their home Themiscyra, about Thermodon where A rough sea frith lies, Salmydessia, Poor hosts to sailors, a step-mother to ships. And they shall start thee onward, gladly too. And thou shalt come to the isthmus Cimmerian Hard by the harbor gates that give straight pas- sage, Which thou shalt leave in hardihood of heart To onward journey through Maiotic strait. Great among men the tale shall ever be Of this thy journeying; Bosporus shall be called After thy name ; and leaving Europe's plain Thou shalt arrive upon the Asian main. Do ye not see the tyrant of the gods In everything alike is violent? For he, a god, in longing for this maid On her a mortal cast these wanderings. Bitter the suitor, maiden, hast thou got For marriage rites w^ith thee; the tale just heard Consider not as yet within the prelude. OF iESCHYLUS 47 lo Ah me, alas, ah me. Chorus Alas, alas. Prometheus Again thou criest aloud and moanest deep ; When known the ills to come, what wilt thou do ? Chorus Wilt speak of what remains for her of woe? Prometheus A baneful winter sea of woe unwearied. lo What gain is mine in living, why at once Did I not fling me down this rugged rock. That plainward falling this my sum of ills I had escaped ? 'T were better once for all To die than suffer evil all one's days. Prometheus With sorry grace wouldst thou my struggles bear To whom no death at all is ever doomed. For death had brought release from suffering. 48 THE PROMETHEUS BOUND But now is set no end for these my woes Till Zeus down from the tyrant's seat shall fall. lo Will the time come when Zeus must fall from rule ? Prometheus Thou wouldst rejoice, I ween, in this event? lo Why not, who suffer ills because of Zeus ? Prometheus That this is so now is thy chance to learn. lo By whom shall he be plucked of tyrant's scepter? Prometheus By his own empty-headed counselings. lo How? Tell me, if the telling is no harm. Prometheus A marriage shall he make at last to rue. lo Divine or mortal? Speak, if it may be told. OF iESCHYLUS 49 Prometheus What matter who? The thing must not be told. lo 'Tis through his wife that he is to fall from power? Prometheus A son she 'II bear superior to his sire. lo For him is no escape from this decree? Prometheus Verily none, save I from bonds be freed. lo Who is to loose thee against the will of Zeus ? Prometheus Of thine own offspring he must needs be one. Id What sayest? Shall child of mine unbind thy chains? Prometheus Third in descent and ten more generations. lo No longer clear to see, this oracle. 50 THE PROMETHEUS BOUND Prometheus And seek not thou to learn In full thy pains. lo OfFer me not a boon and then withhold it. Prometheus Of stories twain I grant thee one to choose. lo What are they? Say and grant me then my choice. Prometheus I grant it; choose; I speak thy future woes Or tell of him who comes to set me free. Chorus Of these, deign thou to tell the one to her, To me the other ; grudge me not the tale. Tell unto her the wandering still in store ; To me thy savior tell of; this I crave. Prometheus Since ye are eager T will not refuse To tell in full as much as ye desire. Thee first, lo, thy far-flung trail I '11 show. Which grave on memory tablets of thy soul. OF iESCHYLUS 51 When thou hast crossed the stream, the mainland's term, Make for the blazing dawn where treads the sun, Crossing the breaking seas until thou come Unto Cisthene's plain Gorgonian Where Phorcis' daughters dwell, three ancient maids Swan-shaped and gifted with one common eye And one sole tooth, whom neither the radiant sun Doth ever behold, nor the moon that keeps the night. And near at hand their winged sisters three, The Gorgons, tressed with serpents, dire to men, Whereon no mortal looks and breathes again. Such is the thing I warn against ; beware ! Another hear, a sight that wakens fear ; Beware the sharp-beaked voiceless hounds of Zeus, The griffins, and one-eyed Arimaspian throng. Horsemen that dwell about the stream that flow^s With gold, the path of Pluton ; draw not near. Unto a land far distant shalt thou come A dark race dwelling near the sun's own springs, And there the river iEthiops flows along. Follow his banks until at last thou reach A cataract whence Bybline mountains down Nile sends his sacred pleasant tasting stream. 52 THE PROMETHEUS BOUND This shall conduct thee to the delta land Neilotis, where thy distant habitation, lo, 't Is doomed, for thee and thine to found. If this be indistinct in aught, obscure, Turn to it once again and clearly learn ; Leisure Is mine, even more than I could wish. Chorus To her if thou hast aught untold to tell Or anything passed over in the telling. Of this, her roaming watched by many a death. Speak ; or if thou hast spoken all, to us Our favor grant ; surely thou dost remember. Prometheus Her journey to the end in full she 's heard ; But still to show she has not heard In vain. What she ere hither coming bore I '11 tell, Giving it as a witness of my words. The story In Its fullness I pass over, Beginning at the close of her roamlngs hither. Now when thou camest unto Molosslan plains And round Dodona of the lofty ridge. Prophetic seat of Zeus Thesprotlan, OF ^SCHYLUS 53 And marvel past belief, the talking oaks, By which in clear and no-wise riddling speech Wast thou addressed as the glorious bride of Zeus That was to be — art pleased at aught of this ? Thence driven by the gadfly thou didst speed The seastrand way to the great gulf of Rhea Whence thou in backward flight art tempest-tossed. And through all time to come that nook of sea Know clearly shall be called Ionian, Thy path-memorial unto all mankind. A token this to thee of mine own mind That sees more clearly than the light reveals. The rest to you and her alike I tell, Reaching of former tales the selfsame track. There is a city, Canobus, most remote Of earth, beside the very mouth of Nile; There Zeus at last will make thee sane of mind, Stroke thee with hand that frights not, merely touching. A namesake of the scions got of Zeus Then shalt thou bear, the swarthy Epaphus, And he shall reap the whole of all the land That Neilus flowing wide pours waters on. Thence fifth in generations from this source Back unto Argos will reluctant come 54 THE PROMETHEUS BOUND A tribe of fifty children, women all, Fleeing a hateful marriage with their kin. But they, their cousins, passion in their hearts, Hawks left of doves no distance far behind. Shall come, a wedlock seeking best unsought. For God shall grudge the favor of their brides. Pelasgia will receive them when their kin !Are Ares-slaughtered under a woman-hand Bold for the stroke through daring that wakes at night. For every wife shall rob her lord of life. Dipping a two-edged sword in slaughter's dye. Thus on mine enemies may Cypris come! But one desire shall overcome and blunt Her will that she slay not her bedfellow. And of two evils will she choose the one That bears a coward's name, not stained with slaughter. In Argos she will bear a royal race. A lengthy tale to tell this to the end ; But seed from her shall flourish, bold of heart, Famed for the bow, who from these toils of mine Shall set me free. Such was the prophecy Mine ancient mother, Themis the Titan, spoke. But how and in what way needs much of time To tell, and thou in learning naught wouldst gain. OF i^SCHYLUS 55 lo O away and away! Me again doth, yea, the madness astray In my soul burn hard while the gadfly's ire Though forged without flame stings sharper than fire. While my heart in its terror kicks hard at my breast And my eyes whirl round like a wheel without rest, And out of my running in frenzy I 'm rolled In a pitiless blast and my tongue 's uncontrolled ; Confused are the words that beat without aim On the surges of Ate whose hate is like flame. THIRD STASIMON Chorus A Wise was he, verily wise, Who pondered first in heart this thought, Then with his tongue his neighbors taught That for a man to seek his mate In his own sphere and his estate Is best in every guise. Not those with riches puffed up high Nor those whose race the heralds cry Should any man who earns his bread Be fain to woo nor yearn to wed. Chorus B Never, O never may you, O blessed Fates, me in the fold O Zeus's couch reclined behold. Never may I, a bride, draw nigh His couch with any god to lie 56 OF ^SCHYLUS 57 Of all that roam the heavens through. I shudder to behold the maid, No lover of her lord, dismayed, Crushed by the burden of her woes That Here sends vrhere'er she goes. Chorus C For me a marriage mated near My rank and station brings no fear; But never from the greater gods May love, who ne'er in slumber nods Sight me with eye that none may flee. Warless a war is this, A pass wherethrough no passage is. Ah then, what w^ould become of me ? The will of Zeus I cannot see How to escape and scathless be. EXODUS [Prometheus and Coryph^us. Preparation for the Catastrophe.^ Prometheus But mark, I say that Zeus, though bold of mind, Shall prostrate lie, in that he now makes ready To consummate a marriage that shall cast him Down from the Tyrant's throne out into the dark, And Kronos' curse will then be all fulfilled, Which he invoked, fallen from his ancient rule. From hardships such as these a refuge sure Can no god clearly indicate save me. This know I and the way ; therefore content Let him sit, brave of soul, in lofty bolts Confident, speeding the fireshafts from his hands. Nowise will this suffice to stay for him A fall disgraced and all intolerable. Such is the wrestler he with his own hand 58 OF i^SCHYLUS 59 Fits out against himself, a monster mighty ; Who then will find a flame to match the lightning And far outleap the thunder's frightful roar; And the sea-plague that makes the dry land quake, Poseidon's trident spear he 'II break in sunder And stumbling on this evil he will learn The difference 'twixt sway and servitude. Chorus Thy heart's desire, this vauntest thou against Zeus. Prometheus What happen will, I speak, and my wish besides. Chorus Must we expect a master over Zeus? Prometheus Pain will he suffer harder to bear than mine. Chorus How art thou fearless, vaunting words like these ? Prometheus What shall I fear, for whom is due no death ? Chorus A task on thee more grievous he may lay. 6o THE PROMETHEUS BOUND Prometheus This let him do ; all things have I foreseen. Chorus Who reverence Adrasteia are the w^Ise. Prometheus Revere, call out, fawn ever upon the king ; My care for Zeus is something less than naught. Let him do w^hat he will ; rule his brief day, But not for long will he command the gods. ■ But lo, I see the messenger of Zeus, Lackey of him, the tyrant newly made ; Doubtless he comes to bring a message new. [Prometheus and Hermes; Development of the Catastrophe. 1 Hermes To thee, the wise one, essence of bitterness, Sinner against the gods, on mortal man Heaper of honors, stealer of fire, I speak. The father bids thee declare the marriage bond Thou boastest of, wherethrough he falleth from might ; And that too in no riddle-mannered guise, OF iESCHYLUS 6i But lay bare each detail ; no double journey, Prometheus, bring upon me, for thou seest That Zeus is by thy bearing nowise softened. Prometheus Big-mouthed, forsooth, with insolence run over, Thy speech, as fits a lackey of the gods. New is the power you newly try, you dream To dwell in griefless towers; but from these Two tyrants fallen have I not beheld? The third that lords it now, him shall I see Most shamefully fallen and quickly ; do I seem To fear and cringe before the new-made gods? Far am I, very far, from aught like that. Stir up the dust back over the road thou camest; Naught wilt thou learn whereof thou questionest me. Hermes By stubborn ways of thine in other days Didst thou define thine own demesne of pain. Prometheus Thy livery for the ills wherein I fare. Know clearly, I would never once exchange. 62 THE PROMETHEUS BOUND Hermes Better, I ween, thy service to this rock Than mine as faithful messenger of Zeus. Prometheus To insult the insolent is only fair. Hermes Thou seemest to wax dainty In thy present Ills. Prometheus I ? May I see my foes wax dainty thus, And thee I number too within the list. Hermes Me dost thou blame In part for thy distress? Prometheus In language plain I hate, yea, all the gods Who faring well unjustly work me ill. Hermes I hear thee raging with no slight disease. Prometheus Disease Is mine if It be to hate my foes. OF iESCHYLUS 63 Hermes Intolerable thou wouldst be if faring well. Prometheus Ah me! Hermes This word at least Zeus hath no knowledge of. Prometheus Time in the aging teaches everything. Hermes But thou hast not yet learned thy part of wisdom. Prometheus Or thee a lackey I 'd not parley with. Hermes It seems thou 'it answer naught the father asks. Prometheus Owing him aught I 'd well repay the favor. Hermes Thou tauntest me as though I were a child. Prometheus Thou art a child and witless somewhat more, 64 THE PROMETHEUS BOUND If thou dost hope from me a thing to learn. There is no shame nor any device whereby Zeus shall prevail to make me tell this thing Before my shameful bonds are taken away. Therefore let now be hurled the seething flame With white-winged snow and thunder beneath the ground ; Let him confound and scatter everything, But naught of this shall bend me ever to tell By whom 't Is doomed that he be cast from power. Hermes See now if this to thee appear an aid. Prometheus Long, long ago this thing was seen and planned. Hermes O deep In folly, dare but dare in time In face of present ills to think aright. Prometheus Thou urgest me vainly as one would urge a wave. Never bethink thee that in heart dismayed At the will of Zeus I shall grow woman-hearted And cater to the god I deeply hate , OF ^SCHYLUS 65 With woman-aping outstretchings of hands To loose me from these bonds; I 'm far from that. Hermes I seem to speak in vain for all I say ; Thou 'rt melted not nor softened by my prayers ; But champing the bit even as a new-yoked steed, Thou chafest hard and fightest against the reins. But thou art fierce in impotent device, For stubbornness to one that counsels ill Hath in itself a power less than nothing. But look, if my words heed thou not at all, What storm and great third wave of ill is on thee ^® From which is no escape; this rugged gorg-e The father first with thunderbolts of flame Will rend asunder and conceal thy form ; And thee an arm of rock shall lift on high. And length of days when thou hast brought to close, Back shalt thou come to light, and the winged hound Of Zeus, the blood-stained eagle furiously Shall tear and feed upon thy body's tatters, Coming unhid, a banqueter all day Upon thy black-gnawed liver feeding full. Of hardships such as this expect no end 66 THE PROMETHEUS BOUND Till from the gods a savior shall appear To bear thy woes, deigning to tread the dark Home of the dead, the dusk Tartarean deep. Therefore take counsel, for in nowise feigned, This boast of mine, but very clearly spoken. The mouth of Zeus knows not to speak a lie. Its every word shall be fulfilled ; do thou Look carefully and heed and never deem That stubbornness is better than good counsel. Chorus To us not out of season Hermes seems To speak ; he bids thee set thy scorn aside And seek wise counsel profitable; give heed! 'T is pity the wise should shoot beside the mark. THE CATASTROPHE Prometheus To me well aware of the message he brings He hath cried him aloud ; but in suffering the stings Of the hatred of foes I am little disgraced ; So now at me here let the bolt be hurled, Or the seething flame like a sharp tress curled ; In the roar of the bolt by the winds embraced Let Ether rage to the thunder shock And the blast of the tempest the wide world rock To the roots and caves of her very deep, And the ocean surge in its wild rough sweep Confound the stars on their sky-set ways. And me let him seize and aloft upraise And hurl into Tartarus black my form Spun round on the eddies of Fate's dark storm But me to the dead he cannot transform.^'' Hermes Ah truly is this but to listen, to hark 67 68 THE PROMETHEUS BOUND To the counsels and words of a mind that is dark. Is his prayer aught less than the prayer of one Who is mad, are his ravings ever done? But you at least vi^ho groan w^ith his v^^oe Speedily out of this region go, Lest your mind grow vain as a thing distraught In the harsh hard roar from the thunder caught.^^ Chorus speak once again in a different strain To somewhat persuade me; intolerant, vain, Is the word thou hast swept on the stream of thy speech ; How darest thou me to play coward beseech ? With him would I suffer the pangs of his fate, For lately I Ve learned every traitor to hate. Disease there is none 1 loathe with the loathing I feel for this one. Hermes Well, keep ye in mind what I now foretell ; And later when lashed by avengers from hell Blame never your lot nor any time say That Zeus without warning cast ills in your way. Not so ; but your own is the deed ; you know ; OF iESCHYLUS 69 Nor sudden the step nor secret the blow Whereby through your folly you win Ate's hate Tight meshed in the measureless tangle of fate.^^ Pro:metheus And now comes the deed, no longer the word ; And the world is upstlrred And the bellow of thunder below me is heard, And the wreathings of lightning gleam bright as they fly, And whirlwinds roll the dust up to the sky. And the blasts leap high of each wind that blows In battle array like the bitterest of foes; While Ether with Ocean confusedly flows. Such, such is the stroke that has fallen from Zeus That my soul unto terror prepares to reduce. O mother mine, O Ether divine, Who sendest the light on all creatures to shine, Thou seest the injustice, the shame that is mine. \ NOTES Note I. " Father " seems to have been a generally ac- cepted epithet of Zeus. We find him so styled by powers differing as far in degree as Cratos, Hermes, and Hephaestus. Note 2. Cf . Swinburne, *' Athens " : " Him who culled for man the fruitful bloom of fire." Note 3. For the sentiment cf. Swinburne, " Atalanta," 148: " Yet one doth well, being patient of the gods . . . Yea, lest they smite us with some four-foot plague." Note 4. A favorite Greek characterization of the helpless- ness of man. Cf. 546 f. and Aristophanes, " Birds," 685 f., thus translated by Swinburne: *' Come on then, ye dwellers by nature in darkness, and like to the leaves' generations, That are little of might, that are molded of mire, unendur- ing and shadowlike nations, Poor plumeless ephemerals, comfortless mortals, as visions of shadows fast fleeing — " Note 5. Characteristic Greek pun. cf . Swinburne, " Erech- theus," 52-4: "Eumolpus; nothing sweet in ears of thine The music of his making; nor a song Towards hope of ours auspicious." Note 6. Swinburne, ''Athens": *' Scarce the cry that called on airy heaven and all swift winds on wing, 71 72 THE PROMETHEUS BOUND Wells of river heads, and countless laugh of waves past reckoning, Earth which brought forth all, and the orbed sun that looks on everything, — " This invocation of the elements is very frequent in an- cient literature and has become a modern commonplace. Swinburne again in his " Erechtheus," 1647 ff. imitates the same passage: " hear ye too Earth and the glory of heaven and winds of the air, And the most holy heart of the deep sea, Late wroth, now full of quiet, hear, thou sun, Rolled round with the rolling fire of the upper heaven And all the stars returning; hills and streams, Springs and fresh fountains, day that seest these deeds, Night that shall hide not;" Cf. Swinburne, "Eve of Revolution": "And thunder and laughter and lightning of the sovereign sea." and "Atalanta," 34: " And fountain heads of all the watered world." "Aralanta," 25; " Let earth | Laugh, and the long sea — " The metaphor is frequently met in Greek literature. Cf. : " Theognis," 9 : iyeWacrae yala TTeKwprj^ y^Orjcrev de ^aOvs ttovtos oKos TroXt^s. "Iliad," 19, 362: TeXao-tre bh irdaa irepl x^wi/. " H. Cer.," 14: yala be irds eyeXaaae. Cf. Swinburne, " Erechtheus," i : " Mother of life and death and all men's ways, Earth — " Cf. Soph. Ph. 394; Eurip. Hipp. 597; Horn. Hymn XXX, 1 ^s, Cho. 127. Note 7. The punishment of Prometheus is in the open; OF ^SCHYLUS 73 this arouses his bitter resentment. Cf. 97; 177; 195; 227; 256; 438; 525. Note 8. Swinburne, "Athens," thus refers to the entrance of this chorus: " Glows a glory of mild-winged maidens upward mounting Sheer through air made shrill with stroke on smooth swift wings, Round the rocks beyond foot's reach, past eyesight's count- ing, Up the cleft where iron wind of winter rings." The Oceanides are the daughters of Oceanus and Tethys. Hesiod in the Theogony states that their number is three thousand. Note 9. Cf. Swinburne "Atalanta": " Lands undiscoverable in the unheard-of west Round which the strong stream of a sacred sea Rolls without wind forever." Note 10. Cf. Swinburne "Athens": "Round a god fast clenched in iron jaws and fetters." Note II. In Sept. 860 the dead go "Into the all-receiving and unseen landing-place." In the Supplices the chorus threatens to appeal to " The infernal Zeus of the dead, the most ready receiver of all who come to him." Note 12. The wretched shrink from the exultation of their foes. In "Iliad," 3, 51, Hector chides his brother for bringing Helen to be " a sore mischief to thy father and city and all the realm, but to our foes a rejoicing, and to thyself a hanging of the head." In "Iliad,''' 6, 82, ^neas and Hector are urged to rally the Trojans "ere yet they fall fleeing in their women's arms, and be made a rejoicing to the foe." "Iliad," 10, 193, Nestor urges the guard to keep good watch " nor let sleep take any man, lest we become a 74 THE PROMETHEUS BOUND cause of rejoicing to them that hate us." ^s. Per. 1034, Xerxes speaks of his sorrows "the joy of our enemies." Note 13. Cf. Swinburne, "Atalanta," 576 — " to weave sweet words and melt Mutable minds of wise men as with fire." Note 14. Cf. Swinburne, "Athens": " Earth whose name was also righteousness, a mother Many named and single natured, gave him birth." The identification of Gaea and Themis. Note 15. Iron and stone designate lack of feeling and stubbornness. Cf. " Iliad," 16, 33, where Patroclus says to Achilles: " Peleus was not thy father, nor Thetis thy mother, but the gray sea bare thee, and the sheer cliffs, so rough is thy spirit." Note 16. Cf. Plato, Gorg. 523 d; Horace, Carm. 3, 29, 29; Prudens futuri temporis exitum Caliginosa nocte premit deus, Ridetque si mortalis ultra Fas trepidat. Swinburne reverses it. "Atalanta," 353: "His (man's) speech is a burning fire; With his lips he travaileth ; In his heart is a blind desire. In his eyes foreknonvledge of death." Note 17. For the myth of Pandora cf. Hesiod, O. D. 94. Note 18. Swinburne imitates the passage in dialogue be- tween Althaea and Meleager, "Atalanta," 460 if. : Al. "What god applauds new things? Mel. Zeus, who hath fear and custom under foot. Al. But loves not laws thrown down and lives awry. Mel. Yet is not less himself than his own law, Al. Nor shifts and shufiles old things up and down. Mel. But what he will remolds and discreates." Etc. OF ^SCHYLUS 75 Note 19. Silence is golden. Cf. Swinburne, ** Atalanta," 1193 ff. " But ye, keep ye on earth Your lips from over-speech. Loud words and longing are so little worth; And the end is hard to reach. For silence after grievous things is good, And reverence and the fear that makes men whole, And shame and righteous governance of blood, And lordship of the soul. But from sharp words and wits men pluck no fruit, And gathering thorns they shake the tree at root; For words divide and rend; But silence is most noble to the end." Note 20. Pindar, in the first Pythian ode describes very vividly the same eruption. Note 21. Kovcpovovv: Swinburne, A word from the Psalm- ist: "A light-souled rabble." "Atalanta," 201 "I speak not as one light of luit." Note 22. Cf. Swinburne, " Erechtheus," 13: '* And first bow down the bridled strength of steeds To lose the wild wont of their birth." Note 23. Swinburne, "Athens": "And bade the wave steeds champ the rein." Vergil, ^n. i, 224: Naves velivolae Ovid: Velivolae rates. Swinburne, "Athens": "Gave their water-wandering chariot seats of ocean Wings," Note 24. Prophecy was made possible by means of dreams, voices, omens, birds, sacrifice. Aristophanes, "Birds," 720: " And all things ye lay to the charge of a bird that belong to discerning prediction: 76 THE PROMETHEUS BOUND Winged fame is a bird, as you reckon; you sneeze, and the sign's as a bird for conviction: All tokens are * birds ' with you — sounds too and lackeys and donkeys. Then must it follow That we are to you all as the manifest godhead that speaks in prophetic Apollo?" Swinburne, Athens: "Bared the darkling scriptures writ in dazzling letters Taught the truth of dreams deceiving men's desire." Note 25. Swinburne, ''Athens": " Showed the symbols of the wild bird's wheeling motion." Note 26. Decima unda, decumanus fluctus; Sept. 760: "And now as it were a sea of troubles is bringing on a billow, one falling, while another with triple crest it is raising, a wave that chafes and babbles at the city's stern." Plato uses the same metaphor in Republic, V. " Perhaps you do not know that after I have barely surmounted the first two waves, you are now bringing down upon me the third breaker, which is the most mountainous and formidable of the three." Swinburne treats the idea sentimentally. " Triumph of Time " : " It is not much that a man can save On the sands of life in the straits of time. Who swims in sight of the great third wave That never a swimmer shall cross or climb." Note 27. Swinburne, "Athens": "He may smite me yet he shall not do to death." Note 28. Swinburne, "A Ballad at Parting": "There in thunder-throated roar." Note 29. The drag-net metaphor is rather common in Greek; Cf. Agamemnon 361; 1050; 11 15. Swinburne, "On the Cliffs": OF i^SCHYLUS 77 " Too close the entangling dragnet woven of crime, The snare of ill new born of elder ill, The curse of new time for an elder time, Has caught and held her yet. Enmeshed intolerably in the intolerant net. Who thought with craft to mock the God most high," etc. -~/^T^ TS DUE OK THE LAST DATE 14 DAY USE LOAN DEPT. -^ ""''*<' «>'nunediate recall. REC'D LD ~ocT~B%ir7«- — ^Kuto— # ^^^^~~8" 13., |fic„ „„ ^^ LD21A-60m-6,'69 (J9096sl0)476-A-32 .General Library University of California Berkeley \ U.C.BERKELEY LIBRARIES CD5Efil3^^7 903^95 THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY