Aeschylus

“ Strophe I.
⁠Prometheus, thy sad fate we rue,
Our tender eyes well founts whose streams our cheeks bedew:
⁠Hard is the present case, ⁠425 (411)
Zeus wields his power by laws that are his own,
And on the gods of old his over-weening mood is shown.
Antistrophe I.
⁠The whole land echoes now with sighs,
Sighing and making moan for the old majesties
⁠Of thee and of thy race. ⁠430 (419)
Yea where the Asian colonies lie fair,
In loud lamentings for thine ills do mortal dwellers share. ”

“ Zeus may resolve, will woman-hearted turn
And will that most abhorred one supplicate,
Lifting beseeching hands as women do, ⁠1044 (1026)
To free me from these bonds. That may not be.
Hermes.
It seems I may speak much and speak in vain,
For thou art nothing touched nor thy heart moved
By entreaties, but dost, like some new-yoked colt,
Champing the bit, plunge and resist the reins.
But 'tis poor cleverness that puffs thee up, ⁠1050 (1032)
For by mere stubbornness left to itself
The unwise are less than nothing profited. ”

“ Prometheus.
Lightly ye won from me your former wish,
For first ye sought to hear her history
Of her own trials. And now hear the rest,
What miseries this girl has yet to bear ⁠720 (722)
From Hera. But thou, child of Inachus,
Lay these my words to heart that thou may'st know
Throughly what goal is set thy journeyings.
First, turning thee towards the rising sun
From hence, cross over untilled plains till so ⁠725 (727)
Thou reach the wandering Scythians, those who dwell
In wicker tents aloft on cars with wheels
And are accoutred with far-shooting arrows. ”

“ Am driven on. Thou hearst the past, and now,
If thou canst tell what ills remain, say on, ⁠700 (702)
And do not, pitying, soothe me with false tales.
For a mean fault methinks is specious talk.
CHORUS.
⁠Woe! woe! Oh keep her still!
Alas! oh never, never, had we thought
That tale so strange as this is should be brought ⁠705 (708)
⁠To our ears,
Nor that woes and pains and fears
Sad to bear and sad to see should thus
With a two-edged goading chill
⁠The heart in us. ⁠710 (712)
Woe! woe! Oh fate! oh fate!
We shiver looking upon Io's state.
Prometheus. ”

“ How Zeus created him, who shall enjoy
The whole land watered by broad-flooding Nile.
And, five in line from him, a female race,
Fifty in number, shall unwillingly ⁠880 (873)
Return again to Argos, taking flight
From intermarriage with their cousins. These,
Their hearts with love aflutter, falcons close
On the track of doves, shall follow in pursuit
Of a marriage it ill fits them to pursue. ⁠885 (877)
But the damsels shall be grudged them by a god,
And the land of Argos shall receive them slain
By woman hate wake in the midnight hour. ”

“ Hephaistos.
Let us depart; his limbs are in the toils.
Strength.
Now then be insolent, and spoil the gods ⁠90 (82)
Of their royalties, to lay them at the feet
Of creatures of a day. Well, how far now
Can mortals drain away thy deeps of woe?
'Twas a rare blunder when the gods assigned
Thy name Prometheus, the forecasting one, ⁠95 (85)
For thou needst surely a forecaster now
For how thou mayst elude these shrewd-wrought bonds.
Prometheus. ”

“ For thou, a god, brunting the wrath of gods,
Hast given a wrongful honour to mankind.
So on this joyless rock shalt thou keep watch, ⁠35 (31)
Standing erect and sleepless, not so much
As bending the tired knee. And many moans
And many useless prayers shalt thou pour forth,
For inexorable is the heart of Zeus.
So every one is harsh whose power is new. ⁠40 (35)
Strength. ”

“ Their every art had mortals from Prometheus.
Chorus.
Now do thou not serve mortals past the mark
And take no thought for thine own evil case: ⁠525 (517)
For we are of good hope that thou shalt yet,
Freed from these bonds, be no less strong than Zeus.
Prometheus.
Nor yet is it laid on completing Fate
To bring this so to pass, but by much woes
And pangs bowed down thus shall I scape these chains.
For art is very weak before The Must. ⁠531 (522)
Chorus. ”

“ Prometheus.
That may ye not learn now. Press me no more.
Chorus.
'Tis sure portentous, what thou thus dost cloak.
Prometheus.
Turn to some other topic, for of this
'Tis now no time to speak, but hidden close ⁠540 (531)
To the utmost should it be: for hoarding it
I shall escape these shaming bonds and pangs.
CHORUS.
Strophe I.
⁠May he who all doth guide,
Even Zeus, ne'er pit his strength against our will.
May we ne'er fail, with righteous sacrifice ⁠545 (537)
Of slaughtered oxen, to approach the deities
By our father Ocean's never ceasing tide. ”

“ Who does not rather in thy wrath bear part ⁠180 (167)
⁠For the ill in which thou art,
⁠Save only Zeus? And truly he,
Revengeful always, sets his stedfast will
⁠And keeps the sons of heaven enthralled,
And will not slack until his heart be palled, ⁠185 (171)
⁠Or else until
By some device another reave away
⁠His hardly to be conquered sway.
Prometheus.
Yet of me, though wrung in these stubborn bonds,
Shall the lord of gods have need one day, ⁠190 (176)
To show the new plot which shall strip from him
Sceptre and pride. ”

“ One's long life in glad hopes and feed one's heart
Mid sunny joys, but shuddering we behold
How thou art agonized by tortures manifold
Because, not keeping Zeus's will in view,
⁠But by thine own will taking part ⁠555 (552)
Thou gavest, Prometheus, to mankind an honour not their due. ”

“ Enough: why art thou lingering, making waste
Of lamentations? Why dost thou not hate
This god most hateful to the other gods,
Betrayer of thy sovereignty to men?
Hephaistos.
In sooth, 'tis a marvellous potency this tie ⁠45 (39)
Of kinship and familiar intercourse.
Strength.
I grant thee. But how canst thou not regard
The father's words? Dost thou not dread this worse?
Hephaistos.
Thou art ever ruthless, ready to all tasks.
Strength. ”

“ Behold me, a most wretched god, in chains,
⁠One counted foe unto Zeus, and so come
⁠Into the hate of all other gods, ⁠134 (121)
⁠Of the gods who resort to the halls of Zeus,
⁠Because I have loved mankind too well. ”

“ Hast sinned, giving greatness to the ephemerals;
Thou thief of fire—it is to thee I speak.
The father bids thee show what marriage this
Thou pratest of so bigly, and by whom ⁠984 (969)
Himself shall be cast down from power. And see
Thou speak not darkly, but from point to point.
So now, Prometheus, give me not two journeys:
Thou seest such ways do nothing soften Zeus.
Prometheus.
The speech, in sooth, is of portentous phrase
And prideful for a varlet to the gods. ⁠990 (975)
Ye are new in a new rule, and yet ye think
To dwell in an untroubled citadel. ”

“ That the froward tongue meets with its punishment?
Prometheus.
I give thee joy that thou hast scaped the blame,
Who in the whole tookst venturous part with me.
And now let it pass, never disturb thyself,
For thine utmost will not move him, he hears no one.
But take thou heed lest this journey harm thyself.
Oceanus.
Truly thou 'rt abler to guide other minds ⁠361 (343)
Than thine own self. By deeds not words I judge it.
But, now I am purposed, do not hold me back.
I am sure, yes sure, that Zeus will give to me
This boon, and thou be loosened from thy pains.
Prometheus. ”

“ Prometheus.
Simply, all gods to whom I have done good
And who reward me evil do I hate.
Hermes.
By how I hear thee rave thou'rt mad enough.
Prometheus.
Let me be mad, if to hate foes be madness. ⁠1015 (999)
Hermes.
In prosperous case thoud'st be intolerable.
Prometheus.
Ah me!
Hermes.
⁠Aye, there's a word Zeus does not know.
Prometheus.
But time as it gains age doth all things teach.
Hermes.
And yet thou hast not learned to be discreet.
Prometheus.
Else should I not with thee, a menial, talk. ⁠1020 (1004)
Hermes. ”

“ Should the common craftsman set his mind to wed.
Antistrophe I.
⁠Never may ye see, ⁠921 (913)
Ye high Fates, one out of us becoming Zeus's bride,
Nor to any of the gods in marriage bonds allied.
For beholding Io's love-chary maidenhood
Visited with anguish, for many a weary rood ⁠925 (918)
By Hera doomed to wander, our hearts faint terrified.
Strophe II.
To us seems wedlock paired aright
Nought baneful, not of that our fear,
But, oh never may love light
⁠On any here ⁠930 (921)
From great one of the gods whose eye
⁠Vainly any seek to fly. ”

“ Why spite at that? for in good sooth thine art
Is no way cause of the present use for it.
Hephaistos.
And yet I would it were some other's art. ⁠55 (48)
Strength.
All is allowed the gods except to rule
Unruled; for none is free save Zeus alone.
Hephaistos.
I know: I cannot answer thee thy words.
Strength.
Then wilt thou not make haste to clip him round
With bonds, lest Zeus perceive thee truanting? ⁠60 (53)
Hephaistos. ”

“ Showed good, which harm—what several ways of life,
What hatreds one to another, and what loves,
And gatherings together are their wont.
The smoothness of the liver I explained, ⁠510 (501)
What colour it should be to please the gods,
And when the lobe near the gall is rightly mottled.
And, roasting fat-cased thighs and the long chine,
I led mankind to a mysterious lore. ”

“ Salmudessia, plays her stepdame's part to ships.
These willingly will guide thee on thy way.
Then wilt thou come to the Cimmerian isthmus
Beside the narrow straits into the lake,
Which with a bold heart thou must leave behind ⁠750 (749)
And cleave thy course through the Mæotic channel.
And there shall be for ever to mankind
A great note of thy passage—Bosphorus
It shall be called for thee. ”

“ Prometheus.
None save through me, if I be free from bonds.
Io.
Who then shall free thee, Zeus not willing it?
Prometheus.
'Tis fated that he shall be sprung from thee.
Io.
How sayest thou? Thou freed by a son of mine?
Prometheus.
The third in line when ten descents have been. ⁠796 (793)
Io.
This prophecy is past my solving now.
Prometheus.
Neither seek longer to learn thine own woes.
Io.
Nay, reach me not a gift, to take it back.
Prometheus.
Of two recitals I will give thee one. ⁠800 (797)
Io. ”

“ Are the physicians of a mind diseased? ”

“ Who near to the Mæotic lake inhabit earths last coast.
Antistrophe II.
⁠And Araby's brave youth who dwell
Near Caucasus in the high citadel
⁠Poised on the rocks,
A threatening army with barbed spears clashing loud-ringing shocks. ⁠440 (431)
Strophe III.
⁠Only one other till yet
Among the gods have we seen bear pain,
The Titan compelled in an adamant chain,
⁠Atlas, who groaning lifts high
The ponderous weight on his shoulders set, ⁠445 (437)
⁠The revolving dome of the sky. ”

“ There then, that work is done, and with no lagging.
Strength.
Now strike strong on the rivets through the feet,
For stern the overseer who scans the work. ⁠85 (77)
Hephaistos.
Thy voice jars loathsome on me like thy shape.
Strength. ”

“ The triple Fates and the unforgetting Furies. ”

“ The text upon which this translation is based is that of Paley (2nd English edition, 1861) . A list of the few instances in which different readings have been adopted will be found at the end of the notes.
The numbers within brackets refer to the corresponding lines in Paley.
DRAMATIS PERSONÆ.
Strength.
Force (a Mute) .
Hephaistos.
Prometheus.
Chorus of Nymphs, daughters of Oceanus.
Oceanus.
Io, daughter of Inachus.
Hermes.
PROMETHEUS BOUND.
Strength. ”