Delphi Complete Works of Aeschylus (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics) (28 page)
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Authors: Aeschylus
‘Vulcan Chaining Prometheus’ by Dirck van Baburen
‘Chained Prometheus’ (1611–12) by Peter Paul Rubens
An amphora, dated 540–530 BC, depicting Io as a cow
POWER and FORCE
HEPHAESTUS
PROMETHEUS
CHORUS of the Daughters of Oceanus
OCEANUS
IO, daughter of Inachus
HERMES
SCENE. — A rocky height, overlooking
the ocean, in the uttermost parts of Scythia.
TIME. — Mythical.
When Cronus, the
son of Uranus, was king in heaven, revolt against his rule arose among the
gods. The Olympians strove to dethrone him in favour of Zeus, his son; the
Titans, children of Uranus and Earth, championing the ancient order of
violence, warred against Zeus and his partisans. Prometheus, himself a Titan,
forewarned by his oracular mother Earth or Themis (for she bore either name)
that the victory should be won by craft, whereas his brethren placed their sole
reliance on brute force, rallied with her to the side of Zeus and secured his
success. His triumph once assured, the new monarch of heaven proceeded
forthwith to apportion to the gods their various functions and prerogatives;
but the wretched race of man he purposed to annihilate and create another in
its stead. This plan was frustrated by Prometheus, who, in compassion on their
feebleness, showed them the use of fire, which he had stolen in their behoof,
and taught them all arts and handicrafts. For this rebellion against the
newly-founded sovereignty of Zeus, the friend of mankind was doomed to suffer
chastisement — he must pass countless ages, riveted to a crag on the shores of
Ocean in the trackless waste of Scythia.
But suffering of
body or of min might not quell his spirit, though he is possessed of the sad
privilege of immortality. Conscious that he had erred, he is nevertheless
fortified by indignation that he had been made the victim of tyranny and
ingratitude. Nor is he unprovided with a means to strengthen his resistance and
to force the hand of his oppressor, whose despotic power has one point of
attack. The Titan is possessed of a fateful secret which must be revealed to
Zeus if he is not to be hurled from his dominion as his father had been before
him. The despot contemplates marriage with Thetis, and should it be brought to
pass, the son to be born to him is to prove mightier than his sire. This
secret, told Prometheus by his mother, he will not disclose till, in the lapse
of ages, Zeus consents to release him from his ignominious bonds; rather than
part with it on other terms he defies the thunder and lightning of the lord of
Olympus and, amid the crashing world, is hurled to Tartarus, to the last protesting
against the injustice of his doom.
[
Enter Power and
Force, bringing with them the captive Prometheus; also Hephaestus.
]
POWER
[1]
To earth’s
remotest limit we come, to the Scythian land, an untrodden solitude. And now,
Hephaestus, yours is the charge to observe the mandates laid upon you by the
Father — to clamp this miscreant upon the high craggy rocks in shackles of
binding adamant that cannot be broken. For your own flower, flashing fire,
source of all arts, he has purloined and bestowed upon mortal creatures. Such
is his offence; for this he is bound to make requital to the gods, so that he
may learn to bear with the sovereignty of Zeus and cease his man-loving ways.
HEPHAESTUS
[12]
Power and
Force, for you indeed the behest of Zeus is now fulfilled, and nothing remains
to stop you. But for me — I do not have the nerve myself to bind with force a
kindred god upon this rocky cleft assailed by cruel winter. Yet, come what may,
I am constrained to summon courage to this deed; for it is perilous to
disregard the commandments of the Father.
[18]
Lofty-minded son
of Themis who counsels straight, against my will, no less than yours, I must
rivet you with brazen bonds no hand can loose to this desolate crag, where
neither voice nor form of mortal man shall you perceive; but, scorched by the
sun’s bright beams, you shall lose the fair bloom of your flesh. And glad you
shall be when spangled-robed night shall veil his brightness and when the sun
shall scatter again the frost of morning. Evermore the burden of your present
ill shall wear you out; for your deliverer is not yet born.
[28]
Such is the prize
you have gained for your championship of man. For, god though you are, you did
not fear the wrath of the gods, but you bestowed honors upon mortal creatures
beyond their due. Therefore on this joyless rock you must stand sentinel,
erect, sleepless, your knee unbent. And many a groan and unavailing lament you
shall utter; for the heart of Zeus is hard, and everyone is harsh whose power
is new.
POWER
[36]
Well, why
delay and excite pity in vain? Why do you not detest a god most hateful to the
gods, since he has betrayed your prerogative to mortals?
HEPHAESTUS
[39]
A strangely
potent tie is kinship, and companionship as well.
POWER
[40]
I agree;
yet to refuse to obey the commands of the Father; is this possible? Do you not
fear that more?
HEPHAESTUS
[42]
Yes, you
are ever pitiless and steeped in insolence.
POWER
[43]
Yes, for it
does not good to bemoan this fellow. Stop wasting your labor at an unprofitable
task.
HEPHAESTUS
[45]
Oh
handicraft that I hate so much!
POWER
[46]
Why hate
it? Since in truth your craft is in no way to blame for these present troubles.
HEPHAESTUS
[48]
Nevertheless, i wish it had fallen to another’s lot!
POWER
[49]
Every job
is troublesome except to be the commander of gods; no one is free except Zeus.
HEPHAESTUS
[51]
I know it
by this task; I cannot deny it.
POWER
[52]
Hurry then
to cast the fetters about him, so that the Father does not see you loitering.
HEPHAESTUS
[54]
Well, there
then! The bands are ready, as you may see.
POWER
[55]
Cast them
about his wrists and with might strike with your hammer; rivet him to the
rocks.
HEPHAESTUS
[57]
There! The
work is getting done and not improperly.
POWER
[58]
Strike
harder, clamp him tight, leave nothing loose; for he is wondrously clever at
finding a way even out of desperate straits.
HEPHAESTUS
[60]
This arm,
at least, is fixed permanently.
POWER
[61]
Now rivet
this one too and securely, so that he may learn, for all his cleverness, that
he is a fool compared to Zeus.
HEPHAESTUS
[63]
None but he
could justly blame my work.
POWER
[64]
Now drive
the adamantine wedge’s stubborn edge straight through his chest with your full
force.
HEPHAESTUS
[66]
Alas,
Prometheus, I groan for your sufferings.
POWER
[67]
What!
Shrinking again and groaning over the enemies of Zeus? Take care, so that the
day does not come when you shall grieve for yourself.
HEPHAESTUS
[69]
You see a
spectacle grievous for eyes to behold.
POWER
[70]
I see this
man getting his deserts. Come, cast the girths about his sides.
HEPHAESTUS
[72]
I must do
this; spare me your needless ordering.
POWER
[73]
Indeed, I’ll
order you, yes and more — I’ll hound you on. Get down below, and ring his legs
by force.
HEPHAESTUS
[75]
There now!
The work’s done and without much labor.
POWER
[76]
Now hammer
the piercing fetters with your full force; for the appraiser of our work is
severe.
HEPHAESTUS
[78]
The
utterance of your tongue matches your looks.
POWER
[79]
Be
softhearted then, but do not attack my stubborn will and my harsh mood.
HEPHAESTUS
[81]
Let us be
gone, since he has got the fetters on his limbs.
[
Exit.
]
POWER
[82]
There now,
indulge your insolence, keep on wresting from the gods their honors to give
them to creatures of a day. Are mortals able to lighten your load of sorrow?
Falsely the gods call you Prometheus, for you yourself need forethought to free
yourself from this handiwork.
[
Exeunt Power and Force.
]
PROMETHEUS
[88]
O you
bright sky of heaven, you swift-winged breezes, you river-waters, and infinite
laughter of the waves of ocean, O universal mother Earth, and you, all-seeing
orb of the sun, to you I call! See what I, a god, endure from the gods.
[94]
Look, with what
shameful torture I am racked and must wrestle throughout the countless years of
time apportioned me. Such is the ignominious bondage the new commander of the
blessed has devised against me. Woe! Woe! For present misery and misery to come
I groan, not knowing where it is fated that deliverance from these sorrows shall
arise.
[100]
And yet, what am
I saying? All that is to be I know full well and in advance, nor shall any
affliction come upon me unforeseen. I must bear my allotted doom as lightly as
I can, knowing that the might of Necessity permits no resistance.Yet I am not
able to speak nor be silent about my fate. For it is because I bestowed good
gifts on mortals that this miserable yoke of constraint has been bound upon me.
I hunted out and stored in fennel stalk the stolen source of fire that has
proved a teacher to mortals in every art and a means to mighty ends. Such is
the offence for which I pay the penalty, riveted in fetters beneath the open
sky.
[115]
Ha! Behold! What
murmur, what scent wings to me, its source invisible, heavenly or human, or
both? Has someone come to this crag at the edge of the world to stare at my
sufferings — or with what motive? Behold me, an ill-fated god, chained, the foe
of Zeus, hated of all who enter the court of Zeus, because of my very great
love for mankind. Ha! What’s this? What may be this rustling stir of birds I
hear again nearby? The air whirs with the light rush of wings. Whatever
approaches causes me alarm.
[
The Daughters
of Oceanus enter on a winged car.]
CHORUS
[127]
Do not
fear! For our group has come in swift rivalry of wings to this crag as friend
to you, having won our father’s consent as best we might. The swift-coursing
breezes bore me on; for the reverberation of the clang of iron pierced the
depths of our caves and drove my grave modesty away in fright; unsandalled I
have hastened in a winged car.
PROMETHEUS
[136]
Alas!
Alas! Offspring of fruitful Tethys and of him who with his sleepless current
encircles the whole earth, children of your father Oceanus, behold, see with
what fetters, upon the summit crag of this ravine, I am to hold my unenviable
watch.
CHORUS
[144]
I see,
Prometheus; and over my eyes a mist of tears and fear spread as I saw your body
withering ignominiously upon this rock in these bonds of adamant. For there are
new rulers in heaven, and Zeus governs with lawless customs; that which was
mighty before he now brings to nothing.
PROMETHEUS
[152]
Oh if only
he had hurled me below the earth, yes beneath Hades, the entertainer of the
dead, into impassable Tartarus, and had ruthlessly fastened me in fetters no
hand can loose, so that neither god nor any other might have gloated over this
agony I feel! But, now, a miserable plaything of the winds, I suffer pains to
delight my enemies.
CHORUS
[160]
Who of the
gods is so hard of heart as to exult in this? Who does not sympathize with your
woes — save only Zeus? But he in malice, has set his soul inflexibly and keeps
in subjection the race sprung from Uranus; nor will he stop, until he has
satiated his soul or another seizes his impregnable empire by some device of
guile.
PROMETHEUS
[168]
Truly the
day shall come when, although I am tortured in stubborn fetters, the prince of
the blessed will need me to reveal the new design whereby he shall be stripped
of his sceptre and his dignities. Not by persuasion’s honeyed enchantments will
he charm me; and I will never, cowering before his dire threats, divulge this
secret, until he releases me from my cruel bonds and provides compensation for
this outrage.
CHORUS
[180]
You are
bold, and do not yield to your bitter pangs; you give too much license to your
tongue. But my soul is agitated by piercing fear, and I am in dread about your
fate, wondering to what haven you must steer your ship to see an end of your
voyage of sorrow. For the heart of Cronus’ son is hardened against entreaty and
his ways are inexorable.
PROMETHEUS
[189]
I know
that Zeus is harsh and keeps justice in his own hands; but nevertheless one day
his judgement will soften, when he has been crushed in the way that I know.
Then, calming down his stubborn wrath, he shall at last bond with me in union
and friendship, as eager as I am to welcome him.
CHORUS
[196]
Unfold the
whole story and tell us upon what charge Zeus has caught you and painfully
punishes you with such dishonor. Instruct us, unless, indeed, there is some
harm in telling.
PROMETHEUS
[199]
It is
painful to me to tell the tale, painful to keep it silent. My case is
unfortunate every way.
When first the heavenly powers were moved to wrath, and mutual dissension was
stirred up among them — some bent on casting Cronus from his seat so Zeus, in
truth, might reign; others, eager for the contrary end, that Zeus might never
win mastery over the gods — it was then that I, although advising them for the
best, was unable to persuade the Titans, children of Heaven and Earth; but
they, disdaining counsels of craft, in the pride of their strength thought to
gain the mastery without a struggle and by force. Often my mother Themis, or
Earth (though one form, she had many names), had foretold to me the way in
which the future was fated to come to pass. That it was not by brute strength
nor through violence, but by guile that those who should gain the upper hand
were destined to prevail. And though I argued all this to them, they did not
pay any attention to my words. With all that before me, it seemed best that,
joining with my mother, I should place myself, a welcome volunteer, on the side
of Zeus; and it is by reason of my counsel that the cavernous gloom of Tartarus
now hides ancient Cronus and his allies within it. Thus I helped the tyrant of
the gods and with this foul payment he has responded; for it is a disease that
is somehow inherent in tyranny to have no faith in friends.
[228]
However, you ask
why he torments me, and this I will now make clear. As soon as he had seated
himself upon his father’s throne, he immediately assigned to the deities their
several privileges and apportioned to them their proper powers. But of wretched
mortals he took no notice, desiring to bring the whole race to an end and
create a new one in its place. Against this purpose none dared make stand
except me — I only had the courage; I saved mortals so that they did not
descend, blasted utterly, to the house of Hades. This is why I am bent by such
grievous tortures, painful to suffer, piteous to behold. I who gave mortals
first place in my pity, I am deemed unworthy to win this pity for myself, but
am in this way mercilessly disciplined, a spectacle that shames the glory of
Zeus.
CHORUS
[244]
Iron-hearted and made of stone, Prometheus, is he who feels no compassion at
your miseries. For myself, I would not have desired to see them; and now that I
see them, I am pained in my heart.
PROMETHEUS
[248]
Yes, to my
friends indeed I am a spectacle of pity.
CHORUS
[249]
Did you
perhaps transgress even somewhat beyond this offence?
PROMETHEUS
[250]
Yes, I
caused mortals to cease foreseeing their doom.
CHORUS
[251]
Of what
sort was the cure that you found for this affliction?
PROMETHEUS
[252]
I caused
blind hopes to dwell within their breasts.