Prometheus, the good Titan, has been raising mankind from the condition of primeval brutes by teaching them the arts of civilisation. At last he steals fire from heaven for their use. By this he incurs the wrath of Zeus, who, having deposed his father Chronos, has become king of the gods. As a punishment Prometheus is condemned by Zeus to be chained to a rock in the Caucasus, with an eagle always feeding on his breast. But Prometheus knows the secret of a mysterious marriage which is destined in time to take place, and by the offspring of which Zeus in his turn is to be dethroned. Strong in his consciousness of this, he defies Zeus, who by the agency of Hermes tries in vain to wrest the secret from him. The persons of the drama, besides Prometheus, are Hephaestus, better known by his Latin name of Vulcan, Might and Force personified, Hermes the messenger of Heaven, and the wandering Io. The chorus consists of sea- nymphs, who sympathise with the suffering Prometheus. This drama is a sublime enigma. Aeschylus was conservative and deeply religious. How could he write a play the hero of which is a benefactor of man struggling against the tyranny of the king of the gods, and the sequel of which found a fit and congenial composer in Shelley, whose sentiment and manner the "Prometheus Bound" wonderfully anticipates and perhaps helped to form? Again, how could the Athenians, in an age when their piety had not yet given way to scepticism, have endured such dramatic treatment of the chief of the gods? It is almost as if a Mystery Play had been presented in the Middle Ages with Satan for the hero and the First Person of the Trinity in the character of an oppressor. Perhaps the position of Zeus in the drama as a usurper may, in some degree, have softened the religious effect.
* * * * *
Prometheus is brought in by the Spirits of Might and Force,
Hephaestus accompanying them.
LINES 1-113.
SCENE: The Caucasus.
MIGHT.
Unto earth's utmost boundary we have come,
To Scythia's realm, th' untrodden wilderness.
Hephaestus, now it is thy part to do
The Almighty Father's bidding, and to bind
This arch-deceiver to yon lowering cliff
With bonds of everlasting adamant.
Thy attribute, all-fabricating fire,
He stole and gave to man. Such is the crime
For which he pays the penalty to Heaven,
That he may learn henceforth meekly to bear
The rule of Zeus and less befriend mankind.
HEPHAESTUS.
Spirits of Might and Force, by you the word
Of Zeus has been fulfilled; your task is done.
But I—to bind a god, one of my kin,
To a storm-beaten cliff, my heart abhors.
And yet this must I do, for woe is him
That does not what the Almighty Sire commands.
Thou high-aspiring son of Themis sage,
Unwilling is the hand that rivets thee
Indissolubly to this lonely rock,
Where thou shalt see no face and hear no voice
Of man, but, scorched by the sun's burning ray,
Change thy fair hue for dark, and long for night
With starry kirtle to close up the day,
And for the morn to melt the frosts of night,
Still racked with tortures endlessly renewed,
And which to end redeemer none is born.
Such is the guerdon of thy love for man.
A god thyself, thou gav'st, despite the gods,
To mortals more than is a mortal's due.
And therefore must thou keep this dreary rock,
Erect, with frame unbending, reft of sleep,
And many a bootless wail of agony
Shalt utter. Change of mind in Zeus is none,
Ruthless the rule when power is newly won.
MIGHT.
To work! A truce to these weak wails of ruth.
Whom the gods hate why dost thou not abhor—
Him that betrayed thy attribute to man?
HEPHAESTUS.
Great force have kindred and companionship.
MIGHT.
True, but to disobey the Almighty Sire
How canst thou dare? Fearest thou not this more?
HEPHAESTUS.
Relentless still and pitiless art thou.
MIGHT.
Thy wailings are no medicines for his woes;
Then waste no pains on that which profits naught.
HEPHAESTUS.
O thrice accurs'd this master-craft of mine!
MIGHT.
Why dost thou curse it? Simple truth to say,
Thy art is no way guilty of these ills.
HEPHAESTUS.
Would it had fallen to any lot but mine.
MIGHT.
The one thing to the gods themselves denied
[Footnote: In this passage I have retained the old reading eprachthae
with the interpretation of the Scholiast.]
Is sovereignty, for Zeus alone is free.
HEPHAESTUS.
Too well I know it, and gainsay it not.
MIGHT.
Be quick, then, and make fast this sinner's chain,
Lest the Almighty see thee loitering.
HEPHAESTUS.
Here are the fetters for his arms; behold them.
MIGHT.
Grasp him, and with thy hammer round his arms
Strike and strike hard and clench them to the rock.
HEPHAESTUS.
The work goes on apace and tarries not.
MIGHT.
Strike harder, clench, leave nothing loose; his craft,
E'en in extremity, can find a way.
HEPHAESTUS.
This arm is fixed past any power to loose.
MIGHT.
Clench now the other firmly; let him know
That all his cunning is no match for Zeus.
HEPHAESTUS.
Fault with my work can no one find save he.
MIGHT.
Drive then the ruthless spike of adamant
Right through the sinner's breast and see it holds.
HEPHAESTUS.
Alas, Prometheus! I bemoan thy pains.
MIGHT.
Thou loiterest, moaning for the foe of Zeus;
One day thou mayest be moaning for thyself.
HEPHAESTUS.
Thou see'st a sight most piteous to behold.
MIGHT.
I see yon sinner meeting his desert.
Proceed, make fast the fetters round his sides.
HEPHAESTUS.
Needs must I do it, press me not too hard.
MIGHT.
Press thee I will, and shout into thine ear.
Go down and clench the gyves about his legs.
HEPHAESTUS.
That work with little labour has been done.
MIGHT.
Now let thy hammer all the bonds make fast;
The overseer of this thy work is stern.
HEPHAESTUS.
Thy speech is ruthless as thy looks are grim.
MIGHT.
Be thou soft-hearted an thou wilt, but spare
To flout my sternness and my strong resolve.
HEPHAESTUS.
Let us be gone; the gyves are on his legs.
MIGHT.
There revel in thy insolence, there rob
Gods of their attributes to give to man.
Can mortal man in aught thy durance ease?
Ill chosen was the name that thou hast borne.
Foresight it means, but thou dost foresight need
To set thy limbs free from his handiwork.
PROMETHEUS.
O glorious firmament; O swift-winged winds,
Ye rivers and ye gleaming ocean waves
Innumerable, and thou great Mother Earth,
Thou, too, O sun, with thy all-seeing eye,
Look how a god is treated by the gods!
See the pains that I must bear,
Even to the thousandth year!
Such the chains that heaven's new king
Forges for my torturing.
Ah me! Ah me! my present woe
Does but the pangs to come foreshow,
Pangs that an end will never know.
Yet hold! The darkness of futurity
Is to my eye not dark, nor can aught come
That I do not foresee. Our destiny
We all must bear as lightly as we may,
Since none may wrestle with necessity.
And yet to speak or not to speak alike
Is miserable. High service done to man—
For this I bear the adamantine chain.
I to its elemental fountain tracked,
In fern-pith stored and bore by stealth away,
Fire, source and teacher of all arts to men.
Such mine offence, whereof the penalty
I pay, thus chained in face of earth and heaven.
* * * * *
THE SIN OF PROMETHEUS.
LINES 444-533.
PROMETHEUS.
Think not it is from pride or wantonness
That I forbear to speak; my heart is wrung
With looking on these ignominious bonds.
Who was it that to these new deities
Their attributes apportioned? Who but I?
Of that no more; to you as well as me
The tale is known; but list while I recount
How vile was man's estate, how void was man
Of reason, till I gave him mind and sense.
Not that I would upbraid the race of men:
I would but show my own benevolence.
Eyesight they had, yet nothing saw aright;
Ears, and yet heard not; but like forms in dreams,
For ages lived a life confused, nor bricks
Nor woodwork had to build them sunny homes,
But dwelt beneath the ground, as do the tribes
Diminutive of ants, in sunless caves.
Nor had they signs to mark the season's change,
Coming of winter or of flowery spring
Or of boon summer; but at random wrought
In all things, till I taught them to discern
The risings and the settings of the stars;
The use of numbers, crown of sciences,
Was my invention; mine were letters too,
The implement of mind in all its works.
First I trained beasts to draw beneath the yoke,
The collar to endure, the rider bear,
And thus relieve man of his heaviest toils.
First taught the steed, obedient to the rein,
To draw the chariot, wealth's proud appanage.
Nor, before me, did any launch the barque
With its white wings to rove the ocean wave.
These blessings, hapless that I am, have I
Devised for man, and yet device have none
Myself to liberate from these fell bonds.
CHORUS.
Sad is thy lot, to thy unwisdom due.
Now, like a bad physician that himself
Has into sickness fallen, thou dost despair
And hast no medicine for thine own disease.
PROMETHEUS.
Hear what remains, and thou wilt wonder more
At all the feats of my inventive mind.
Greatest of all was this; when they fell sick
Men had no help, no medicine edible,
Potion or ointment, but for lack of cure
Wasted away and perished, till my skill
Taught them to mix the juice of sovran herbs,
With which they now ward off all maladies.
Of divination many ways I traced,
Laid down the rules for telling which of dreams
Would be fulfilled, and of foreboding sounds
The mystery unfolded. Then I taught
What sights are ominous to wayfarers.
I showed which of the birds that wing the heavens
Were lucky, which unlucky, and what were
Their loves and hatreds and foregatherings.
Then what the flesh of victims signified,
Of its appearances which pleased the gods,
How shaped, how streaked each part behoved to be,
And the burnt offerings on the altar laid,
Thighs wrapped in fat and chine. I read the signs
Of sacrificial flames unread before.
More yet I did; the wealth that lurks for man
In earth's dark womb,—gold, silver, iron, brass,—
Who was it brought all this to light but I?
All others lie who would the honour claim.
In one short sentence a long tale is told
Alone Prometheus gave all arts to man.
CHORUS.
Take heed; be not to mortals overkind,
But to thyself in this dire strait unkind.
Good hope have I, one day to see thee stand
Free from those bonds and mate the power of Zeus.
PROMETHEUS.
Not yet that consummation fate ordains.
A thousand years of agony must pass
Before my tortured frame puts off this chain.
For skill is weak matched with necessity.
CHORUS.
Who, then, is pilot of necessity?
PROMETHEUS.
Fates three, and the unchanged Erinnyes.
CHORUS.
And have these powers the mastery over Zeus?
PROMETHEUS.
Not Zeus himself can baffle destiny.
CHORUS.
What is his destiny but endless rule?
PROMETHEUS.
I may not tell thee; importune me not.
CHORUS.
Dread is the secret that thou hidest thus.
PROMETHEUS.
Think of some other question; this to tell
The time is not yet ripe; deep in my breast
The secret must be buried; thus alone
May I from chains and tortures be set free.
* * * * *
PROMETHEUS DEFIES ZEUS.
LINES 928-1114.
PROMETHEUS.
Yet, yet shall Zeus, for all his proud self-will,
Be humbled. On a wedlock he is bent
Whereof the fateful offspring shall one day
Hurl him from sovereignty to nothingness,
And so fulfil the curse old Chronos spake,
When from his immemorial throne he fell.
And this his doom how to escape not one
Of all the gods can rede him saving I.
But to me all is known. Then let him sit
Triumphant while his thunders roll through heaven,
And his hand grasps the flaming thunderbolt;
All his artillery shall not save its lord
From utter shame and ruin bottomless.
Such the antagonist himself arrays
Against himself, dread and invincible,
One who a fiercer than the lightning's flame,
A louder than the thunder's peal shall find,
And wrest the truncheon that makes earth to quake,
Poseidon's trident, from its wielder's hand.
Wrecked on misfortune's rock, he then shall know
How high it is to reign, to serve how low.
CHORUS.
Thy wish is father to thy prophecy.
PROMETHEUS.
My wish is one with destiny's decree.
CHORUS.
Think'st thou that Zeus will e'er his master find?
PROMETHEUS.
Ay! and a load harder than mine to bear.
CHORUS.
Dost thou not fear to cast such words at Zeus?
PROMETHEUS.
What should I fear when I must never die?
CHORUS.
But Zeus may yet enhance thine agony.
PROMETHEUS.
Prepared for all, his malice I defy.
CHORUS.
'Tis wise to bow to the inevitable.
PROMETHEUS.
Cringe, if thou wilt, sue, bend the knee to power.
Little reck I of Zeus. Then let him work
His tyrant will for his allotted span.
Not long shall he be monarch of the gods.
But lo! the Almighty's henchman I behold,
That errands bears for this new dynasty;
His lacqueyship must some new fiat bring.
(Enter HERMES.)
HERMES.
Thou of the crafty soul and bitter tongue,
Sinner, that did'st betray to mortal man
The attributes of gods, stealer of fire,
The Father bids thee tell what wedlock this
That thou dost boast shall hurl him from his throne.
Speak plain, Prometheus, and take heed that I
Have not a second journey, for such shifts,
As well thou seest, turn not the heart of Zeus.
PROMETHEUS.
High are the words and full of majesty
For him that runs the errands of the gods.
New are ye, new to rule, and deem your tower
Of puissance proof against calamity.
Yet therefrom two lords I have seen cast out;
A third, him that now reigns, cast out shall see
Most quickly and most foully. Think'st thou I
Will crouch before these gods of yesterday?
Far, far from me that thought of shame. Do thou
The way thou camest measure back with speed,
For to thy question I give answer none.
HERMES.
It was by such self-will before displayed,
That thou did'st pluck these woes upon thy head.
PROMETHEUS.
My woes, how great so e'er, I would not change
For servitude like thine; of that be sure.
HERMES.
Better, thou think'st, be bondsman to this rock
Than be the faithful pursuivant of Zeus.
PROMETHEUS.
'Tis meet the scorner should be met with scorn.
HERMES.
Thou seem'st to revel in thy present lot.
PROMETHEUS.
Revel! I would that I could see my foes
Thus revelling, of whom I count thee one.
HERMES.
Layest thou the blame on me of thy mischance?
PROMETHEUS.
I hate, without exception, all the gods
Who my good deeds with injury requite.
HERMES.
Thy words bespeak no common sickness thine.
PROMETHEUS.
If hating foes be sickness, I am sick.
HERMES.
Thou wert past bearing wert thou prosperous.
PROMETHEUS.
Alas!
HERMES.
Zeus knows not how to say Alas!
PROMETHEUS.
Time in its course can teach us anything.
HERMES.
Yet thee it has not taught to rule thy tongue.
PROMETHEUS..
No, else I had not parleyed with a slave.
HERMES.
It seems thou wilt not tell what Zeus demands.
PROMETHEUS.
Were I his debtor I the debt would pay.
HERMES.
As though I were a child thou twittest me.
PROMETHEUS.
Art thou not sillier than a silly child,
To think that I will tell thee what thou ask'st?
No torture does Zeus know, he has no rack
By which he can my secret wrest from me,
Till from these cruel bonds I am released.
Let him hurl lightnings with his red right hand,
Let him with whirling snow and earthquake shock,
Confound and wreck this universal frame,
Never shall he constrain me to reveal
The child of fate that hurls him from his throne.
HERMES.
Look, will this insolence amend thy lot?
PROMETHEUS.
I have well looked, and fixed is my resolve.
HERMES.
Bow thy proud soul, insensate wretch, and do
What wisdom bids in thine extremity.
PROMETHEUS.
Waste no more words, thou dost but chide the sea;
Dream not that I can be o'erawed by Zeus,
That I will from my manhood derogate
And sue to him that from my soul I hate,
With womanish uplifting of my hands,
For liberation from these fetters.—Never!
HERMES.
Methinks I spend my eloquence in vain,
For all my prayers nor melt nor move thy heart.
Like a raw colt that pulls against the reins,
Taking the bit between his teeth, art thou.
And yet thy mettle will but weakness prove;
For dogged resolution by itself,
With wisdom unallied, is impotence.
See if thou wilt not to my words give ear,
What stormy billows of resistless woe
Will overwhelm thee. First the Almighty Sire
Will with his thunder cleave this beetling rock,
And bury thee beneath its shattered base,
Within its stony arms enfolding thee;
And many an age shall pass ere thou return
To daylight. Then the winged hound of Zeus,
The ravening eagle with devouring maw,
Shall deeply trench thy quivering flesh and come,
Day after day, an uninvited guest,
To feast upon thy ulcerated heart.
Of this thy agony expect no end
Until some god appears to take on him
Thy load of suffering, and for thee descend
To the dark depths of the dread under-world.
Advise thee then, and deem not that my words
Are feigned, for I in bitter earnest speak.
The lips of the Almighty cannot lie;
Each word they utter surely is fulfilled.
Use then thy forecast and be circumspect,
Nor o'er good counsel let self-will prevail.
CHORUS.
As seems to us, Hermes has spoken well,
In that he redes thee put away self-will,
And take far-sighted prudence to thy heart.
Give ear; for one so wise to err were shame.
PROMETHEUS.
Well known beforehand was to me
The purport of this embassy.
His foe am I, he is my foe,
And I his worst can undergo.
Then let his forked lightnings flash,
Heaven with his pealing thunder crash:
Let him the wild winds loose and make
Earth to her deep foundation shake;
Bid the swoll'n waves, by tempest driven,
Mount up and drench the stars of heaven;
And let my helpless form be hurled
Headlong to the dark under-world
Midst raging wreck of earth and sky.—
There ends his power, I cannot die.
HERMES.
Madness it is inspires thy thought.
Thy words are words of one distraught.
What here is wanting that can be
Sure token of insanity?
But now, ye ocean nymphs whose eyes
Weep for yon sinner's agonies,
Go hence, the heavens begin to lower,
Go hence, or with its awful stour
The thunder will your souls o'erpower.
CHORUS.
Go hence; good Hermes, change thy rede
And I will to thy words give heed.
But ne'er to me such counsel name
As e'en to think upon were shame,
Whate'er Prometheus may betide,
Be mine to suffer at his side.
Of all foul things abhorred by me
The most abhorred is perfidy.
HERMES.
Lay then to heart what now I say,
And think not in destruction's day
On fortune's spite the blame to throw,
Or say that Zeus has wrought your woe.
When thou hast rushed into the net
Of doom for fate by folly set,
Thou wilt thy just reward have met.
PROMETHEUS.
Now the dread hour has come: earth reels,
Through heaven the crashing thunder peals,
Forked lightnings blaze about the sky,
The sand in clouds is whirled on high;
From east, from west, from south, from north,
The winds in mad career rush forth,
And elemental battle join;
The welkin mingles with the brine;
Upon me comes in flood and fire
The blast of the Almighty's ire.
Look, holy mother, on this sight;
Look on it, Aether, source of light,
See justice overborne by might.
