Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound and the Seven Against Thebes Part 4

PR. Nor seek thou to know over well thine own pangs.

IO. Do not, after proffering me a benefit, withhold it from me.

PR. I will freely grant thee one of two disclosures.

IO. Explain to me first of what sort they are, and allow me my choice.

PR. I allow it thee; for choose whether I shall clearly tell to thee the residue of thy troubles, or who it is that is to be my deliverer.

CH. Of these twain do thou vouchsafe to bestow the one boon on this damsel, and the other on me, and disdain thou not my request. To her tell the rest of her wanderings, and to me him that is to deliver thee; for this I long [to hear].

PR. Seeing that ye are eagerly bent upon it, I will not oppose your wishes, so as not to utter every thing as much as ye desire. To thee in the first place, Io, will I describe thy mazy wanderings, which do thou engrave on the recording tablets of thy mind.

When thou shalt have crossed the stream that is the boundary of the Continents, to the ruddy realms of morn where walks the sun[61] ...

having pa.s.sed over the roaring swell of the sea, until thou shalt reach the Gorgonian plains of Cisthene, where dwell the Phorcides, three swan-like aged damsels, that possess one eye in common, that have but a single tooth, on whom ne'er doth the sun glance with his rays, nor the nightly moon. And hard by are three winged sisters of these, the snake-tressed Gorgons, abhorred of mortals, whom none of human race can look upon and retain the breath of life.[62] Such is this caution[63]

which I mention to thee. Now lend an ear to another hideous spectacle; for be on thy guard against the keen-fanged hounds of Jupiter that never bark, the gryphons, and the cavalry host of one-eyed Arimaspians, who dwell on the banks of the gold-gus.h.i.+ng fount, the stream of Pluto: go not thou nigh to these. And thou wilt reach a far-distant land, a dark tribe, who dwell close upon the fountains of the sun, where is the river aethiops. Along the banks of this wend thy way, until thou shalt have reached the cataract where from the Bybline mountains the Nile pours forth his hallowed, grateful stream. This will guide thee to the triangular land of the Nile; where at length, Io, it is ordained for thee and thy children after thee to found the distant colony. And if aught of this is obscurely uttered, and hard to be understood, question me anew, and learn it thoroughly and clearly: as for leisure, I have more than I desire.

CH. If indeed thou hast aught to tell of her baleful wanderings, that still remains or hath been omitted, say on; but if thou hast told the whole, give to us in our turn the favor which we ask, and you, perchance, remember.

PR. She hath heard the full term of her journeying. And that she may know that she hath not been listening to me in vain, I will relate what hards.h.i.+ps she endured before she came hither, giving her this as a sure proof of my statements. The very great mult.i.tude indeed of words I shall omit, and I will proceed to the termination itself of thine aberrations. For after that thou hadst come to the Molossian plains, and about the lofty ridge of Dodona, where is the oracular seat of Thesprotian Jove, and a portent pa.s.sing belief, the speaking oaks, by which thou wast clearly and without any ambiguity saluted ill.u.s.trious spouse of Jove that art to be; if aught of this hath any charms for thee.[64] Thence madly rus.h.i.+ng along the seaside track, thou didst dart away to the vast bay of Rhea, from which thou art tempest-driven in retrograde courses: and in time to come, know well that the gulf of the deep shall be called IO-nian, a memorial of thy pa.s.sage to all mortals.

These hast thou as tokens of my intelligence, how that it perceives somewhat beyond what appears.

The rest I shall tell both to you and to her in common, after reaching the very identical track of my former narrative. There is on the land's utmost verge a city Canopus, hard by the Nile's very mouth and alluvial dike; on this spot Jupiter at length makes thee sane by merely soothing and touching thee with his unalarming hand. And named after the progeniture of Jupiter[65] thou shalt give birth to swarthy Epaphus, who shall reap the harvest of all the land which the wide-streaming Nile waters. But fifth in descent from him a generation of fifty virgins shall again come to Argos, not of their own accord, fleeing from incestuous wedlock with their cousins; and these with fluttering hearts, like falcons left not far behind by doves, shall come pursuing marriage such as should not be pursued, but heaven shall be jealous over their persons;[66] and Pelasgia shall receive them after being crushed by a deed of night-fenced daring, wrought by woman's hand; for each bride shall bereave her respective husband of life, having dyed in their throats[67] a sword of twin sharp edge. Would that in guise like this Venus might visit my foes! But tenderness shall soften one[68] of the maidens, so that she shall not slay the partner of her couch, but shall be blunt in her resolve; and of the two alternatives she shall choose the former, to be called a coward rather than a murderess. She in Argos shall give birth to a race of kings. There needs a long discourse to detail these things distinctly; but from this seed be sure shall spring a dauntless warrior renowned in archery, who shall set me free from these toils. Such predictions did my aged mother the t.i.taness Themis rehea.r.s.e to me; but how and when--to tell this requires a long detail, and thou in knowing it all wouldst be in nought a gainer.

IO. Eleleu! Eleleu! Once more the spasm[69] and maddening frenzies inflame me--and the sting of the hornet, wrought by no fire,[70]

envenoms me; and with panic my heart throbs violently against my breast.

My eyes, too, are rolling in a mazy whirl, and I am carried out of my course by the raging blast of madness, having no control of tongue, but my troubled words dash idly against the surges of loathsome calamity.

[_Exit_ IO.

CH. Wise was the man, ay, wise indeed, who first weighed well this maxim, and with his tongue published it abroad, that to match in one's own degree is best by far;[71] and that one who lives by labor should woo the hand neither of any that have waxed wanton in opulence, nor of such as pride themselves on n.o.bility of birth. Never, O Destines,[72]

never ... may ye behold me approaching as a partner the couch of Jupiter: nor may I be[73] brought to the arms of any bridegroom from among the sons of heaven: for I am in dread when I behold the maiden Io, contented with no mortal lover, greatly marred by wearisome wanderings at the hand of Juno. For myself, indeed--inasmuch as wedlock on one's own level is free from apprehension--I feel no alarm.[74] And oh! never may the love of the mightier G.o.ds cast on me a glance that none can elude. This at least is a war without a conflict, accomplis.h.i.+ng things impossible:[75] nor know I what might become of me, for I see not how I could evade the counsel of Jove.

PR. Yet truly shall Jove, albeit he is self-willed in his temper, be lowly, in such[76] wedlock is he prepared to wed, as shall hurl him out of his sovereignty and off his throne a forgotten thing; and the curse of his father Saturn shall then at length find entire consummation, which he imprecated when he was deposed from his ancient throne. From disasters such as these there is no one of the G.o.ds besides myself that can clearly disclose to him a way of escape. I know this, and by what means. Wherefore let him rest on in his presumption, putting confidence in his thunders aloft, brandis.h.i.+ng in his hand a fire-breathing bolt.

For not one jot shall these suffice to save him from falling dishonored in a downfall beyond endurance; such an antagonist is he now with his own hands preparing against himself, a portent that shall baffle all resistance; who shall invent a flame more potent than the lightning, and a mighty din that shall surpa.s.s the thunder; and shall s.h.i.+ver the ocean trident, that earth-convulsing pest, the spear of Neptune. And when he hath stumbled upon this mischief, he shall be taught how great is the difference between sovereignty and slavery.

CH. Thou forsooth art boding against Jupiter the things thou wishest.

PR. Things that shall come to pa.s.s, and that I desire to boot.

CH. And are we to expect that any one will get the mastery of Jove?

PR. Ay, and pangs too yet harder to bear than these [of mine] shall he sustain.

CH. And how is it that thou art not dismayed blurting out words such as these?

PR. Why at what should I be terrified to whom it is not destined to die?

CH. Yet perchance he will provide for thee affliction more grievous than even this.

PR. Let him do it then, all is foreseen by me.

CH. They that do homage to Adrasteia are wise.

PR. Do homage, make thy prayer, cringe to each ruler of the day. I care for Jove less than nothing; let him do, let him lord it for this brief span, e'en as he list, for not long shall he rule over the G.o.ds. But no more, for I descry Jove's courier close at hand, the menial of the new monarch: beyond all [doubt] he has come to announce to us some news.

_Enter_ MERCURY.

Thee, the contriver, thee full of gall and bitterness, who sinned against the G.o.ds by bestowing their honors on creatures of a day, the thief of fire, I address. The Sire commands thee to divulge of what nuptials it is that thou art vaunting, by means of which he is to be put down from his power. And these things, moreover, without any kind of mystery, but each exactly as it is, do thou tell out; and entail not upon me, Prometheus, a double journey; and thou perceivest that by such conduct Jove is not softened.

PR. High sounding, i'faith, and full of haughtiness is thy speech, as beseems a lackey of the G.o.ds. Young in years, ye are young in power;[77]

and ye fancy forsooth that ye dwell in a citadel impregnable against sorrow. Have I not known two monarchs[78] dethroned from it? And the third that now is ruler I shall also see expelled most foully and most quickly. Seem I to thee in aught to be dismayed at, and to crouch beneath the new G.o.ds? Widely, ay altogether, do I come short [of such feelings]. But do thou hie thee back the way by which thou camest: for not one t.i.ttle shalt thou learn of the matter on which thou questionest me.

MER. Yet truly 'twas by such self-will even before now that thou didst bring thyself to such a calamitous mooring.

PR. Be well a.s.sured that I would not barter my wretched plight for thy drudgery; for better do I deem it to be a lackey to this rock, than to be born the confidential courier of father Jove. Thus is it meet to repay insult in kind.

MER. Thou seemest to revel in thy present state.

PR. Revel! Would that I might see my foes thus reveling, and among these I reckon thee.

MER. What dost thou impute to me also any blame for thy mischances?

PR. In plain truth, I detest all the G.o.ds, as many of them as, after having received benefits at my hands, are iniquitously visiting me with evils.

MER. I hear thee raving with no slight disorder.

PR. Disordered I would be, if disorder it be to loathe one's foes.

MER. Thou wouldst be beyond endurance, wert thou in prosperity.

PR. Woe's me!

MER. This word of thine Jove knows not.

PR. Ay, but Time as he grows old teaches all things.

MER. And yet verily thou knowest not yet how to be discreet.

PR. No i'faith, or I should not have held parley with thee, menial as thou art.

MER. Thou seemest disposed to tell nought of the things which the Sire desires.

PR. In sooth, being under obligation as I am to him, I am bound to return his favor.

MER. Thou floutest me, forsooth, as if I were a boy.

PR. Why, art thou not a boy, and yet sillier than one, if thou lookest to obtain any information from me? There is no outrage nor artifice by which Jupiter shall bring me to utter this, before my torturing shackles shall have been loosened. Wherefore let his glowing lightning be hurled, and with the white feathered shower of snow, and thunderings beneath the earth let him confound and embroil the universe; for nought of these things shall bend me so much as even to say by whom it is doomed that he shall be put down from his sovereignty.