Specimens of Greek Tragedy | Page 8

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,