by Aeschylus
‘Vulcan Chaining Prometheus’ by Dirck van Baburen
‘Chained Prometheus’ (1611–12) by Peter Paul Rubens
CONTENTS
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
ARGUMENT
PROMETHEUS BOUND
An amphora, dated 540–530 BC, depicting Io as a cow
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
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.
ARGUMENT
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.
PROMETHEUS BOUND
[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.
CHORUS
[253] A great benefit was this you gave to mortals.
PROMETHEUS
[254] In addition, I gave them fire.
CHORUS
[2
55] What! Do creatures of a day now have flame-eyed fire?
PROMETHEUS
[256] Yes, and from it they shall learn many arts.
CHORUS
[257] Then it was on a charge like this that Zeus —
PROMETHEUS
[258] Torments me and in no way gives me respite from pain.
CHORUS
[259] And is there no end assigned to your ordeal?
PROMETHEUS
[260] No, none except when it seems good to him.
CHORUS
[261] But how will it seem good to him? What hope is there? Do you not see that you have wronged? And yet it is not pleasant for me to talk about how you have wronged, and for you it is pain. So, let us quit this theme; and may you seek some release from your ordeal.
PROMETHEUS
[265] It is easy for him who keeps his foot free from harm to counsel and admonish him who is in misery. I have known this all the while. Of my own will, yes, of my own will I erred — I will not deny it. By helping mortals I found suffering for myself; nevertheless I did not think I would be punished in this way — wasting away upon cliffs in mid-air, my portion this desolate and dreary crag. And now, bewail no more my present woes; alight on the ground and listen to my oncoming fortunes so that you may be told them from end to end. Consent, I beg you, oh consent. Take part in the trouble of him who is now in sore distress. In truth, affliction wanders impartially abroad and alights upon all in turn.
CHORUS
[279] Not to unwilling ears have you made this appeal, Prometheus. And so now with light foot I will quit my swift-speeding seat and the pure air, the pathway of birds and draw near to this rugged ground; for I want to hear the whole story of your sorrows.
[Enter Oceanus on a winged steed.]