by Aeschylus
HERMES
[997] Look now whether this course seems to profit you.
PROMETHEUS
[998] Long ago has this my course been foreseen and resolved.
HERMES
[999] Bend your will, perverse fool, oh bend your will at last to wisdom in face of your present sufferings.
PROMETHEUS
[1001] In vain you trouble me, as though it were a wave you try to persuade. Never think that, through terror at the will of Zeus, I shall become womanish and, with hands upturned, aping woman’s ways, shall importune my greatly hated enemy to release me from these bonds. I am far, far from that.
HERMES
[1007] I think that by speaking much I will only speak in vain; for you are not soothed nor are you softened by my entreaties. You take the bit in your teeth like a new-harnessed colt and struggle against the reins. Yet it is a paltry device that prompts your vehemence, for in the foolish-minded mere self-will of itself avails less than anything at all. But if you will not be won to belief by my words, think of what a tempest and a towering wave of woe shall break upon you past escape. First, the Father will shatter this jagged cliff with thunder and lightning-flame, and will entomb your frame, while the rock shall still hold you clasped in its embrace. But when you have completed a long stretch of time, you shall come back again to the light. Then indeed the winged hound of Zeus, the ravening eagle, coming an unbidden banqueter the whole day long, with savage appetite shall tear your body piecemeal into great rents and feast his fill upon your liver until it is black with gnawing.
[1026] Look for no term of this your agony until some god shall appear to take upon himself your woes and of his own free will descend into the sunless realm of Death and the dark deeps of Tartarus.
[1030] Therefore be advised, since this is no counterfeited vaunting but utter truth; for the mouth of Zeus does not know how to utter falsehood, but will bring to pass every word. May you consider warily and reflect, and never deem stubbornness better than wise counsel.
CHORUS
[1036] To us, at least, Hermes seems not to speak untimely; for he bids you to lay aside your stubbornness and seek the good counsel of wisdom. Be advised! It is shameful for the wise to persist in error.
PROMETHEUS
[1040] No news to me, in truth, is the message this fellow has proclaimed so noisily.Yet for enemy to suffer ill from enemy is no disgrace. Therefore let the lightning’s forked curl be cast upon my head and let the sky be convulsed with thunder and the wrack of savage winds; let the hurricane shake the earth from its rooted base, and let the waves of the sea mingle with their savage surge the courses of the stars in heaven; and let him lift me on high and hurl me down to black Tartarus with the swirling floods of stern Necessity: do what he will, me he shall never bring to death.
HERMES
[1054] Such indeed are the thoughts and the words one hears from men deranged. Where does his prayer fall short of raving? Where does he abate his frenzy? — But, at all events, may you who sympathize with his anguish, withdraw in haste from this spot so that the relentless roar of the thunder does not stun your senses.
CHORUS
[1063] Use some other strain and urge me to some other course in which you are likely to convince me. This utterance in your flood of speech is, I think, past all endurance. How do you charge me to practise baseness? With him I am content to suffer any fate; for I have learned to detest traitors, and there is no pest I abhor more than this.
HERMES
[1071] Well then, bear my warning in memory and do not blame your fortune when you are caught in the toils of calamity; nor ever say that it was Zeus who cast you into suffering unforeseen. Not so, but blame yourselves. For well forewarned, and not suddenly or secretly shall you be entangled in the inextricable net of calamity by reason of your folly.
[Exit Hermes.]
PROMETHEUS
[1080] Indeed, now it has passed from word to deed — the earth rocks, the echoing thunder-peal from the depths rolls roaring past me; the fiery wreathed lightning-flashes flare forth, and whirlwinds toss the swirling dust; the blasts of all the winds leap forth and set in hostile array their embattled strife; the sky is confounded with the deep. Behold, this stormy turmoil advances against me visibly, sent by Zeus to frighten me. O holy mother mine, O you firmament that revolves the common light of all, you see the wrongs I suffer!
[Amid thunder and lightning Prometheus vanishes from sight; and with him disappear the daughters of Oceanus.]
FRAGMENTS
CONTENTS
THE SURVIVING TITLES OF AESCHYLUS’ PLAYS
ATHAMAS
AITNAIAI
AMYMÔNÊ
ARGEIOI
ARGÔ
BAKCHAI
BASSARAI
GLAUKOS PONTIOS
GLAUKOS POTNIEUS
DANAÏDES
ELEUSINIOI
EPIGONOI
ÊDÔNOI
HÊLIADES
HÊRAKLEIDAI
THALAMOPOIOI
THESMOI ê ISTHMIASTAI
THRÊISSAI
HIEREIAI
IXION
IPHIGENEIA
KABEIROI
KARES ê EURÔPÊ
KERKYÔN
KÊRYKES
KRÊSSAI
LEÔN
LYKOURGOS
MEMNÔN
MYRMIDONES
MYSOI
NEANISKOI
NÊREÏDES
NIOBÊ
XANTRIAI
OIDIPOUS
HOPLÔN KRISIS
OSTOLOGOI
PALAMÊDÊS
PENTHEUS
PERRHAIBIDES
PÊNELOPÊ
PROMÊTHEIS
PROMÊTHEUS LYOMENOS
PROMÊTHEUS PYRKAEUS
PROMÊTHEUS PYRPHOROS
PRÔTEUS
SALAMINIAI
SISYPHOS
SPHINX
TÊLEPHOS
TOXOTIDES
PHILOKTÊTÊS
PHINEUS
PHORKIDES
PHRYGES ê HEKTOROS LYTRA
PSYCHAGÔGOI
ÔREITHYIA
FRAGMENTS OF UNCERTAIN PLAYS
ELEGIAC FRAGMENTS
EPIGRAMS
GLAUKOS PONTIOS
DIKTYOULKOI
THEÔROI Ê ISMIASTAI
NIOBÊ
PROMÊTHEUS PYRKAEUS
SEMELÊ Ê HYDROPHOROI
UNKNOWN PLAY (I)
UNKNOWN PLAY (II a)
UNKNOWN PLAY (II b)
UNKNOWN PLAY (III)
UKNOWN PLAY (IV)
HÊRAKLEIDAI
MYRMIDONES
HYPOTHESIS I
THE SURVIVING TITLES OF AESCHYLUS’ PLAYS
Seventy-three of the under-mentioned titles appear in the list of the dramas that is found in the Medicean manuscript.
. Agamemnôn.
. Athamas.
3. Aigyptioi.
. Aitnaiai (gnêsioi).
. Aitnaiai (nothoi).
6. Alkmênê.
. Amymônê.
. Argeioi or Argeiai.
. Argô ê Kôpastês.
10. Atalantê.
. Bakchai.
. Bassarai.
. Glaukos pontios.
. Glaukos Potnieus.
. Danaïdes.
16. Diktyoulkoi.
17. Dionysou trophoi (or Troiphoi).
. Eleusinioi.
. Epigonoi.
. Hepta epi Thêbas.
. Eumenides.
. Êdônoi.
. Hêliades
. Hêrakleidai.
. Thalamopoioi.
. Theôroi ê Isthmiastai.
. Thrêssai.
. Hiereiai.
. Hiketides.
. Ixiôn.
. Iphigeneia.
. Kabeiroi.
33. Kallistô.
. Kares ê Eurôpê.
. Kerkyôn.
. Kêrykes
.
37. Kirkê.
. Krêssai.
39. [Kyknos.]
40. Laïos.
. Leôn.
42. Lêmnioi or Lêmniai.
. Lykourgos.
. Memnôn.
. Myrmidones.
. Mysoi.
. Neaniskoi.
48. Nemea.
. Nêreïdes.
. Niobê.
. Xantriai.
. Oidipous.
. Hoplôn krisis.
. Ostologoi.
. Palamêdês.
. Pentheus.
. Perrhaibides.
58. Persai.
. Pênelopê.
60. Polydektês.
. Promêtheus desmôtês.
. Promêtheus lyomenos.
. Promêtheus pyrkaeus.
. Promêtheus pyrphoros.
65. Propompoi.
. Prôteus.
. Salaminiai.
68. Semelê ê Hydrophoroi.
. Sisyphos drapetês.
. Sisyphos petrokylistês.
. Sphinx.
. Têlephos.
. Toxotides.
74. Hypsipylê.
. Philoktêtês.
. Phineus.
. Phorkides.
. Phryges ê Hektoros lytra.
79. Phrygioi.
. Choêphoroi.
. Psychagôgoi.
82. Psychostasia.
. Ôreithyia.
1. Not mentioned in the Katalogos tôn Aischulou dramatôn.
2. No identified fragment is extant.
3. No identified fragment forming an entire verse is extant.
4. The two plays of this name are not to be distinguished in the extant fragments.
5. Alternative titles are due to Alexandrian scholars whose explanatory designations sought to avoid confusion between dramas of the same name. Where such alternative titles occur, that denoting the Chorus is presumably older than that denoting a principal personage or the subject matter of the play.
6. The descriptive epithet added after a title may be due to Alexandrian scholars, who sought thereby to distinguish dramas of the same name.
Satyric plays attested: Kerkuôn, Kêrukes, Kirkê, Leôn, Lukourgos, Promêtheus (purkaeus), Prôteus, Sphinx.
Possibly satiric are: Amumônê, Glaukos pontios, Kallistô, Kabeiroi, Xantriai, Sisuphos drapetês, Phorkides.
Tetralogies attested:
1. (472 B.C.) Phineus, Persai, Glaukos (Potnieus), Promêtheus (purkaeus).
2. (467 B.C.) Laïos, Oidipous, Epta epi Thêbas, Sphinx.
3. Lukourgeia: êdônoi, Bassarai, Neaniskoi, Lukourgos.
4. Oresteia (458 B.C.): Agamemnôn, Choêphoroi, Eumenides, Prôteus.
By reason of the myth or of other indication of connexion between their several members, the following groups may be assumed with some probability. (The order within the group is often uncertain.)
Iketides, Aiguptioi, Danaïdes, Amumônê (satiric).
Psuchagôgoi, Ostrologoi, Pênelopê, Kirkê (satyric).
Promêtheus desmoôtes, Promêtheus luomenos, Promêtheus purphoros.
Hoplôn krisis, Thrêssai, Salaminiai.
Murmidones, Nêreïdes, Phruges ê Hektoros lutra.
Argô, Lêmnioi (Lêmniai ?), Hupsipulê, Kabeiroi (satyric ?).
Eleusinioi, Argeioi (Argeiai ?), Epigonoi.
Diktuolkoi, Poludektês, Phorkides.
Memnôn, Psuchostasia
Perraibides, Ixiôn.
Musoi, Têlephos.
Theban legends of Dionysus seem to have formed the subject of no less than five plays : Semelê ê Hudrophoroi, Dionusos trophoi (or Trophoi), Bakchai, Xantriai, Pentheus. The Argument to Euripides’ Bakchai asserts that the story of that drama had been handled in Pentheus.
To reduce the number of these Dionysus-plays to the compass of a trilogy or tetralogy, various expedients have been proposed:
1. To seek other connexions for Dionusos trophoi and assume a tetralogy consisting of Semelê ê Hudrophoroi, Bakchai, Pentheus, Xantriai (satiric).
2. To regard Bakchai as an alternative name for Pentheus, or for Xantriai (not satiric), or even for Bassarai.
3. To make Bakchai the title of the group Semelê ê Hudrophoroi, Pentheus, Xantriai.
4. To make Pentheus the name of the trilogy Semelê ^h Hudrophoroi, Bakchai, Xantriai.
ATHAMAS
Athamas, a hero localized in Boeotia and Thessaly, was the son of Aeolus according to the genealogy commonly adopted in antiquity. By his divine wife Nephele he had two children, Phrixus and Helle; by his second wife Ino, daughter of Cadmus, he had two sons, Learchus and Melicertes. Apollodorus, Library, iii. 4. 3 (cp. i. 9. 2) narrates that Zeus entrusted the newly-born Dionysus to Hermes, who conveyed him to Ino and Athamas, and persuaded them to rear the babe as a girl. In consequence of madness brought upon them by Hera in her indignation, Athamas hunted his elder son as a deer and killed him; Ino threw Melicertes into a boiling cauldron, and then, carrying it, together with the dead body of the child, leaped into the sea. The Argument to the first Isthmian Ode of Pindar reports a different version: that the corpse of Learchus was thrown into the cauldron of Ino, who then, having become mad, plunged into the sea. The Isthmian games were instituted by Sisyphus in honour of Melicertes.
FRAGMENT 1
Athenaeus, Deipnosophists, ii. 6. p. 37F; cp. vii. 100. p. 316B.
The one was cast into the three-legged cauldron of the house, that ever kept its place above the fire.
FRAGMENT 2
Etymologicum Florentium 116 (Miller); cp. Etymologicum Magnum 346. 56.
Taking out with bronze flesh-hooks
AITNAIAI
A Sicilian maiden named Thaleia or Aetna, having been embraced by Zeus, in fear of Hera’s wrath prayed that the earth might open and swallow her up. Her prayer was granted, but when the time of her delivery was at hand, the earth opened again and twin boys came forth, who were called Palïci, because they had “come back” (apo tou palin hikesthai) from the earth. The Palici were worshipped (originally with human sacrifices) in the neighbourhood of Mount Aetna (Macrobius, Saturnalia, v. 19. 17; cp. Servius on Virgil, Aeneid, ix. 584).
“Having arrived in Sicily, as Hiero was then (476 B.C.) founding the city of Aetna, Aeschylus exhibited his Aetnae as an augury of a prosperous life for those who were uniting in the settlement of the city” (Life of Aeschylus).
The play is named Aitnaiai, The Women of Aetna, in the Medicean Catalogue, and so apparently in Frag. 9 and Frag. 10 (Nauck). The title has the form Aitnai in the Life and Nauck’s 7 and 8; Aitna in Nauck’s 11, Aetna in Macrobius. Alexandrian scholars thought to distinguish a genuine from a spurious play of this name.
FRAGMENT 3
Macrobius, Saturnalia v. 19. 24.
A. What name, then, shall mortals put upon them?
B. Zeus commandeth that they be called the holy Palici.
A. And shall the name “Palici” abide as rightly given?
B. Aye, for they shall “come back” from darkness to this light.
AMYMÔNÊ
“But the land of Argos being waterless, since Poseidon had dried up even the springs because of his anger at Inachus for testifying that it belonged to Hera, Danaüs sent his daughters to draw water. One of them, Amymone, as she was searching for water, threw a dart at a deer and hit a sleeping satyr. He, starting up, desired to force her; but Poseidon appearing on the scene, the satyr fled, and Amymone lay with Poseidon, and he revealed to her the springs at Lerna.” (Apollodorus, Library, ii. 1. 4). The play was probably satyric.
FRAGMENT 4
Ammonius, On Words of like Form but different Meaning 37 (Valckenaer), Bachmann, Anecdota Graeca, ii. 375. 8
It is thy fate to be my wife; mine to be thy husband.
FRAGMENT 5
Athenaeus, Deipnosophists xv. 41. p. 490C.
And for my part I [wish] thy nards and balsam too
ARGEIOI
In the Medicean Catalog
ue and the Etymologicum Magnum (see under Fragment 7) the play bears the title Argeioi, The Men of Argos. In the authors citing Fragment 6 and Nauck’s 18 (Hesychius, Lexicon 1. 257) the name is Argeiai, which suggests that the Chorus was formed of the mothers of the Argive commanders who fell in the attack on Thebes described in the extant play of Aeschylus. According to Welcker, the Eleusinioi anticipated the first, the Argeioi the second, part of Euripides’ Suppliants. M. Schmidt in Philologus, xvi. (1860) 161, conjectured that the drama was entitled Argeia from the daughter Adrastus who married Polynices, and who, in Statius’ Thebaid, was joined by Antigone in burying her father.
Fragment 155 has been assigned to this play.
FRAGMENT 6
Harpocration, Glossary of the Ten Attic Orators 306. 11.
Both darts and looped javelins and heaped missiles
FRAGMENT 7
Etymologicum Magnum 341. 5, Lexicon Sabbaïticum 21.
Capaneus is left me with the remains of his lightning-smitten limbs that the thunderbolt had left behind (?)
From a lament, probably by the Chorus, on the Argive chieftains who fell in the first attack on Thebes; or possibly by Evadne over the body of her husband Capaneus, of whose destruction, by the lightning of Zeus, Eteocles is confident in Seven against Thebes 444. In Euripides’ Suppliants the bodies of the other Argive champions were burned on a single funeral pyre, that of Capaneus was burned apart as a consecrated corpse; and upon his pyre his wife threw herself.
ARGÔ
In the Medicean Catalogue the play is entitled Argô hê kôpastês (so M); in the Aldine edition, Argô ê kôpeustês. Referring the sub-title to the rowers of the Argo, Welcker proposes kôpeustai; Hippenstiel, De Graecorum tragicorum principum fabularum nominibus, kôpastai. Hartung, approved by Dieterich, read kômastai “revellers.”
See Fragments 164, 221.
FRAGMENT 8
Philo of Alexandria, On the Virtuous being also Free 20. 143 (Chon and Reiter vi. 41).
Where is Argo’s sacred speaking beam?
Apollodorus, Library i. 9. 16: “and at the prow (of the Argo) Athena fitted a speaking timber from the oak of Dodona.”
BAKCHAI
Fragment 215 has been referred to the Bacchae.
FRAGMENT 9