Power

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

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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,

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so that he may learn to bear with the sovereignty of Zeus and cease his man-loving ways.

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Hephaestus

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.
  Lofty-minded son of Themis who counsels straight, against my will, no less than yours, I must rivet you with brazen bonds

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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

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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.
  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

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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,

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and everyone is harsh whose power is new.

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Power

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

A strangely potent tie is kinship, and companionship as well.

Power

I agree; yet to refuse to obey the commands of the Father; is this possible? Do you not fear that more?

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Hephaestus

Yes, you are ever pitiless and steeped in insolence.

Power

Yes, for it does not good to bemoan this fellow. Stop wasting your labor at an unprofitable task.

Hephaestus

Oh handicraft that I hate so much!

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Power

Why hate it? Since in truth your craft is in no way to blame for these present troubles.

Hephaestus

Nevertheless, i wish it had fallen to another’s lot!

Power

Every job is troublesome except to be the commander of gods;

no one is free except Zeus.

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Hephaestus

I know it by this task; I cannot deny it.

Power

Hurry then to cast the fetters about him, so that the Father does not see you loitering.

Hephaestus

Well, there then! The bands are ready, as you may see.

Power

Cast them about his wrists and with might strike with your hammer; rivet him to the rocks.

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Hephaestus

There! The work is getting done and not improperly.

Power

Strike harder, clamp him tight, leave nothing loose; for he is wondrously clever at finding a way even out of desperate straits.

Hephaestus

This arm, at least, is fixed permanently.

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Power

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

None but he could justly blame my work.

Power

Now drive the adamantine wedge’s stubborn edge straight

through his chest with your full force.

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Hephaestus

Alas, Prometheus, I groan for your sufferings.

Power

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

You see a spectacle grievous for eyes to behold.

Power

I see this man getting his deserts. Come, cast the girths about his sides.

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Hephaestus

I must do this; spare me your needless ordering.

Power

Indeed, I’ll order you, yes and more—I’ll hound you on. Get down below, and ring his legs by force.

Hephaestus

There now! The work’s done and without much labor.

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Power

Now hammer the piercing fetters with your full force; for the appraiser of our work is severe.

Hephaestus

The utterance of your tongue matches your looks.

Power

Be softhearted then,

but do not attack my stubborn will and my harsh mood.

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Hephaestus

Let us be gone, since he has got the fetters on his limbs. Exit

Power

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, ¹ for you yourself need forethought to free yourself from this handiwork. Exeunt Power and Force

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Prometheus

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.

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93
 

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

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it is fated that deliverance from these sorrows shall arise.

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101
 

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

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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.

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114
 

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,

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the foe of Zeus,

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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

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HÉPHAISTOS

Pouvoir et Force, la mission de Zeus pour vous est achevée : rien ne vous retient plus. Mais moi, le cœur
me manque pour enchaîner de force un dieu, mon frère, à ce pic battu des tempêtes. Et, pourtant, il m'en faut trouver le courage : négliger l'ordre d'un père est faute lourdement punie.

(A Prométhée)

Fils aux pensers hardis de la sage Thémis, c'est malgré moi autant que malgré toi que
je te vais clouer à ce roc désolé dans des nœuds inextricables d'acier. Là, tu ne connaîtras plus ni voix ni visage

HÉPHAISTOS

humains, mais, brûlé des feux flamboyants du soleil, tu sentiras la fleur de ton teint se flétrir ; avec joie, toujours, tu verras la nuit dérober la lumière sous son manteau
d'étoiles, le soleil à son tour fondre le givre de l'aurore, sans que la douleur d'un mal toujours présent jamais cesse de te ronger, car nul libérateur n'est encore né pour toi. Voilà ce que tu as gagné à jouer le bienfaiteur des hommes. Dieu que n'effraie pas le courroux des dieux, tu as, en
livrant leurs honneurs aux hommes, transgressé le droit : en récompense, tu vas sur ce rocher monter une garde douloureuse, debout toujours, sans prendre de sommeil ni ployer les genoux. Tu pourras alors lancer des plaintes sans fin, des lamentations vaines : le cœur de Zeus est in-
flexible ; un nouveau maître est toujours dur.

POUVOIR

VULCAN.

Stern pow'rs, your harſh commands have here an end,

Nor find reſiſtance. My leſs hardy mind,

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Averſe to violence, ſhrinks back, and dreads

To bind a kindred god to this wild cliff,

Expoſd to ev'ry ſtorm: but ſtrong conſtraint

Compells me; I muſt ſteel my ſoul, and dare:

Jove's high commands require a prompt obſervance.

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High-thoughted ſon of truth-directing Themis, b

Thee with indiſſoluble chains, perforce,

Muſt I now rivet to this ſavage rock,

Where neither human voice, nor human form

Shall meet thine eye, but parching in the beams,

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Unſhelter'd, of yon' fervid ſun, thy bloom

Shall lose its grace, and make thee wiſh th'approach

Of grateful evening mild, whoſe duſky ſtole

Spangled with gems ſhall veil his firey heat;

And night upon the whitening ground breathe frore,

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But ſoon to melt, touch'd by his orient ray.

So ſhall ſome preſent ill with varied pain

Afflict thee; nor is he yet born, whoſe hand

Shall ſet thee free: thus thy humanity

Receives its meed, that thou, a god, regardleſs

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Of the gods' anger, honouredſt mortal man

With courteſies, which juſtice not approves.

Therefore the joyleſs ſtation of this rock

Unſleeping, unreclining, ſhalt thou keep,

And many' a groan, many' a loud lament

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Throw out in vain, nor move the rig'rous breaſt

Of Jove, relentleſs in his youthful pow'r.

STRENGTH.

EFESTO

Forza, Potere, gli ordini di Giove

già compiuti per voi furono; e nulla

piú vi trattiene.

Ma legare a forza

su questo abisso procelloso un Nume

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ch'è del mio sangue, non mi regge il cuore.

E forza è pure che mi regga. Gli ordini

trasandare del padre, è dura prova.

Oh di Tèmide giusta audace figlio,

malgrado tuo, malgrado mio, con bronzei

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ceppi, che niuno a scioglier valga, a queste

cime deserte io ti configgerò,

dove né voce udrai, né forma d' uomo

vedrai del sole arso a la fiamma rutila,

tramuterai de la tua cute il fiore:

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a tuo sollievo asconderà la notte

con lo stellato suo manto la luce,

ed ecco il sole dissipa di nuovo

la mattutina brina.

E col suo peso

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il mal presente ognor ti crucierà:

ché non ancor chi ti soccorra è nato.

VULCANUS.

Robur, Visque, uobis quidem mandatum Iouis

Habet finem iam, & nihil impedimenti amplius.

Ego non audeo, cognatum Deum

Vincire ui in conualli tempeſtuosa.

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Omnino necesse est horum mihi audaciam arripere:

Nam patris sermones paruipendere, res sanè grauis.

Prudentis Thetidis alticonſilij puer,

Inuitum te inuitus inſolutis catenis

Vinciam huic inhumano saxo,

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VULCANUS (cont.).

Vbi usque uocem, neque cuiusquam formam mor-

talium

Vidębis, uiuus solis uerò pura flamma

Coloris pulcritudinem mutabis, tibique uolenti

Versicolor nox abscondet lucem:

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Pruinam uerò matutinam sol rursus disſipabit.

Semper uerò præsentis mali dolor

Vexabit te: qui autem te liberabit, nondum na-

tus eſt.

Talibus rebus fruêris, ob hominum amorem.

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Nam deus, deorum non timens bilem,

Mortalibus honores præbuiſti præter ius.

Hac de causa infuauem hanc cuſtodies petram,

Aſtando in somnis, non flectens genu:

Multos fletus ac gemitus inutiles

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Aedes, nam Iouis mentes sunt inexorabiles.

Quiſquis recenter imperat, iſt est rudis.

ROBUR.

Hephaestus

O Strength and Force, for you the hest of Zeus

Stands all achieved, and nothing bars your will:

But I—I dare not bind to storm-vext cleft

One of our race, immortal as are we.

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Yet, none the less, necessity constrains,

For Zeus, defied, is heavy in revenge!

( To Prometheus)

O deep-devising child of Themis sage,

Small will have I to do, or thou to bear,

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What yet we must. Beyond the haunt of man,

Unto this rock, with fetters grimly forged,

I must transfix and shackle up thy limbs,

Where thou shalt mark no voice nor human form,

But, parching in the glow and glare of sun,

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Thy body's flower shall suffer a sky-change;

And gladly wilt thou hail the hour when Night

Shall in her starry robe invest the day,

Or when the Sun shall melt the morning rime.

But, day or night, for ever shall the load

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Of wasting agony, that may not pass,

Wear thee away; for know, the womb of Time

Hath not conceived a power to set thee free.

Such meed thou hast, for love toward mankind;

For thou, a god defying wrath of gods,

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Beyond the ordinance didst champion men,

And for reward shalt keep a sleepless watch,

Stiff-kneed, erect, nailed to this dismal rock,

With manifold laments and useless cries

Against the will inexorable of Zeus.

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Hard is the heart of fresh-usurpèd power!

Strength

Hephästos.

Kraft und Gewalt, für euch erreichte Zeus' Gebot

Nunmehr sein Ende, Weit'res hält euch nimmer auf.

Mir aber graut es, einen stammverwandten Gott

Mit Gewalt zu ketten an die sturmumbrauste Kluft.

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Und dennoch treibt mich strenge Noth zu dieser That;

Denn schwer bestraft sich's, trogen wir des Vaters Wort.

(zu Prometheus)

O du, der weisen Themis hochgesinnter Sohn,

Ich soll in unlösbarem Erz dich Sträubenden

Mit Sträuben fesseln an den öden Felsenhang,

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Wo keine Stimme noch Gestalt der Menschen dir

Erscheinen, und, von hellem Sonnenstrahl gesengt,

Des Leibes Blume welken wird, wo dir ersehnt

Die Nacht in buntem Sterngewand den Tag verhüllt,

Und dann den Frühreif wieder schmelzt der Sonne Blick.

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Stets wird die Qual dich martern, die dich hier umgarnt;

Noch ist ja nicht geboren, der dich retten wird.

Dies war der Dank, den deine Menschenliebe fand :

Du bot'st, ein Gott, von Götterzorne nicht geschreckt,

Mehr als geziemend Ehre dar den Sterblichen,

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Wofür du fortan hüten wirst den Schauerfels,

Aufrechtgefesselt, schlummerlos, mit starrem Knie.

Und manches Ach und Wehe wird fruchtlos von dir

Erschallen; unerbittlich grollt die Brust des Zeus,

Und jeder neue Herrscher übt ein strenges Amt.

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Kraft.