561-886.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-375
561-886. Third Episode. Io and Prometheus. The myth of Io is connected with that of Prometheus by the person of Heracles, the libera- tor of Prometheus, who is descended from
paphus, the son of Zeus and Io (see on 774). The appearance of Io therefore prepares the way for the introduction of Heracles in the
Προ-
μηθεὺς
λυόμενος. But the immediate significance of this scene consists in the present relation of Zeus and Io. Io appears as innocent and yet perse- cuted; her sufferings, superficially considered, put Zeus in the worst possible light. Accordingly the in- dignation of Prometheus rises more and more, till at last, carried away by passion, he vaunts his secret in such terms that the interposition of Zeus becomes inevitable. So the transition to the catastrophe is pre- pared. The geographical part of this episode, with its description of marvels, like the scene of Heracles in the
Προμηθεὺς
λυόμενος (see below, Frg. VII. and VIII.), doubtless had a peculiar charm for the Athenians of the period. On the origin of the myth of Io, see Introd. p. 9, footnote. Io appears as a horned maiden (588, 674; so indi- cated by her mask). In early Greek art, especially in
vase-paintings, she has the figure of a cow outright. On the throne of the Amyclaean Apollo, a work of the sculptor Bathycles (about Ol. 60), Hera was represented as glaring at Io, 'who is already a cow' (Paus. iii. 18. 7). On an archaic
black-figured vase of the Munich collection (No. 573; see Panofka, Argos Panoptes, plate 5), Argus is seen, seated on the ground, a fero- cious figure with long hair and beard, and a huge eye in his shaggy breast; he holds in his hand a long cord, attached to the horns of a cow. Near by stands Hermes, grasping the cord near the horns with his left hand, and about to draw his sword with his right. Argus's dog
stands at bay in front of his master. Through the influence of this trag- edy, Io came later to be depicted in art as a maiden with horns. So, for instance, on a
red-figured vase of the Berlin Museum (Panofka, l.c., plate 3). The stinging gadfly' of the legend (cp. Suppl. 306
BΑ.
τί
οὖν
ἔτευξεν
ἄλλο
δυσπότμῳ
βοΐ;
ΧΟ.
βοη-
λάτην
μύωπα
κινητήριον, Verg. Georg. iii. 147 cui nomen asilo Ro- manum est, oestrum Graii vertere vocantes), which is mentioned in Io's narrative, 675 be- low, had also to be omitted in the scenic representation. The difficulty was met by a figurative conception of
οἶστρος; the maddening sting was interpreted as the reminiscence of the crafty eye of Argos (567). — On account of the unusual manner of Io's entrance and exit, the anapaests which commonly accompany the ar- rival and departure of a personage are here and at 877 given to the actor, not to the chorus. So above, at the entrance of the chorus (120 ff.).
874.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-555
874.
διήλθε: like
διεῖπε, set forth fully. –
Τιτανὶς
Θέμις: see on 210.
875.
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875.
ὅπως,
ὅπη: these are joined, to include every possible circum- stance. For the ellipsis cp. 915. What Prometheus here passes over, the spectator learns in the
Προμηθεὺς
λυόμενος. 'Io
877.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-557
877 ff. As a motive for Io's depar- ture, the poet employs a fresh ac- cession of madness
(οἶστρος). primos tantum furoris impetus verbis describit, reliquos vero scena egressa spectatoris imaginationi coniciendos relinquit' (Schütz). —
ἐλελεῦ:
θρηνώ-
δες
ἐπίφθεγμα, Schol.
ἐλελεῦ·
ἐπιφώ-
νημα
πολεμικόν·
οἳ
δὲ,
προαναφώνησις
παιανισμοῦ·
τίθησι
δὲ
αὐτὸ
Αἰσχύλος
ἐπὶ
σχετλιασμοῦ
ἐν
Προμηθεῖ
δεσμώτῃ, Hesych. The
battle-cry serves to depict the fury of madness. -
ὑπό...
θάλπουσι: see on 574. In trimeter, Aeschylus nowhere interposes impor- tant words, or several words, between preposition and verb, except in Ag. 1215 and the doubtful passage Sept. 1028.
ὑπό here implies inception, "begins to burn." For
θάλπειν cp.
Αg. 1256
παπαῖ,
οἷον
τὸ
πῦρ·
ἐπέρ-
χεται
δέ
μοι, spoken by Casandra, seized with prophetic mania. -
σφά-
κελος:
σπασμὸς
τοῦ
ἐγκεφάλου, Schol. Cp. Eur. Hipp. 1351
διά
μου
κεφαλᾶς
ᾄσσουσ᾽
ὀδύναι,
κατὰ
δ᾽
ἐγκέφαλον
πηδᾷ
σφάκελος. –
ἄρδις :
ἀκίς,
Αἰσχύλος
Προ-
μηθεῖ
δεσμώτῃ, Hesych.
880.
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880.
ἄπυρος: the scholiast ex- plains,
ἡ
πολύπυρος
διὰ
τὸ
σφοδρὸν
πά-
θος (assuming 'alpha intensivum')
ἢ
πῦρ
μὴ
ἔχουσα. The latter inter- pretation, in the sense of 'telum igni non admotum, sine igne factum,' was shown to be right by Schütz and Hermann. 'Adiectivo
ἄπυρος telum metaphorice dictum a proprie sic ap- pellato discrevit Aeschylus' (Schütz). Cp. Cho. 493
πέδαις
ἄχαλκεύτοις (of Clytaemnestra's entangling noose), Frg. 298, 4
ἄπτεροι
πελειάδες (of the Pleiades), Ag. 1258
δίπους
λέαινα (of Clytaemnestra), Sept. 64
κῦμα
χερσαῖον
στρατοῦ, ibid. 942
ὁ
πόντιος
ξεῖνος
ἐκ
πυρὸς
συθεὶς (the sword), Soph. Trach. 874
βέβηκε
Δηιάνειρα
τὴν
πανυστάτην
ὁδῶν
ἁπασῶν
ἐξ
ἀκινήτου
ποδός,
Ο.
Τ. 190
῎Αρεα ...
ὃς
νῦν
ἄχαλκος
ἀσπίδων (the pest), Eur. Frg. 598
αἰδοῦς
ἀχαλ-
κεύτοισιν
ἔζευκται
πέδαις, Iph. T. 1095
ἄπτερος
ὄρνις,
Οr. 621
ὑφῆψε
δῶμ᾽
ἀνη-
φαίστῳ
πυρί.
881.
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881.
φρένα: see on 361. - For the conception cp. Cho. 165
ὀρχεῖται
δὲ
καρδία
φόβῳ, 1025
πρὸς
δὲ
καρδίᾳ
φόβος
ᾄδειν
ἕτοιμος,
ἡ
δ᾽
ὑπορχεῖσθαι
κρότῳ, Ag. 996
πρὸς
ἐνδίκοις
φρεσὶν
τελεσφό-
ραις
δίναις
κυκλούμενον
κέαρ, Il. vii. 216
Εκτορί
τ'
αὐτῷ
θυμὸς
ἐνὶ
στήθεσσι
πάτασσεν.
882.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-560
882.
τροχοδινεῖται : cp.
στροφοδι-
νοῦνται, Ag. 51.
