Prometheus

No, do not think it is from pride or even from wilfulness that I am silent. Painful thoughts devour my heart as I behold myself maltreated in this way. And yet who else but I definitely assigned

their prerogatives to these upstart gods? But I do not speak of this; for my tale would tell you nothing except what you know. Still, listen to the miseries that beset mankind—how they were witless before and I made them have sense and endowed them with reason.

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I will not speak to upbraid mankind but to set forth the friendly purpose that inspired my blessing.
  First of all, though they had eyes to see, they saw to no avail; they had ears, but they did not understand ; but, just as shapes in dreams, throughout their length of days,

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without purpose they wrought all things in confusion. They had neither knowledge of houses built of bricks and turned to face the sun nor yet of work in wood; but dwelt beneath the ground like swarming ants, in sunless caves. They had no sign either of winter

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or of flowery spring or of fruitful summer, on which they could depend but managed everything without judgment, until I taught them to discern the risings of the stars and their settings, which are difficult to distinguish.
  Yes, and numbers, too, chiefest of sciences,

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I invented for them, and the combining of letters, creative mother of the Muses’ arts, with which to hold all things in memory. I, too, first brought brute beasts beneath the yoke to be subject to the collar and the pack-saddle, so that they might bear in men’s stead their

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heaviest burdens; and to the chariot I harnessed horses and made them obedient to the rein, to be an image of wealth and luxury. It was I and no one else who invented the mariner’s flaxen-winged car that roams the sea.
  Wretched that I am—such are the arts I devised

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for mankind, yet have myself no cunning means to rid me of my present suffering.

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Chorus

You have suffered sorrow and humiliation. You have lost your wits and have gone astray; and, like an unskilled doctor, fallen ill, you lose heart and cannot

discover by which remedies to cure your own disease.

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Prometheus

Hear the rest and you shall wonder the more at the arts and resources I devised. This first and foremost: if ever man fell ill, there was no defence—no healing food,

no ointment, nor any drink—but for lack of medicine they wasted away, until I showed them how to mix soothing remedies with which they now ward off all their disorders. And I marked out many ways by which they might read the future,

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and among dreams I first discerned which are destined to come true; and voices baffling interpretation I explained to them, and signs from chance meetings. The flight of crook-taloned birds I distinguished clearly— which by nature are auspicious,

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which sinister—their various modes of life, their mutual feuds and loves, and their consortings; and the smoothness of their entrails, and what color the gall must have to please

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the gods, also the speckled symmetry of the liver-lobe; and the thigh-bones, wrapped in fat, and the long chine I burned and initiated mankind into an occult art. Also I cleared their vision to discern signs from flames,which were obscure before this.

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Enough about these arts. Now as to the benefits to men that lay concealed beneath the earth—bronze, iron, silver, and gold—who would claim to have discovered them before me? No one, I know full well, unless he likes to babble idly.

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Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word—every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.

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Chorus

Do not benefit mortals beyond reason and disregard your own distress; although, I am confident that you will be freed

from these bonds and will have power in no way inferior to Zeus.

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Prometheus

Not in this way is Fate, who brings all to fulfillment, destined to complete this course. Only when I have been bent by pangs and tortures infinite am I to escape my bondage. Skill is weaker by far than Necessity.

Chorus

Who then is the helmsman of Necessity?

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Prometheus

The three-shaped Fates and mindful Furies.

Chorus

Can it be that Zeus has less power than they do?

Prometheus

Yes, in that even he cannot escape what is foretold.

Chorus

Why, what is fated for Zeus except to hold eternal sway?

Prometheus

This you must not learn yet; do not be over-eager.

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Chorus

It is some solemn secret, surely, that you enshroud in mystery.

Prometheus

Think of some other subject, for it is not the proper time to speak of this. No matter what, this must be kept concealed; for it is by safeguarding it that

I am to escape my dishonorable bonds and outrage.

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PROMETHEUS

When thou hearest the rest of my tale, thou wilt wonder still more what arts and resources I contrived. For the greatest—if that any one fell into a distemper, there was no remedy, neither in the way of diet, nor of liniment, nor of potion, but for lack of medicines they used to pine away to skeletons, before that I pointed out to them the composition

of mild remedies, wherewith they ward off all their maladies. Many modes too of the divining art did I classify, and was the first that discriminated among dreams those which are destined to be a true vision; obscure vocal omens

too I made known to them; tokens also incidental on the road, and the flight of birds of crooked talons I clearly defined, both those that are in their nature auspicious, and the ill-omened, and what the kind of life that each leads, and what are their feuds and endearments

and intercourse one with another: the smoothness too of the entrails, and what hue they must have to be acceptable to the gods, the various happy formations of the gall and liver, and the limbs enveloped in fat: and having roasted the long chine I pointed out to mortals the way into an abstruse art; and I brought to light the fiery symbols

that were aforetime wrapt in darkness. Such indeed were these boons; and the gains to mankind that were hidden under ground, brass, iron, silver, and gold,—who could assert that he had discovered before me? No one, I well know, who does not mean to idly babble. And in one brief sentence learn the whole at once—All arts among the human race are from Prometheus.

CHORUS

LE CORYPHÉE

Tu subis là un humiliant malheur : ton esprit abattu s'égare, et, tel un mauvais médecin tombé malade à son tour, tu te décourages et ne peux trouver
pour toi-même le remède qui te guérirait.

PROMÉTHÉE

Tu t'étonneras encore davantage à ouïr le reste, les ressources, les arts, que j'ai imaginés. Et ceci

PROMÉTHÉE

surtout : ceux qui tombaient malades n'avaient point de
remède ni à manger ni à s'appliquer ni à boire, et, privés de médicaments, ils dépérissaient, jusqu'au jour où je leur montrai à mélanger les baumes cléments qui écartent toute maladie. Je classai aussi pour eux les mille formes de l'art
divinatoire. Le premier je distinguai les songes que la veille doit réaliser et je leur éclairai les sons chargés d'obscurs présages ¹ et les rencontres de la route. Je déterminai fermement ce que signifie le vol des rapaces, ceux qui
sont favorables ou de mauvais augure, les mœurs de chacun, leurs haines entre eux, leurs affections, leurs rapprochements sur la même branche ; et aussi le poli des viscères ² , les teintes qu'ils doivent avoir pour être agréables aux dieux,
les divers aspects propices de la vésicule biliaire et du lobe du foie. Je fis brûler les membres enveloppés de graisse et l'échine allongée, pour guider les mortels dans l'art obscur des présages, et je leur rendis clairs les signes de flamme
jusque là enveloppés d'ombre. Voilà mon œuvre. Et de même les trésors que la terre cache aux humains, bronze, fer, or et argent, quel autre les leur a donc révélés avant moi ? Personne, je le sais — à moins qu'on ne veuille
s'abandonner à une sotte jactance. D'un mot, tu sauras tout

PROMETHEUS.

Hear my whole ſtory, thou wilt wonder more,

What uſeful arts, what ſcience I invented.

This firſt and greateſt: when the fell diſeaſe

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Prey'd on the human frame, relief was none,

Nor healing drug, nor cool refreſhing draught,

Nor painaſſuaging unguent; but they pin'd

Without redreſs, and waſted, till I taught them

To mix the balmy medicine, of pow'r

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To chaſe each pale diſeaſe, and ſoften pain.

I taught the various modes of prophecy,

What truth the dream portends, the omen what

Of nice diſtinction, what the caſual ſight

That meets us on the way; the ſlight of birds, -

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When to the right, when to the left they take

Their airy courſe, their various ways of life,

Their feuds, their fondneſſes, their ſocial flocks.

I taught th' Haruſpex to inſpect the entrails,

Their ſmoothness, and their colour to the gods

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Grateful, the gall, the liver ſtreak'd with veins,

The limbs involv'd in fat, and the long chine

Plac'd on the blazing altar; from the ſmoke

And mounting flame to mark th' unerring omen.

Theſe arts I taught. And all the ſecret treaſures

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Deep buried in the bowels of the earth,

Brass, iron, ſilver, gold, their uſe to man,

Let the vain tongue make what high vaunts it may,

Are my inventions all; and, in a word,

Prometheus taught each uſeful art to man.

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CHORUS.

PROMETEO

Piú stupirai quando avrò detto il resto:

E questa è la piú grande. Ove taluno

cadea nel morbo, niun rimedio v'era,

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non pozione, non cibo od unguento;

ma consunti perian, privi dei farmachi,

sin ch'io delle medele ebbi mostrate

le salutari mescolanze, onde hanno

contro ogni mal riparo.

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E ai modi molti

dei vaticinî ordine posi. E prima

nei sogni sceverai quello che debba

nella veglia avverarsi, e chiari feci

i prognostici oscuri ed i presagi

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che s'incontran per via.

Minutamente

distinsi il volo dei rapaci augelli ;

e quali infausti, e quali son propizî,

e la vita d'ognun d'essi e il costume,

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e quali amori e quali odî intercedano

o convegni fra loro.

E de le viscere,

qual nitidezza aver debbano, e quale

color la bile, perché piaccia ai Dèmoni,

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e le forme e i color' varî del fegato.

E le membra di pingue adipe avvolte,

ed il femore lungo, e al fuoco postele,

guidai verso un'arcana arte i mortali;

e chiari i segni della fiamma resi,

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che ciechi erano prima.

E di ciò basti.

E quante utili cose in grembo al suolo

giacean nascoste all'uomo, il rame, il ferro,

l'argento, l'oro, chi potrebbe dire

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che le rinvenne pria di me?

Nessuno,

sappilo, quando millantar non voglia.

Ma tutto apprendi in un sol motto breve:

tutte die' Prometèo l'arti ai mortali.

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CORIFEA

Pro.

Si quæ supersunt audiveris, magis admiraberis,

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Quas nempe artes & dolos illis constitui.

Si quis in maximum morbum incidebat,

Non erat remedium, non cibus,

Non unguentum, non potus: sed remediorum

Penuria interibant, priusquam illis

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Ostenderem temperamenta mitium medelarum,

Quibus curant omnes morbos.

Multos modos vaticinationis ordinavi,

Et iudicavi primus ex somnijs quæ oportet

Visione fieri, & sortes iudicatu difficiles

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Explicaui illis, signaq; quæ in itinere contingunt:

Curvi unguiumq; volatum avium exacte

Determinavi, quæ sint bonæ naturæ,

Quæ verò malæ: rationemq; vivendi quam

Habent, quæq; inter se

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Amicæ, quæ inimicæ, quæ earum sint consortia

Viscerum lenitatem, & colorem quendam

Habentem ad voluptatem dæmonum:

Bilis fibrarumq; variam pulchritudinem,

Adipe membra occultata, & longos

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Lumbos incendens, ad artem difficilem iudicatu

Inspiravi in mortales, & flammea portenta

Ante oculos illis posui, antea cum essent obscura.

Haec quidem talia, quæ infra terram

Occultata, hominibus utilia,

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Aes, ferrum, argentum, aurum, quis

Dicet ante me se invenisse?

Nullus apertè scio, nisi frustra nugari velit.

Paucis verbis omnia collectim disce:

Omnes artes à Prometheo habent mortales.

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Cho.

Prometheus

More wilt thou wonder when the rest thou hearest—

What arts for them, what methods I devised.

Foremost was this: if any man fell sick,

No aiding art he knew, no saving food,

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No curing oil nor draught, but all in lack

Of remedies they dwindled, till I taught

The medicinal blending of soft drugs,

Whereby they ward each sickness from their side.

I ranged for them the methods manifold

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Of the diviner's art; I first discerned

Which of night's visions hold a truth for day,

I read for them the lore of mystic sounds,

Inscrutable before; the omens seen

Which bless or ban a journey, and the flight

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Of crook-clawed birds, did I make clear to man—

And how they soar upon the right, for weal,

How, on the left, for evil; how they dwell,

Each in its kind, and what their loves and hates,

And which can flock and roost in harmony.

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From me, men learned what deep significance

Lay in the smoothness of the entrails set

For sacrifice, and which, of various hues,

Showed them a gift accepted of the gods;

They learned what streaked and varied comeliness

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Of gall and liver told; I led them, too,

(By passing thro' the flame the thigh-bones, wrapt

In rolls of fat, and th' undivided chine),

Unto the mystic and perplexing lore

Of omens; and I cleared unto their eyes

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The forecasts, dim and indistinct before,

Shown in the flickering aspect of a flame.

Of these, enough is said. The other boons,

Stored in the womb of earth, in aid of men—

Copper and iron, silver, gold withal—

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Who dares affirm he found them ere I found?

None—well I know—save who would babble lies!

Know thou, in compass of a single phrase—

All arts, for mortals' use, Prometheus gave.

Chorus

Prometheus.

Vernimm von mir noch weiter, und du staunst noch mehr,

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Welch schlaue Mittel, welche Künst' ich ausgedacht.

Voran das Größte: wenn sie Krankheit niederwarf,

So gab es kein Heilmittel, keine Speise gab's,

Noch Salben, noch Getränke; sie verkümmerten,

Entrathen aller Labe, bis ich ihnen dann

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Angab die Mischung segenvoller Arzenei,

Womit sie Krankheit aller Art bewältigen.

Der Seherkunst vielfache Weisen ordnet' ich,

Und schied zuerst aus, welche Traumerscheinungen

Gesichte seien; Töne dann geheimen Sinns

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Und jedes Wegs Vorzeichen that ich ihnen kund,

Bestimmte deutlich und genau krummklauiger

Raubvögel Ausflug, welche rechts und welche links

Glück oder Unheil künden, auch von welcher Kost

Sich jeder nähre, wie sie wechselweise sich

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Freundschaft und Lieb' erweisen und Geselligkeit;

Dann wie der Eingeweide Farb' und Glätte, wie

Der Milz und Leberlappen buntgesprenkelte

Gestalt den Himmelsgöttern wohlgefällig sei.

Indem ich Schenkelstücke, wohlumhüllt mit Fett,

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Ein langes Hüftbein opfre, weis' ich Sterblichen

Zur schweren Kunst die Bahnen, und erleuchtete

Den Seherblick der Flamme, der sonst dunkel war.

Soviel von diesem. Endlich was von Schäßen noch

Den Menschen tiefverborgen ruht im Erdenschooß,

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Erz, Eisen, Gold und Silber, wer erkühnte sich

Zu sagen, daß er dieses eh' als ich entdeckt?

Niemand fürwahr, das weiß ich, wer nicht lügend prahlt.

Vernimm es Alles kurzgefaßt in Einem Wort:

Es schuf Prometheus alle Kunst den Sterblichen.

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Die Chorführerin.