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.