561-886.
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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.).
574.
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574 f.
ὑπὸ ...
ότοβεῖ: see on 126.
a
croire Hec. 970
αἰδώς
μ᾽
ἔχει
ἐν
τῷδε
πότμῳ
τυγχάνουσ᾽
ἵν᾽
εἰμὶ
νῦν, Iph.
Τ. 947
ἐλ-
θὼν
δ᾽
ἐκεῖσε,
πρῶτα
μέν
μ᾽
οὐδεὶς
ξένων
ἑκὼν
ἐδέξατο, Cycl. 330
δοραῖσι
θηρῶν
σῶμα
περιβαλὼν
ἐμὸν
καὶ
πῦρ
ἀναίθων
χιόνος
οὐδέν
μοι
μέλει,
Ιοη 927
ὑπεξαν-
τλῶν ...
ἄρδει
με, Hipp. 22
τὰ
πολλὰ
δὲ
πάλαι
προκόψασ᾽,
οὐ
πόνου
πολλοῦ
με
δεῖ. See Krüger I. § 56, 9, 4, and note on 201 above. - With
μυριωπὸν
βούταν cp. Suppl. 304
πανόπτην
οἰοβούκολον, also 677 below. 570.
δόλιον
ὄμμα: aptly charac- terizes the crafty glance of the pur- suing spectre. - Dochmii are the proper rhythm for monodies of trag- edy which express passionate agita- tion. 571.
κατθανόντα: cp. Suppl. 305
῎Αργον,
τὸν
Ἑρμῆς
παῖδα
γῆς
κατέκτανε. 572.
ἀλλά
με: the relative clause is continued, as usual, by an indepen- dent sentence. 573.
ψάμμαν: the form
ψάμμη (for (not of short) words between prepo- sition and verb, see Krüger II. § 68, 48, 4, and below on 878. –
κηρόπακ-
τος:
wax-joined. Cp. Eur. Iph. T. 1125
συρίζων
ὁ
κηροδέτας
κάλαμος
οὐ-
·ρείου
Πανός, Theocr. Id. i. 128
ἔνθ᾽
ὧναξ
καὶ
τάνδε
φέρ᾽
εὐπάκτοιο·
μελί-
πνουν
ἐκ
κηρῶ
σύριγγα
καλάν,
Εp. xiii. 4
κηροδέτῳ
πνεύματι
μελπόμενος, Ovid. Metam. i. 711 disparibus cala- mis compagine cerae inter se iunctis, Verg. Ecl. ii. 32 Pan primus calamos cera con- iungere pluris instituit. The flute of the
αὐλητής was here actually heard, accompanying the strophic portion of Io's song. The foregoing portion was recitative
(παρακαταλογή). ·
ὑπνοδόταν
νόμον : the "slumberous lay" depicts the exhaustion of Io.
576.
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576.
πλάναι,
τηλέπλανοι
πλάναι: for the repetition, cp. Sept. 134
ἐπί-
λυσιν
πόνων,
ἐπίλυσιν
δίδου, 171
κλύετε
παρθένων
κλύετε
πανδίκως
χειροτόνους
λιτάς, Ag. 1456
τὰς
πολλὰς
τὰς
πάνυ
πολλάς. The formation of a com- pound adjective from the substantive which it accompanies, occurs in three other passages of Aeschylus: 585 below, Cho. 315
πάτερ
αἰνόπατερ,
Eum. 690
πόλιν
νεόπτολιν. In Sophocles it is nowhere found, but often in Eurip- ides
(τυφλόπους
πούς,
τρίπους
χαλκό-
πους,
πόρον
εὔπορον,
κάματον
εὐκάματον, etc.).
577.
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577 f.
ταῖσδ᾽
ἐνέζευξας
ἐν
πημοσύ
ναις : see on 108, and cp. Il. ii. 111
Ζεύς
με
μέγα
Κρονίδης
ἄτῃ
ἐνέδησε
βαρείῃ, Soph.
O. C. 526
γάμων
ἐνέδησεν
ἄτᾳ.
580.
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580 f.
οἰστρηλάτῳ
δείματι : see on 147. –
παράκοπον : cp.
παράκοποι
φρε-
νῶν Eur. Bacch. 33. Properly of coins,
false-struck, counterfeit.
582.
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582. Cp. Soph.
O.
Τ. 1410
ἔξω
μέ
που
καλύψατ᾿
ἡ
φονεύσατ᾽
ἢ
θαλάσσιον
ἐκρίψατε, Eur. Suppl. 829
κατά
με
πέδον
γᾶς
ἕλοι,
διὰ
δὲ
θύελλα
σπάσαι,
πυρός
τε
φλογμὸς
ὁ
Διὸς
ἐν
κάρᾳ
πέσοι.
584.
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584.
μοι
φθονήσῃς
εὐγμάτων: cp. 626, 859; Eur.
H. F. 333
οὐ
φθονῶ
πέπλων, 1309
λέκτρων
φθονοῦσα
Ζηνί.
586.
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586.
γεγυμνάκασιν: cp. 592;
Eur. Hel. 533
οὐδ᾽
ἀγύμναστον
πλάνοις
ἥξειν.
588.
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588.
τᾶς
βούκερω
παρθένου: equiv- alent to the announcement of
the speaker's name. See on 296.