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.).
599.
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599.
φοιταλέοις: transferred from the person affected to the thing affect- ing, as in Goethe's expression 'von durstiger Jagd.' Cp. Ag. 193
πνοαὶ
κακόσχολοι
νήστιδες
δύσορμοι,
βροτῶν
ἄλαι, and see on
ἀφεγγής, 115 above.
601.
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601.
ἄλλων:
τοῖς
τῆς
"Ἥρας, Schol. Io shrinks from speaking the name of her persecutor. Cp. Eur. Hec. 640
κοινὸν
δ᾽
ἐξ
ἰδίας
ἀνοίας
κακὸν
τᾷ
Σι-
μουντίδι
γᾷ
ὀλέθριον
ἔμολε
συμφορά
τ᾽
ἀπ᾿
ἄλλων (the three contending god- desses). See also on 673 below.
604.
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604.
τορῶς: cp. Pers. 479
σημῆναι
τορῶς.
605.
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605.
ὅ
τι...
τί: cp. Soph. O. T. 71
πύθοιθ᾽
ὅ
τι
δρῶν
ἢ
τί
φωνῶν
ῥυσαίμην, Eur. Ion 785
πῶς
ἐκπεραίνεται
φράζε
χὤστις
ἔσθ᾽
ὁ
παῖς,
Ιph.
Α. 696
γένους
δὲ
ποίου
χὠπόθεν
μαθεῖν
θέλω, Plat. Gorg. 448
ο
οὐδεὶς
ἠρώτα
ποία
τις
εἴη
ἡ
Γοργίου
τέχνη,
ἀλλὰ
τίς,
καὶ
ὅντινα
δέοι
καλεῖν
τὸν
Γοργίαν. –
ἐπαμμένει: cp. Pers. 807
οὗ
σφιν
κακῶν
ὕψιστ᾽
ἐπαμ-
μένει
παθεῖν.
608.
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608.
θρόει,
φράζε : asyndeton of urgent entreaty; see on 56. –
τᾷ
παρθένῳ: cp. 588. Aeschylus often puts like words in corresponding po- sitions of strophe and antistrophe.
610.
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610. Cp. Suppl. 464
αἰνιγματῶδες
τοὔπος·
ἀλλ᾽
ἁπλῶς
φράσον, and 949 below.
612.
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612.
πυρὸς
βροτοῖς
δοτήρα: on the dative with personal verbal substan- tives see Krüger I. § 48, 12, 5, and on 501.- This verse, though lacking the regular caesura, is not divided in the middle, because
δοτῆρ' and
ὁρᾷs are closely connected by elision. Cp. 710 and see note on 640.
613.
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613. The stichomythy is intro- duced by a speech of two verses (see on 38), and at 622 below the transi- tion to a new topic is similarly marked.
615.
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615.
ἁρμοῖ:
ἀρτίως, Hesych. Ac- cording to Heraclides (Eustath. on Iliad p. 140, 13), a Syracusan word. Cp. Soph.
Ai. 787
τί
μ᾽
αὖ
τάλαιναν
ἀρτίως
πεπαυμένην
κακῶν
ἀτρύτων
ἐξ
ἕδρας
ἀνίστατε; Eur. Frg. 337
τί
μ᾽,
ὦ
ξέν᾽,
ἄρτι
πημάτων
λελησμένην
ὀρθοῖς;
