Aeschylus Prometheus Bound 101

Herbert Weir Smyth (Translator)

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And yet, what am I saying? All that is to be I know full well and in advance, nor shall any affliction come upon me unforeseen. I must bear my allotted doom as lightly as I can, knowing that
the might of Necessity permits no resistance.Yet I am not able to speak nor be silent about my fate. For it is because I bestowed good gifts on mortals that this miserable yoke of constraint has been bound upon me. I hunted out and stored in fennel stalk the stolen
105
source of fire that has proved a teacher to mortals in every art and a means to mighty ends. Such is the offence for which I pay the penalty, riveted in fetters beneath the open sky.
110

Prometheus Bound. Aeschylus. Herbert Weir Smyth (Translator). New York. 1922.

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Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.

Current edition Perseus

Prometheus Bound (English) (Aeschylus, Volume 1. Smyth, Herbert Weir, translator. London; New York: William Heinemann; G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1922. (Modernized by Perseus.))

Editions (7)
Προμηθεὺς Δεσμώτης First1KGreek (Aeschyli Tragoediae. Sidgwick, Arthur, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1902.) — 128-194 focus
Προμηθεὺς δεσμώτης Perseus (Aeschylus, Volume 1. Smyth, Herbert Weir, editor. London; New York: William Heinemann; G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1922.) — 101 focus
Προμηθεὺς Δεσμώτης (OCR draft) Experimental (Προμηθεὺς Δεσμώτης. Guilielmus Dindorfius, 1882.) — 101 focus
καίτοι τί φημι; πάντα προυξεπίσταμαι
σκεθρῶς τὰ μέλλοντ', οὐδέ μοι ποταίνιον
πῆμ᾽ οὐδὲν ἥξει. τὴν πεπρωμένην δὲ χρὴ
αἶσαν φέρειν ὡς ῥᾶστα, γιγνώσκονθ᾽ ὅτι
τὸ τῆς ἀνάγκης ἔστ᾽ ἀδήριτον σθένος.
105
ἀλλ᾽ οὔτε σιγᾶν οὔτε μὴ σιγᾶν τύχας
οἷόν τέ μοι τάσδ᾽ ἐστί. θνητοῖς γὰρ γέρα
πορὼν ἀναγκαις ταῖσδ᾽ ἐνέζευγμαι τάλας·
ναρθηκοπλήρωτον δὲ θηρῶμαι πυρὸς
πηγὴν κλοπαίαν, ἢ διδάσκαλος τέχνης
110
πάσης βροτοῖς πέφηνε καὶ μέγας πόρος.
τοιῶνδε ποινὰς ἀμπλακημάτων τίνω
ὑπαιθρίοις δεσμυῖσι προσπεπαρμένος.
Προμηθεὺς Δεσμώτης (OCR draft) Experimental (Προμηθεὺς Δεσμώτης. Gottfried Hermann, 1852.) — 101 focus
καίτοι τί φημι; πάντα προὐξεπίσταμαι
σκεθρῶς τὰ μέλλοντ', οὐδέ μοι ποταίνιον
πῆμ' οὐδὲν ἥξει. τὴν πεπρωμένην δὲ χρὴ
αἶσαν φέρειν ὡς ῥᾷστα, γιγνώσκονθ᾽ ὅτι
τὸ τῆς ἀνάγκης ἔστ᾽ ἀδήριτον σθένος.
105
ἀλλ᾽ οὔτε σιγᾶν οὔτε μὴ σιγᾶν τύχας
οἷόν τέ μοι τάςδ᾽ ἐστί. θνητοῖς γὰρ γέρα
πορὼν ἀνάγκαις ταῖςδ᾽ ἐνέζευγμαι τάλας·
ναρθηκοπλήρωτον δὲ θηρῶμαι πυρὸς
πηγὴν κλοπαίαν, ἣ διδάσκαλος τέχνης
110
πάσης βροτοῖς πέφηνε καὶ μέγας πόρος.
τοιάςδε ποινὰς ἀμπλακημάτων τίνω,
ὑπαίθριος δεσμοῖσι πασσαλευτὸς ὤν.
ΠΡΟΜΗθΕΥΣ ΔΕΣΜΩΤΗΣ (OCR draft) Experimental (ΠΡΟΜΗθΕΥΣ ΔΕΣΜΩΤΗΣ. Paul Mazon, 1920-1925.) — 101 focus
Καίτοι τί φημι ; πάντα προὐξεπίσταμαι
σκεθρῶς τὰ μέλλοντ', οὐδέ μοι ποταίνιον
πῆμ' οὐδὲν ἥξει· τὴν πεπρωμένην δὲ χρὴ
αἶσαν φέρειν ὡς ῥᾷστα, γιγνώσκονθ' ὅτι
τὸ τῆς ἀνάγκης ἔστ' ἀδήριτον σθένος.
105
Ἀλλ' οὔτε σιγᾶν οὔτε μὴ σιγᾶν τύχας
οἷόν τέ μοι τάσδ' ἐστί· θνητοῖς γὰρ γέρα
πορὼν ἀνάγκαις ταῖσδ' ἐνέζευγμαι τάλας·
ναρθηκοπλήρωτον δὲ θηρῶμαι πυρὸς
Προμηθεὺς Δεσμώτης (OCR draft) Experimental (Προμηθεὺς Δεσμώτης. N. Wecklein, 1885.) — 101 focus
καίτοι τί φημί, πάντα προεξεπίσταμαι
σκεθρῶς τὰ μέλλοντ', οὐδέ μοι ποταίνιον
πῆμ᾽ οὐδὲν ἥξει. τὴν πεπρωμένην δὲ χρὴ
αἶσαν φέρειν ὡς ῥᾷστα, γιγνώσκονθ᾽ ὅτι
τὸ τῆς ἀνάγκης ἔστ᾽ ἀδήριτον σθένος.
105
ἀλλ᾽ οὔτε σιγᾶν οὔτε μὴ σιγᾶν τύχας
οἷόν τέ μοι τάσδ᾽ ἐστί. θνητοῖς γὰρ γέρα
Aeschyli Prometheus Vinctus (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschyli Prometheus Vinctus. Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, 1914.) — 101 focus
καίτοι τί φημί; πάντα προὐξεπίσταμαι
σκεθρῶς τὰ μέλλοντ᾽, οὐδέ μοι ποταίνιον
πῆμ᾽ οὐδὲν ἥξει. τὴν πεπρωμένην δὲ χρή
αἶσαν φέρειν ὡς ῥᾶιστα, γιγνώσκονθ᾽ ὅτι
τὸ τῆς ἀνάγκης ἔστ᾽ ἀδήριτον σθένος.
105
ἀλλ᾽ οὔτε σιγᾶν οὔτε μὴ σιγᾶν τύχας
οἷόν τέ μοι τάσδ᾽ ἐστί. θνητοῖς γὰρ γέρα
πορὼν ἀνάγκαις ταῖσδ᾽ ἐνέζευγμαι τάλας·
ναρθηκοπλήρωτον δὲ θηρῶμαι πυρός
πηγὴν κλοπαίαν, ἢ διδάσκαλος τέχνης
110
πάσης βροτοῖς πέφηνε καὶ μέγας πόρος.
τοιῶνδε ποινὰς ἀμπλακημάτων τίνων
ὑπαίθριος δεσμοῖσι πασσαλεύομαι.
Translations (8)
Prometheus Bound. (OCR draft) Experimental (Prometheus Bound.. Theodore Alois Buckley, 1849.) — 101 focus
And yet what is it I am saying? I know beforehand all futurity exactly, and no suffering will come upon me unlooked-for. But I needs must bear my doom as easily as may be, knowing as I do, that the might of Necessity cannot be resisted.
But yet it is not possible for me either to hold my peace, or not to hold my peace touching these my fortunes. For having bestowed boons upon mortals, I am enthralled unhappy in these hardships. And I am he that searched out the source of fire, by stealth borne-off enclosed in a fennel-rod
, which has shewn itself a teacher of every art to mortals, and a great resource. Such then as this is the vengeance that I endure for my trespasses, being rivetted in fetters beneath the naked sky.
PROMÉTHÉE ENCHAINÉ (OCR draft) Experimental (PROMÉTHÉE ENCHAINÉ. Paul Mazon, 1920-1925.) — 101 focus
Mais que dis-je ? Tout entier, d'avance, sais-je pas l'avenir ? Nul malheur ne viendra sur moi que je n'aie prévu. Il faut porter d'un cœur léger le sort qui vous est fait
et comprendre qu'on ne lutte pas contre la force du Destin. Pourtant taire ces maux m'est aussi impossible que ne pas les taire. Oui, c'est pour avoir fait un don aux mortels que je ploie sous ce joug de douleurs, infortuné ! Un jour, au creux d'une férule, j'emporte mon butin, la semence de
Prometheus Chained (OCR draft) Experimental (Prometheus Chained. Robert Potter, 1779.) — 101 focus
Shall come on me: behoves me then to bear
110
Patient my deſtin'd fate, knowing how vain
To ſtruggle with neceſſity's ſtrong pow'r.
But to complain, or not complain, alike
Is unavailable. For favours ſhown
To mortal man I bear this weight of woe;
115
Hid in an hollow cane the fount of fire
I privately convey'd, of ev'ry art
Productive, and the nobleſt gift to men.
And for this ſlight offence, woe, woe is me!
I bear theſe chains, fix'd to this ſavage rock,
120
Unſhelter'd from th' inclemencies of th' air.
Eschilo, Prometeo legato: traduzione italiana di Ettore Romagnoli (OCR draft) Experimental (Eschilo, Prometeo legato: traduzione italiana di Ettore Romagnoli. Ettore Romagnoli, 1922.) — 101 focus
Sii pur tenero, tu. Ma la protervia,
l'ira, l'asprezza mia, non rampognarmi.
95
Aeschylus, Prometheus vinctus: versio Latina Ioannis Sanravii (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschylus, Prometheus vinctus: versio Latina Ioannis Sanravii. Ioannes Sanravius, 1555.) — 101 focus
Et certè quid dicó? omnia præscio
Exaſtè futura, neque mihi nouum
Detrimentum ullum ueniet, fatum uerò oportet
Conſtitutum ferre me, quàm facilè cognoscentem;
110
Robur necesſitatis inexpugnabile esse.
Sed neque tacere, neque non tacere fortunas
Has mihi licet: mortalibus præmia
Præbens, necesſitates has iam subeó miser.
Ferulam plenam ignis capio,
115
Fontem furtiuum, qui præceptor artis
Omnis mortalibus fuit, & magnum emolumentum.
Tales uerò pænas peccatorum pendó,
Subdialis uinculis ligatus,
Prometheus Bound (OCR draft) Experimental (Prometheus Bound. Anna Swanwick, 1886.) — 101 focus
All that must happen; nor can woe betide
Stranger to me; the Destined it behoves,
As best I may, to bear, for well I wot
How incontestable the strength of Fate.
Yet in such strait silence to keep is hard,—
Hard not to keep;-for, bringing gifts to mortals,
Myself in these constraints hapless am yoked.
Stored within hollow wand fire's stealthy fount
I track, which to mankind in every art
Hath teacher proved, and mightiest resource.
Such forfeits I for such offences pay,—
Beneath the welkin nailed in manacles.
Hist! Hist! what sound,
English (E. D. A. Morshead, 1908) (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound — Morshead translation. Wikisource transcription; speech corresp and card milestones aligned to Smyth perseus-grc2.) — 101 focus
Truce to this utterance! to its dimmest verge
I do foreknow the future, hour by hour,
Nor can whatever pang may smite me now
Smite with surprise. The destiny ordained
I must endure to the best, for well I wot
115
That none may challenge with Necessity.
Yet is it past my patience, to reveal,
Or to conceal, these issues of my doom.
Since I to mortals brought prerogatives,
Unto this durance dismal am I bound:
120
Yea, I am he who in a fennel-stalk,
By stealthy sleight, purveyed the fount of fire,
The teacher, proven thus, and arch-resource
Of every art that aideth mortal men.
Such was my sin: I earn its recompense,
125
Rock-riveted, and chained in height and cold.
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1854; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschylos. Deutsch in den Versmaßen der Urschrift. Stuttgart: Hoffmann, 1854. Native Donner line citations, Smyth card correspondence, selected textual readings and metrical facsimiles. Remaining OCR differences and unattributed reading notes are documented in the linked review inventory.) — 101 focus
Und doch - was sag' ich? Alles weiß ich klar voraus,
Was künftig sein wird; unerwartet naht sich mir
Niemals ein Leiden. Mein Verhängniß muß ich denn,
So leicht ich kann, ertragen, wohl' erkenn' ich ja,
Daß unbezwingbar deine Macht, Nothwendigkeit!
105
Doch schweigen und nicht schweigen über mein Geschick,
Unmöglich ist mir Beides. Weil ich Armer Heil
Der Erde Söhnen brachte, trag' ich dieses Joch.
Im Ferulstabe barg ich und entwandte schlau
Den Quell des Himmelsfeuers, der den Sterblichen
110
Ein Lehrer aller Künste ward, ein großer Hort.
Und solche Strafen duld' ich nun für solche Schuld,
In Banden angekettet hoch in freier Luft.

Commentary

Critical apparatus to Prometheus Bound (OCR draft) (Latin and Greek critical apparatus to Gottfried Hermann's 1852 edition of Prometheus Bound.) focus

102. mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-hermann1852-appcrit-lat1-101

σκεθρῶς:
σκοθρῶς
M. a pr. manu.
τορῶς
nonnulli codices.

102. mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-hermann1852-appcrit-lat1-102

τὰ μέλλοντ', οὐδέ μοι:
τὰ μέλλοντα οὐδ᾽ ἐμοὶ
G.

103. mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-hermann1852-appcrit-lat1-103

πῆμ' οὐδὲν:
πῆμα οὐδὲν
G.

104. mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-hermann1852-appcrit-lat1-104

γιγνώσκονθ᾽:
γιγνώσκονθ'
Μ. Reliqui
γινώσκονθ'
.

105. mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-hermann1852-appcrit-lat1-105

NA: Moschopulus in Agapetum apud Fabricium Bibl. Gr. vol. XII. p. 306. sive ed. Harl. vol. VIII. p. 41. Theodorus Hyrtacenus Epist. S. et 43.

105. mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-hermann1852-appcrit-lat1-106

ἀδήριτον:
ἀδήρητον
Lips. Aug.

108. mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-hermann1852-appcrit-lat1-107

πορὼν:
πορῶν
M. Lips.
πορών
G. Aug.

108. mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-hermann1852-appcrit-lat1-108

ἐνέζευγμαι:
ἐνέζευγμαι
M. G. aliique codices.
ἐζευγμαι
Aug. Lips. et plerique codices.
ὑπέζευγμαι
edd. vett.

109. mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-hermann1852-appcrit-lat1-109

NA: Hesychius in v.
ναρθηκοπλήρωτες
. Schol. Ambrosianus ad Od. v. 490.

110. mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-hermann1852-appcrit-lat1-110

πηγὴν:
πηγήν
scriptum est apud Hesychium.
παγήν
, superscripto
η
, Lips.

English commentary on Prometheus Bound (OCR draft) (N. Wecklein, translated by F. D. Allen. Ginn & Company, 1893; compared with the 1891 printing. Printed commentary pages 31–144. Provisional alignment and unresolved OCR are visibly flagged.) focus

1-127. mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-1

1
2
1-127: Prologue (πρόλογος).

88-127. mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-69

3
4
88-127. Second Scene. Pro- metheus alone. With this invocation of the elements cp. Il. iii. 277 ἠέλιός θ' ὃς πάντ᾽ ἐφορᾶς καὶ πάντ᾽ ἐπακούεις, καὶ ποταμοὶ καὶ γαῖα, Soph. Phil. 936& λιμένες, ὦ προβλῆτες, ὦ ξυνουσίαι θηρῶν ὀρείων, ὦ καταρρῶγες πέτραι, ὑμῖν τάδ', οὐ γὰρ ἄλλον οἶδ᾽ ὅτῳ λέγω, ἀνακλαίομαι. Apsines (Rhet. Gr. ed. Spengel I. p. 400) says: κινεῖ δὲ ἔλεον καὶ λόγος πρὸς τόπον τινὰ γινόμενος.

101. mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-79

5
6
101. καίτοι τί φημι: 'se ipsum obiurgat Prometheus; et paulisper ob malorum magnitudinem naturae suae oblitus iam ad se redit' (Schütz). θνητοῖς γὰρ γέρα – προυξεπίσταμαι : as son of Themis. Ср. 209, 873.

102. mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-80

7
8
102. ποταίνιον: predicative; shall not come unexpected.

105. mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-81

9
10
105. ἀδήριτον: Il. xvii. 41 ἀλλ᾽ οὐ μὰν ἔτι δηρὸν ἀπείρητος πόνος ἔσται λong οὐδέ τ᾽ ἀδήριτος. Here = ἄμαχος (ἀδή- ριτον· ἄμαχον, ἀκατάμαχον, Hesych.). Cp. ἀνίκητος, ίnvictus. For the thought cp. Simon. Frg. 5,21 (Plat. Prot. 345d) ἀνάγκᾳ δ᾽ οὐδὲ θεοὶ μάχονται, Soph. Ant. 1106 ἀνάγκῃ δ᾽ οὐχὶ δυσμαχητέον, Ο. C. 191 καὶ μὴ χρείᾳ πολεμῶμεν, Eur. Iph. Τ. 1486 τὸ γὰρ χρεὼν σοῦ τε καὶ θεῶν κρατεῖ.

106. mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-82

11
12
106. οὔτε σιγᾶν οὔτε μὴ σιγᾶν : ex- plained by 197, whence we see that the motive for silence is the pain of speaking (not caution as in Ag. 548, πάλαι τὸ σιγᾶν φάρμακον βλάβης ἔχω). The scholiast wrongly explains, ἀλλ᾽ οὔτε σιγᾶν δύναμαι (ἀλγῶ γὰρ) οὔτε ἐλέγ- χειν· εὐλαβοῦμαι γὰρ τὸν Δία. Cp.Soph. Phil. 329 ὦ παῖ Ποίαντος, ἐξερῶ, μόλις δ᾽ ἐρῶ, ἅγωγ᾽ ὑπ᾿ αὐτῶν ἐξελωβήθην μολών.

107. mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-83

13
14
107. γέρα: see on τιμάς, 30. — Here and in 821 we find the thesis of the fifth foot formed by the long final syllable of a word of more than one
syllable (θνη-τοῖς). This is very rare in tragedy (H. 1091,5). It is excusa- ble when, as here, a distinct pause, in connexion with the caesura of the fourth foot (hephthemimeris), imme- diately precedes. See also on 648. ...

108. mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-84

15
16
108. ἀνάγκαις : said like αἰκίαι 93. – ἐνέζευγμαι : a favorite metaphor of Aeschylus. Cp. 578, 1009; Ag. 1639 τὸν δὲ μὴ πειθάνορα ζεύξω βαρείαις (sc. ζεύγλαις), 841 μόνος δ᾽ Ὀδυσσεὺς ζευχθεὶς ἕτοιμος ἦν ἐμοὶ σειραφόρος, Cho. 795 ζυγέντ᾽ ἐν ἅρμασιν πημάτων, also Ag. 218 ἀνάγκας ἔδυ λέπαδνον. Figures and comparisons drawn from husbandry and rural life are frequent in the tra- gedians. With our passage cp. Eur. Οr. 1330 ἀνάγκης εἰς ζυγὸν καθέσταμεν, Hipp. 1389 οἵαις συμφοραῖς συνεζύγης.

109. mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-85

17
18
109. ναρθηκοπλήρωτον: τὴν ἐν νάρ- θηκι θησαυρισθεῖσαν, παρόσον τῷ νάρθηκι ἐχρῶντο πρὸς τὰς ἐκζωπυρώσεις τοῦ πυρός, Hesych. The νάρθηξ (ferula communis, in modern Greek ἀνάρθη- kas) is an umbelliferous reed-like plant, about four feet high; its stalk is filled with an acrid milky juice (habent fungosam intus me- dullam ut sambuci: Plin.). When dried it readily catches and preserves a spark of fire; the peas- ants of southern Italy use it as tinder. Cp. Phanias, Anthol. vi. 294 νάρθηξ πυρικοίτας, also Theophr. Hist. Pl. vi. 2, 7, Plin. H. N. xiii. 22. 42. On the mythical significance of the narthex, see Introduction, p. 2. - This clause is properly explanatory of what goes before, nevertheless it is introduced by de as if it were a new and distinct statement. The scholiasts often ren- der this dé by yap; an example is Cho. 239 προσαυδᾶν δ᾽ ἔστ᾽ ἀναγκαίως ἔχον, which is explanatory of the foregoing words τέσσαρας μοίρας ἔχον ἐμοί. – θηρῶμαι: historical present. Krüger I. § 53, 1, 11; GMT. 33.

110. mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-86

19
20
110 f. διδάσκαλος τέχνης πάσης : see on 7. - πόρος : absolute, as in 477.