Aeschylus Prometheus Bound 545

ed. Herbert Weir Smyth

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Prometheus Bound. Aeschylus. ed. Herbert Weir Smyth. New York. 1922.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.

Current edition Perseus

Προμηθεὺς δεσμώτης (Greek) (Aeschylus, Volume 1. Smyth, Herbert Weir, editor. London; New York: William Heinemann; G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1922.)

Editions (6)
Προμηθεὺς Δεσμώτης First1KGreek (Aeschyli Tragoediae. Sidgwick, Arthur, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1902.) — 561-573 focus
Προμηθεὺς Δεσμώτης (OCR draft) Experimental (Προμηθεὺς Δεσμώτης. Guilielmus Dindorfius, 1882.) — 545 focus
Προμηθεὺς Δεσμώτης (OCR draft) Experimental (Προμηθεὺς Δεσμώτης. Gottfried Hermann, 1852.) — 545 focus
θνητοὺς ἄγαν, Προμηθεῦ.
στρ. β'.
φέρ' ὅπως ἄχαρις χάρις· ὦ φίλος, εἰπέ, ποῦ τις ἀλκά;
τίς ἐφαμερίων ἄρηξις; οὐδ᾽ ἐδέρκης
545
ὀλιγοδρανίαν ἄκικυν,
ἰσόνειρον, ᾧ τὸ φωτῶν
ἀλαὸν 1 γένος ἐμπεποδισμένον; οὔπως
τὰν Διὸς ἁρμονίαν
ΠΡΟΜΗθΕΥΣ ΔΕΣΜΩΤΗΣ (OCR draft) Experimental (ΠΡΟΜΗθΕΥΣ ΔΕΣΜΩΤΗΣ. Paul Mazon, 1920-1925.) — 545 focus
Φέρ' ὅπως χάρις ἁ χάρις ἄχαρις, ὦ
Str. 2.
φίλος, εἰπέ· ποῦ τίς ἀλκά,
540
τίς ἐφαμερίων ἄρηξις ; οὐδ' ἐδέρχθης
ὀλιγοδρανίαν ἄκικυν
ἰσόνειρον ᾗ τὸ φωτῶν
ἀλαὸν γένος ἐμπεποδισ-
μένον ; οὔποτε < γάρ τοι om.>
545
1
τὰν Διὸς ἁρμονίαν θνα-
τῶν παρεξίασι βουλαί.
Προμηθεὺς Δεσμώτης (OCR draft) Experimental (Προμηθεὺς Δεσμώτης. N. Wecklein, 1885.) — 545 focus
Aeschyli Prometheus Vinctus (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschyli Prometheus Vinctus. Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, 1914.) — 545 focus
φέρ᾽ ὅπως ἄχαρις χάρις, ὦ φίλος·
εἰπέ, ποῦ τίς ἀλκά;
τίς ἐφαμερίων ἄρηξις; οὐδ᾽ ἐδέρχθης
545
ὀλιγοδρανίαν ἄκικυν ἰσόνειρον,
ἆι τὸ φωτῶν ἀλαὸν γένος ἐμπεπο-
δισμένον; οὔποτε (πολλαί)
τὰν Διὸς ἁρμονίαν θνα-
τῶν παρεξίασι βουλαί. –
550
---
Translations (9)
Prometheus Bound Perseus (Aeschylus, Volume 1. Smyth, Herbert Weir, translator. London; New York: William Heinemann; G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1922. (Modernized by Perseus.)) — 545 focus
Prometheus Bound. (OCR draft) Experimental (Prometheus Bound.. Theodore Alois Buckley, 1849.) — 545 focus
Come, my friend, own how boonless was the boon; say where is any aid? What relief can come from the creatures of a day? Sawest thou not the powerless weakness, nought better than a dream, in which the blind race of men is entangled? Never shall at any time the schemes of mortals evade the harmonious system of Jupiter.
PROMÉTHÉE ENCHAINÉ (OCR draft) Experimental (PROMÉTHÉE ENCHAINÉ. Paul Mazon, 1920-1925.) — 545 focus
l'âme épanouie en radieuses délices. Mais je
Prometheus Chained (OCR draft) Experimental (Prometheus Chained. Robert Potter, 1779.) — 545 focus
Vain thy ardor, vain thy grace,
They nor force nor aid repay;
Like a dream man's feeble race,
Shortliv'd reptiles of a day.
Shall their weak devices move
560
Th' order'd harmony of Jove?
Touch'd with pity of thy pain,
All ſad and ſlow I pour the moral ſtrain;
Chang'd from that melting vein,
When the light mellifluous meaſure
565
Round thy bath, and round thy bed
For our ſeanymph ſiſter ſpread,
Awoke young love and bridal pleaſure,
And pour'd the ſoul of harmony,
To greet the bright Heſione.
570
Eschilo, Prometeo legato: traduzione italiana di Ettore Romagnoli (OCR draft) Experimental (Eschilo, Prometeo legato: traduzione italiana di Ettore Romagnoli. Ettore Romagnoli, 1922.) — 545 focus
Ecco quali mercedi
sono or compenso, amico, alle tue grazie.
Dove or trovi negli uomini
alcun sostegno, alcun soccorso? Vedi
640
la fiacca inettitudine,
simile ai sogni vani,
che, in ceppi, degli umani
stringe le cieche torme?
Non mai voler d'efimeri
645
potrà di Giove vïolar le norme.
Aeschylus, Prometheus vinctus: versio Latina Ioannis Sanravii (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschylus, Prometheus vinctus: versio Latina Ioannis Sanravii. Ioannes Sanravius, 1555.) — 545 focus
Age quomodo ingrata
540
Gratia, ô amice dic, ubi aliquod subsidium?
Quis mortalium auxilium præbet? neq; vidisti
Languorem immobilem, somnij similem, quo
Hominum cæcum genus impeditum.
Nunquam Iouis concentum mortalium
545
Euitant consilia.
Prometheus Bound (OCR draft) Experimental (Prometheus Bound. Anna Swanwick, 1886.) — 545 focus
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.) — 545 focus
What aid, 'gainst wrath of Heaven,
Could mortal man afford? in vain thy gift
590
To things so powerless!
Could'st thou not see? they are as dreams that drift;
Their strength is feebleness—
A purblind race, in hopeless fetters bound,
They have no craft or skill,
595
That could o'erreach the ordinance profound
Of the eternal will.
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.) — 545 focus
O wie fehlt für die Liebe die Liebe!
Wer, Theurer, kann dich retten
Von den Söhnen des Tags, wer steht dir bei? Du sah'st nicht,
Wie die nichtige Kraft der Unmacht,
Traumgestalten gleich, die Menschen,
545
Dieß blinde Geschlecht, in Bande verstrickt hält?
Nimmer vermag Zeus' ewigem Rath
Der Menschen Wille vorzugreifen.
Zweite Gegenstrophe.

Commentary

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

545. mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-hermann1852-appcrit-lat1-614

ἐφαμερίων:
ἐφαμέρων
G.

546. mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-hermann1852-appcrit-lat1-615

ὀλιγοδρανίαν:
ὀλιγοδρανίαν
Μ. G. aliique.
ὀλιγοδρανειαν
Vit.
ὀλιγοδρανίᾳ
Lips. Aug. edd. vett.
ὀλιγοδρανοῦσαν
non in G. est, sed commemoratum a Turnebo.

546. mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-hermann1852-appcrit-lat1-616

ἄκικυν:
ἄκικυν
ultimis tribus litteris a sec. manu M.

547. mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-hermann1852-appcrit-lat1-617

ᾧ: Quoniam in antistrophico versu libri habent
καὶ λέχος σὸν ὑμεναίουν
, erat quum putarem
ἰσόνειρον
ex interpretatione receptum esse pro
ὑπνόνειρον
. Sic enim talia explicant grammatici, similiterque in Choeph. v. 316.
ἰσόμοιρον
male scriptum est pro
ἀντίμοιρον
. Atque iussit ita scribi Reisigius in enarratione Oed. Col. ad v. 186. Nihil valet ad defendendam productam in
ἰσόνειρον
primam syllabam comparatum a Dindorfio
ἰσόθεος
, nec Pindari
ἰσοδαίμων
accipio. Sed ut antistrophicum potius versum emendemus numerorum ratio admonet, quae versum Anacreonteum eo magis commendat, quod, si hi trochaei essent, parum scite
καὶ
in antistrophico versu graviorem ictum haberet.
ᾧ
in litura, a sec. manu scripto, ut sub litura
o
apparere videatur, M. G.
ᾧ
, superscripto
ς
, Lips.
αἷς
Colb. 1. Bess. Ald.
ὃ
Rob. Turn. Omittit hoc pronomen Vit.

548. mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-hermann1852-appcrit-lat1-618

ἀλαὸν * δέδεται*: Deesse verbum post
ἀλαὸν
Brunckius vidit. Intercidisse autem tale quale
δέδεται
est, quod posui, non solum metra, sed oratio quoque arguit, quae si
ἐστὶ
intelligendum esset, quod supplent scholiastae, prosae quam poesi esset similior. Vel hanc ob caussam non potest admitti quod Dindorfius Aeschylum scripsisse putat,
ἀλαὸν γένος ἐμπεποδισμένον; οὔποτε θνατῶν τὴν Διὸς ἁρμονίαν ἀνδρῶν παρεξίασι βουλαί
.

548. mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-hermann1852-appcrit-lat1-619

οὔπως: Libri
οὔποτε
, quod non dubitavi in
οὔπω
mutare, metri antistrophici indicio.

550. mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-hermann1852-appcrit-lat1-620

θνατῶν:
θνητῶν
G. Quum in antistrophico versu iambus sit, vereor ne
βροτῶν
scribendum sit.

551. mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-hermann1852-appcrit-lat1-621

ἔμαθον τάδε σὰς:
ἔμαθον δὲ τὰς σὰς
Vit.

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

526-560. mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-358

1
2
526-560. Second Stasimon. The subject - praise of peace with Heaven and a tranquil life - is sug- gested by the words of the cory- phaeus 519 τί γὰρ πέπρωται Ζηνὶ πλὴν ἀεὶ κρατεῖν ; The dactylo-epitritic rhythm corresponds with this senti- ment, and 'affords, in the midst of the heat of tragic pathos, a moment of refreshing coolness and cheerful calm' (Westphal). ποτε ἀντίπαλον κράτος ποιοῖτο τῇ ἐμῇ γνώμῃ, ἀντὶ τοῦ μηδέποτε ἐναντίος μοι γένοιτο, Schol. – θεῖτο κράτος ἀντίπα- λον: see on 163.

546. mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-367

3
4
546 f. ἐφαμερίων : see on 83. With this description of human helpless- ness, cp. Ar. Αυ. 685 ἄγε δὴ φύσιν ἄνδρες ἀμαυρόβιοι, φύλλων γενεᾷ προσό- μοιοι, ὀλιγοδρανέες, πλάσματα πηλοῦ, σκιοειδέα φῦλ᾽ ἀμενηνά, ἀπτῆνες ἐφη- μέριοι, ταλαοὶ βροτοὶ, ἀνέρες εἰκελόνειροι. · ὀλιγοδρανίαν: with epic quantity before δρ. Homer uses the parti- ciple ὀλιγοδρανέων as equivalent to ὀλιγηπελέων. Cp. Orph. Argon. 432 ἀνθρώπων ὀλιγοδρανέων πολυεθνέα φύτ- λην ἤειδον. – ἄκικυς : ἀσθενής, ἀδύνατος, Hesych. Cp. Aesch. Frg. 230 σοὶ δ᾽ οὐκ ἔνεστι κῖκυς οὐδ᾽ αἱμόρρυτοι φλέβες, Od. xi. 393 ἀλλ᾽ οὐ γάρ οἱ ἔτ᾽ ἦν ἐς ἔμπεδος οὐδέ τι κίκυς.

548. mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-368

5
6
548 f. ἰσόνειρον : ι long, following epic usage, as in ἰσόθεος Pers. 80, ἰσοδαίμων Pind. Nem. iv. 136. For the sense, see on 448, and cp. Pind. Pyth. viii. 135 ἐπάμεροι· τί δέ τις; τί δ᾽ οὔ τις ; σκιᾶς ὄναρ ἄνθρωπος, Eur. Med. 1224 τὰ θνητὰ οὐ νῦν πρῶτον ἡγοῦμαι σκιάν. – φωτῶν : = ἀνδρῶν. Cp. Soph. Αί. 300 ὥστε φῶτας, in distinction to animals. – ἳ δέδεται: cp. Anth. Pal. νί. 296 ἐκ γήρως ἀδρανίῃ δέδεται.

550. mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-369

7
8
550 f. οὔπως... παρεξίασι βουλαί: cp. Suppl. 1048 Διὸς οὐ παρβατός ἐστιν μεγάλα φρὴν ἀπέραντος, Od. ν. 103 ἀλλὰ μάλ᾽ οὔπως ἔστι Διὸς νόον αἰγιόχοιο οὔτε παρεξελθεῖν ἄλλον θεὸν οὔθ᾽ ἁλιῶ- σαι, Hesiod Theog. 613 ὡς οὐκ ἔστι Διὸς κλέψαι νόον οὐδὲ παρελθεῖν, and see on 906. For παρεξίασι cp. also Il. i. 132 οὐ παρελεύσεαι οὐδέ με πείσεις, Soph. Ant. 60, εἰ νόμου βίᾳ ψῆφον τυράννων ἢ κράτη παρέξιμεν. — τὰν Διὸς ἁρμονίαν: ὑψηλῶς καὶ τραγικῶς τὸ τῆς εἱμαρμένης ὄνομα Διὸς ἁρμονίαν εἶπεν, Schol., but this is inconsistent with 514 ff. By ἁρμονία Διός is meant rather the compact system of Zeus's realm. Cp. 230 διεστοιχίζετο ἀρχήν.