561-886.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-375
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.).
696.
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696.
πρώ: mature, too soon. Cp. Soph. Trach. 630
δέδοικα
γὰρ
μὴ
πρὸ
λέγοις
ἂν
τὸν
πόθον
τὸν
ἐξ
ἐμοῦ,
πρὶν
εἰδέναι
τἀκεῖθεν
εἰ
ποθούμεθα, Plat. Par- men. 135 c
πρὼ
γὰρ,
πρὶν
γυμνασθῆναι,
ὁρίζεσθαι
ἐπιχειρεῖς
καλόν
τε
τί
καὶ
δίκαιον
καὶ
ἀγαθόν. -
πλέα
τις: for
τὶς with an adjective, see H. 702 a.
698.
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698.
λέγ᾽,
ἐκδίδασκε : cp. 608, and see note on 56.
701.
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701.
κούφως: with light labor (sc. "on my part"), since it fell to Io (635) to meet their desire. –
ἐχρήζετε : cp. 632 f.
702.
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702.
τὸν
ἀμφ᾽
ἑαυτῆς
ἀθλον : =
ἀμφ᾽
ἑαυτῆς
τὸν
ἑαυτῆς
ἆθλον
ἐξηγουμένης. An attributive of the subject or ob- ject is often modified by the intrusion of a preposition which would natu- rally accompany the predicate. This is most frequent with the prepositions
ἐξ,
ἀπό,
παρά. Cp. Cho. 507
τὸν
ἐκ
βυθοῦ
κλωστῆρα
σῴζοντες
λίνου =
τὸν
ἐν
βυθῷ
κλωστῆρα
λίνου (i.e. net)
σφ-
ζοντες
ἐκ
βυθοῦ, also Ag. 538
κῆρυξ
᾿Ἀχαιῶν
χαῖρε
τῶν
ἀπὸ
στρατοῦ. Krü- ger I. § 50, 8, 10
(cp.
H. 788 a). But it occurs also with other prepositions; thus
εὐσεβεῖν
τὰ
πρὸς
θεούς, Soph. Phil. 1441
706.
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706.
θυμῷ
βάλε: cp. the Homeric phrase
σὺ
δ᾽
ἐνὶ
φρεσὶ
βάλλεο
σῇσι (differently Od. i. 200
ὡς
ἐνὶ
θυμῷ
ἀθάνατοι
βάλλουσι). For the dative, cp. Sept. 1048
χώραν
τήνδε
κινδύνῳ
βαλεῖν, Soph. Phil. 67
λύπην
πᾶσιν
᾿Αργείοις
βαλεῖς, Eur. Phoen. 1535
σκότον
ὄμμασι
σοῖσι
βαλών.
708.
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708.
στρέψασα: not
τρέψασα, be- cause Io is to turn aside from Pro- metheus in beginning her journey. -
στεῖχε
γύας: cp. 837; Sept. 466
κλί-
μακος
προσαμβάσεις
στείχει, in prose
πορεύεσθαι
πεδίον, etc. G. 159, N. 5; H. 712 b. - The geographical de- scription which follows - a mixture of truth and fable - is based on the vague reports of the merchants who were engaged in the traffic between the Hellenic colonies on the Black Sea and the regions to the north- ward. Herodotus was the first to bring to the Greeks a more accurate knowledge of the country and peo- ples north of the Pontus.
709.
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709. Cp. Od. xii. 39
Σειρῆνας
μὲν
πρῶτον
ἀφίξεαι. –
Σκύθας
νομάδας : Hippocr. de Aëre 93
νομάδες
δὲ
και
λεῦνται,
ὅτι
οὐκ
ἔστι
σφι
οἰκήματα,
ἀλλ᾽
ἐν
ἁμάξῃσι
οἰκεῦσι·
αἱ
δὲ
ἅμαξαί
εἰσι
αἱ
μὲν
ἐλάχισται
τετράκυκλοι,
αἱ
δὲ
ἐξάκυκλοι·
αὗται
δὲ
πίλοισι
περιπεφραγ-
μέναι·
εἰσὶ
δὲ
καὶ
τετεχνασμέναι
ὥσπερ
οἰκήματα,
τὰ
μὲν
διπλᾶ,
τὰ
δὲ
τριπλᾶ·
ταῦτα
δὲ
καὶ
στεγνὰ
πρὸς
ὕδωρ
καὶ
πρὸς
χιόνα
καὶ
πρὸς
τὰ
πνεύματα, Hesiod in Strabo p. 302
γλακτοφάγων
εἰς
γαῖὰν
ἀπήναις
οἰκί
ἐχόντων, Hdt. iv. 46
τοῖσι
γὰρ
μήτε
ἄστεα
μήτε
τείχεα
ἢ
ἐκτι-
σμένα,
ἀλλὰ
φερέοικοι
ἐόντες
πάντες
ἔωσι
ἱπποτοξόται,
ζώοντες
μὴ
ἀπ᾿
ἀρότου,
ἀλλ᾽
ἀπὸ
κτηνέων,
οἰκήματά
τέ
σφι
ῇ
ἐπὶ
ζευγέων,
κῶς
οὐκ
ἂν
εἴησαν
οὗτοι
ἄμαχοί
τε
καὶ
ἄποροι
προσμίσγειν. Ас- cording to Hdt. iv. 19, these Scythians lived on the Carcinite gulf, west of the Crimean isthmus:
τὸ
δὲ
πρὸς
ἠῶ
τῶν
γεωργῶν
τούτων
Σκυθέων (on the Borysthenes),
διαβάντι
τὸν
Παντικάπην
ποταμόν,
νομάδες
ἤδη
Σκύθαι
νέμονται,
οὔτε
τι
σπείροντες
οὐδὲν
οὔτε
ἀροῦντες. But before Herodotus their residence had not been thus determined, and Aeschylus thinks of them as dwelling far in the north near the Ocean. Cp. Strab. p. 492
τὸ
πρῶτον
μέρος
ἐκ
τῶν
πρὸς
ἄρκτον
μερῶν
καὶ
τὸν
᾿Ὠκεανὸν
Σκυθών
τινες
νομάδες
καὶ
ἁμάξοικοι, Plin. H. N. vi. 20, 53 inhabitabilis prima pars a Scythico pro- muntorio ob nives, proxima inculta saevitia gentium. Anthropophagi Scythae in- sident humanis corporibus vescentes; ideo iuxta vas- tae solitudines.
712.
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712.
πελάζειν ...
ἐκπερᾶν: jussive infinitive. Cp. Eum. 1007
τὸ
μὲν
ἀτη-
ρὸν
χώρας
κατέχειν,
τὸ
δὲ
κερδαλέον
πέμπειν. GMT. 784.
713.
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713.
χρίμπτουσă: before
ῥ-. See on 1023. –
ῥαχίαισιν:
κυρίως
δὲ
πᾶς
ὁ
πετρώδης
αἰγιαλὸς
ῥαχία
καλεῖται, Etym. Mag. p. 702, 51. - Cp. Choe- ril. Frg. 2 (p. 719 Nauck)
γῆς
ὀστοῖ-
σιν (i.e. stones)
ἐγχριμφθεὶς
πόδα.
714.
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714. Either verses have fallen out between 713 and 714, in which some other region, to be visited by Io after leaving the Ocean, was mentioned (cp. Frg. IX. of the
Προμηθεὺς
λυό-
μενος), or the poet means that Io, having passed the Nomad Scythians in her course along the shore of Ocean, is to leave the Chalybes at her left, that is, wander inland and southward between the Scythians and Chalybes, until she reaches the river Hybristes. This she must follow upwards to its source in the Cauca- sus (720). -
λαιᾶς
χειρός : on the genitive, see Krüger II. § 46, 1, 3; G. 179, 2; H. 760; and Schneidewin- Nauck on Soph. El. 900.
715.
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715. A tribrach in the second foot; the only occurrence in this play. See on 2. Resolutions are more frequent in this description than in other por- tions of the Prometheus. This is due
LEIANA
Chows
out to the exceptional
subject-matter and the number of proper names. See 717, 720, 721, 722, 729, 730, 735, 788, 793, 796, 805, 809, 811, 840, 847, 849, 851, 869. –
Χάλυβες: these are else- where (Hdt. i. 28; Strab. p. 678) said to live south of the Black Sea. Aeschylus places them in Northern Scythia, because he regards them as Scythians (Sept. 728
χάλυβος
Σκυθῶν
ἄποικος), and identifies their land with the region which produced the Scythian steel (cp. 301). This region was in reality the Ural Mountains.
717.
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717.
Ὑβρίστην
ποταμόν: the scho- liast remarks,
τὸν
᾿Αράξην,
παρὰ
τὸ
ἀράσσειν
καὶ
ἠχεῖν
τὰ
κύματα
αὐτοῦ. The ancient expounders, we see, read
ὑβριστήν, and supposed that by the designation "boisterous stream" the poet meant the Araxes, referring its name to
ἀράσσειν. Cp. Eustath. on Dionys. Perieget. 739
τοῦ
δὲ
Μασσα-
γετικοῦ
τούτου
᾿Αράξου
μέμνηται
καὶ
Αἰσχύλος,
καὶ
ἀρέσκεται
καὶ
ἐκεῖνος
ἀπὸ
τοῦ
ἀράσσειν
καλεῖσθαι
αὐτόν. As to Aeschylus's actual notion, see on 714.
718.
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718.
εὔβατος
περάν: see on 766.
719.
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719 f.
πρὸς
αὐτὸν
Καύκασον
ἔνθα
κτέ. : =
πρὸς
αὐτὸν
τὸν
τοῦ
Καυκάσου
τόπον
ἔνθα
ποταμὸς
ἐκφυσᾷ
μένος, till thou hast come to its very source on the
heights of Caucasus.
αὐτόν belongs in sense to
ἔνθα
ποταμός, etc., and con- trasts the source with the lower course of the river. The poet, it would seem, imagines the Caucasus range to lie southeast of the scene of the play, and (as appears from the following) north of the Black and Azov seas.
722.
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722.
ὑπερβάλλουσαν: not
ὑπερβα-
λοῦσαν, because the southerly course is to be entered on during the passage of the mountain.
723.
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723 f.
᾿Αμαζόνων : cp. 416. -
στυγά-
νορα: cp. Suppl. 287
καὶ
τὰς
ἀνάνδρους
κρεοβόρους
τ᾿
᾿Αμάζονας. -
Θεμίσκυραν ·
ἀμφὶ
Θερμώδοντα: the fabulous race of the Amazons was sometimes as- signed to the river Thermodon and the city Themiscyra (Strabo p. 505
τὴν
δὲ
Θεμίσκυραν
καὶ
τὰ
περὶ
τὸν
Θερμώδοντα
πεδία
καὶ
τὰ
ὑπερκείμενα
ὄρη
ἅπαντα
᾿Αμαζόνων
καλοῦσι
καί
φασιν
ἐξελαθῆναι
αὐτὰς
ἐνθένδε), sometimes to the part of Scythia bordering on the sea of Azov and the Tanais. The first- named view, in
post-Homeric times, became the more generally accepted. Aeschylus avoids conflict with it by assuming a later migration of the Amazons from Scythia to the Ther- modon. Migration in the contrary direction is assumed by Hdt. iv. 110.
725.
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725 f.
ἵνα ...
Σαλμυδησσία
γνάθος : not a definition of
Θερμώδοντα, but of the whole country of the Amazons, which is thereby given a greater ex- tension: round about the Thermodon to where, etc. There is perhaps a refer- ence to Il. iii. 187
οἵ
ῥα
τότ᾽
ἐστρα-
τόωντο
παρ᾿
ὄχθας
Σαγγαρίοιο ...
ἤματι
τῷ
ὅτε
τ᾽
ἦλθον
᾿Αμαζόνες
ἀντιάνειραι, in ignorance or neglect of the great actual distance. Salmydessus, ac- cording to Strab. p. 319, is an
ἔρημος
αἰγιαλὸς
καὶ
λιθώδης,
ἀλίμενος,
ἀνα-
πεπταμένος
πολὺς
πρὸς
τοὺς
βορέας,
σταδίων
ὅσον
ἑπτακοσίων
μέχρι
Κυα-
νέων
τὸ
μῆκος (that is, from the cape Thynias to the Thracian Bosporus). Cp. Soph. Ant. 966
παρὰ
δὲ
κυανέων
σπιλάδων
διδύμας
ἁλὸς
ἀκταὶ
Βοσπόριαι
ἰδ᾽
ὁ
Θρῃκῶν
Σαλμυδησσός, Xen. Anab. vii. 5. 12
Σαλμυδησσόν,
ἔνθα
τῶν
εἰς
τὸν
Πόντον
πλεουσῶν
νεῶν
πολλαὶ
ὀκέλλουσι
καὶ
ἐκπίπτουσι·
τέναγος
γάρ
ἐστιν
ἐπὶ
παμπολὺ
τῆς
θαλάττης.
727.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-462
727.
μητρυιά: cp. Hesiod O. D. 825
ἄλλοτε
μητρυιὴ
πέλει
ἡμέρη,
ἄλλοτε
μήτηρ.
728.
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728.
μάλ᾽
ἀσμένως: as
στυγάνορες (724), the Amazons will cheerfully aid Io, who is
ἀστεργάνωρ (898).
729.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-464
729.
λίμνης:
Μαιώτιδος, defined by what follows. Cp. 364.
730.
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730. The only case in our play of a dactyl in the first foot. See on 18. - Join
ὃν
λιποῦσαν
χρή
σε
ἐκπερᾶν
αὐλῶνα
Μαιωτικόν.
731.
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731.
αὐλῶνα: properly valley; said of a strait of the sea here and Soph. Trach. 100
ποντίας
αὐλῶνας. The channel of the Bosporus is meant, not the sea of Azov itself.
732.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-467
732.
λόγος
μέγας: cp. Soph.
Ai. 226
ἀγγελίαν ...
τὰν
ὁ
μέγας
μῦθος (rumor late serpens)
ἀέξει.
733.
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733.
Βόσπορος: the understanding of this name as
βοὸς
πόρος (cp.
τῆς
σῆς
πορείας) helped to fix the direction of Io's legendary wandering. The deri- vation, however, is wrong. At any rate the Thracian Bosporus, which, even more universally than the Cim- merian, was believed to owe its name to Io's passage, really received its name from the goddess
Εκάτη
Φωσφό-
ρος (dialectic
Βοσπόρος), who was there worshipped.
734.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-469
734.
λιπούσα
δ'
Εὐρώπης
πέδον : the Cimmerian Bosporus was consid- ered the boundary of Europe and Asia. Cp. 790. All the places hither- to mentioned Aeschylus regards as belonging to Europe. See on 631.
735.
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735.
ἀρ᾽
ὑμῖν
δοκεῖ :
ἆρα confidently spoken for
ἆρ᾽
οὐ (as -ne for nonne). Cp. Soph.
O.
Τ. 822
ἆρ᾽
ἔφυν
κακός,
ἆρ᾽
οὐχὶ
πᾶς
ἄναγνος;
Ο. C. 753
ἆρ᾿
ἄθλιον
τοὔνειδος
ὠνείδισ᾽
εἰς
σὲ
κἀμὲ
καὶ
τὸ
πᾶν
γένος; 780
ἆρ᾽
ἂν
ματαίου
τῆσδ᾽
ἂν
ἡδονῆς
τύχοις; Krüger I. § 69, 9.
736.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-471
736.
ὁμῶς : =
ὁμοίως. Cp.
Εum. 387
δυσοδοπαίπαλα
δερκομένοισι
καὶ
δυσομ-
μάτοις
ὁμῶς, 695
τό
τ᾽
ἦμαρ
καὶ
κατ᾿
εὐφρόνην
ὁμῶς,
Ιl. i. 209
ἄμφω
ὁμῶς
θυμῷ
φιλέουσά
τε
κηδομένη
τε.
741.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-472
741.
εἶναι
ἐν
προοιμίοις : like
ἔν
τισιν
ἀριθμεῖσθαι; belong to the
προοίμια,
count as such. Cp. Pers. 435
εὖ
νῦν
τόδ᾽
ἴσθι,
μηδέπω
μεσοῦν
κακόν, Eur. Med. 60
ἐν
ἀρχῇ
πῆμα
κοὐδέπω
μεσοῖ. On the aphaeresis see Krüger II. § 14, 9,5; H. 83.
