1-127.
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1-127: Prologue
(πρόλογος).
1-87.
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1-87: First Scene. Cratos and Bia, dragging the figure representing Prometheus, enter on the left; He- phaestus with smith's tools accompa- nies them.
1.
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1.
χθονὸς
πέδον : poetical periphra- sis for
χθόνα. Cp. Suppl. 260
χώρας
᾿Απίας
πέδον, 662
πέδον
γᾶς, Pers. 488
γῆς
᾿Αχαιίδος
πέδον. In such expres- sions, the adjective does not agree with the genitive, but with the sub- stantive which makes the periphrasis, because this substantive forms one idea with the genitive. See below, 91, 110, 823; also Sept. 304
ποῖον
δ᾽
ἀμείψεσθε
γαίας
πέδον,
Εum. 292
χώ-
ρας
ἐν
τόποις
Λιβυστικοῖς, 326
ματρῷον
ἅγνισμα
κύριον
φόνου, 718
πρωτοκτό-
νοισι
προστροπαῖς
᾿Ιξίονος. –
μέν : an- swered by
σοὶ
δέ in 3; the first part of the task (bringing Prometheus to the spot) is contrasted with the sec- ond part (nailing him to the rock). "We have done our duty, and here we are
(ἥκομεν), now you must do yours." -
τηλουρόν: this accent is expressly attested by the gramma- rian Arcadius
περὶ
τόνων, p. 73, 6.
τηλουρός is formed from
τηλοῦ as
πο-
νηρός from
πόνος. Others derive the word from
τῆλε and
ὅρος
(οὗρος) boun- dary, so that it means cuius ter- mini procul sunt; or from
τῆλε and
oὗρον space (cp. Curtius Etym.5 p. 346); but these derivations would require the accent
τήλουρος.
2.
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2.
Σκύθην: here used adjectively, as in 417. So Sept. 817
Σκύθῃ
σιδήρῳ, Eur. Rhes. 426
Σκύθης
λέως, Martial iv. 28, 4 Scythas zmaragdos. Cp. also 805; Ag. 109
Ἑλλάδος
ἥβας, Prom. Solut. Frg.
Χ. 9 below
Λίγυν
στρα-
τόν, Frg. 322
Κουρῆτα
λαόν. See also note on 761 below. -
οἶμον : originally road, then strip, tract; cp. Il. xi. 24
τοῦ
δ᾽ (sc.
θώρηκος)
ἤτοι
δέκα
οἶμοι
ἔσαν
μέλανος
κυάνοιο, ten stripes of blue steel. –
ἄβροτον:
ἀπάνθρωπον, Hesych. Hermann, following Buttmann Lexil. I.
p. 136, thinks this use of
ἄβροτος a blunder, due to a misinterpretation of the Homeric
νὺξ
ἀβρότη
(Il. xiv. 78), which was wrongly explained by some of the ancients as the time "when mortals are not abroad,"
καθ'
ἣν
βροτοὶ
οὐ
φοιτῶσιν, whereas it is really an equivalent of
νὺξ
ἄμβροτος (Od. xi. 330),
νὺξ
ἀμβροσίη. But this is not necessary.
As
ἄνανδρος means both unmanly and destitute of men,
ἀπάνθρωπος both inhuman and deserted of mankind, so
ἄβροτος means immortal and void of mortals. - Similar resolu-
tions in the third foot occur eight times in this play. The tribrach in the first foot always consists of a sin- gle word (see on 116); but in the second and fifth, and still more in the third and fourth feet, the first short of the tribrach is usually the final syllable of a word, or a monosyllabic particle closely connected with the preceding word
(τέ 351,
γέ 746,
δέ 993). In the third foot, the caesura thus made is followed, in six of the examples, by a word consisting of three short syllables; in the other two cases a proper name of four syllables follows
(Κιλικίων 351,
Ιόνιος 840). The repetition of the prep- osition gives to
Σκύθην
οἶμον and
ἄβρο-
τον
ἐρημίαν, which otherwise would be close appositives, more the air of two separate statements. See Krüg. I. § 57, 10, 4. - The scholiast remarks on this verse:
τοῦτο
εἰς
τὸ
ἀπαραμύθη-
τον
τοῦ
δεθησομένου·
καὶ
Σοφοκλῆς
τὸ
αὐτὸ
περὶ
Φιλοκτήτου
λέγει. Cp. Intro- duction, p. 25, footnote 2, and verses 20, 270; also Ar. Ach. 704,
ξυμπλα-
κέντα
τῇ
Σκυθῶν
ἐρημίᾳ.
3.
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3.
Ήφαιστε,
σοὶ
δέ: for
σοὶ
δέ,
"Ηφαιστε. The vocative is often placed first in this way, to attract more promptly the attention of the person addressed. Cp. Od. xvi. 130
ἄττα,
σὺ
δ᾽
ἔρχεο
θᾶσσον,
Ιl. i. 282
᾿Ατρείδη,
σὺ
δὲ
παῦε
τεὸν
μένος,
vi. 429
Ἕκτορ,
ἀτὰρ
σύ
μοί
ἐσσι
πατήρ. Frequent in Sophocles: cp. Ai. 1409,
Εl. 150,
Ο.
Τ. 203, 1096, 1503, О. С. 237, 332, 507, 592, Ant. 1087, Phil. 799. Also [Plato] Theages 127 c &
Σώκρατες,
πρὸς
σὲ
δ᾽
ἂν
ἤδη
εἴη
ὁ
μετὰ
τοῦτο
λόγος. --
μέλειν : personal;
ἐπιστολάς is its subject. See Krüg. I. § 47, 11, 5 and II. § 47, 11, 2. –
ἐπιστολάς : =
ἐν-
τολάς, commands. Cp. Suppl. 1012
φυλάξαι
τάσδ'
ἐπιστολὰς
πατρός, Pers. 783
κού
μνημονεύει
τὰς
ἐμὰς
ἐπιστολάς, Frg. 423
ἄκουε
τὰς
ἐμὰς
ἐπιστολάς.
4.
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4.
πατήρ: is said of Zeus not only by the menials, 40 and 53, and by Hermes, 947, 984, but even by He- phaestus, 17.
5.
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5.
λεωργόν :
κακοῦργον,
πανοῦργον,
ἀνδροφόνον, Hesych. Of these, the interpretation
πανούργος agrees ex- actly with the derivation of the word from
λέως, an adverb which the an- cient lexicographers explain by
re-
λέως,
παντελῶς,
ἅπαν. Cp. Archil. Frg. 112 Bergk
λείως
γὰρ
οὐδὲν
ἐφρό-
νεον =
πάντως
γὰρ
οὐδὲν
ἐφρόνεον, and the words
λεώλης,
λεώλεθρος =
πανώλης,
πανώλεθρος. Accordingly
λεωργός sig- nifies one who acts recklessly, in dis- tinction from one whose conduct is regulated by principle. Cp. Archil. Frg. 88
πάτερ
Ζεῦ,
σὸν
μὲν
οὐρανοῦ
κράτος,
σὺ
δ᾽
ἔργ᾽
ἐπ᾿
ἀνθρώπων
ὁρᾷς
λεωργὰ
καὶ
θεμιστά, Xen. Mem. i. 3. 9
αὐτὸν
θερμουργότατον
εἶναι
καὶ
λεωρ-
γότατον. Hesychius gives also the form
λαοργός (with the interpreta- tion
ἀνόσιος·
Σικελοί). The adverb
λέως is related to the intensive prefix
λᾶ-
(λάμαχος,
λακαταπύγων,
λακατάρα-
τος) as
λεώς is to
λαός,
νεώς
τo
ναός.
6.
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6.
ἀδαμαντίνων:
ἀδάμας·
γένος
σιδή-
ρου, Hesych. Cp. 64; also Pind. Pyth.
ⅳν. 125
κρατεροῖς
ἀδάμαντος
δῆσεν
ἅλοις, with iron nails, Pind. Frg. 88
ἐξ
ἀδάμαν-
τος
ἢ
σιδάρου. The meaning diamond is not found before Theophrastus (Pindar, de adamante; Comm. Antiqu. p. 19). –
ἀρρήκτοις
πέδαις : cp. Il. xiii. 36
ἀμφὶ
δὲ
ποσσὶ
πέδας
ἔβαλε
χρυσείας
ἀρρήκτους
ἀλύτους, 19 below
δυσλύ-
τοις
χαλκεύμασι.
πέδαι are fetters,
δεσμά bonds, a more general term. The reverse combination in Eur. Bacch. 447
δεσμὰ
διελύθη
πεδῶν. Cp. Ag. 850
πῆμα
νόσου, Pers. 543
λέκ-
τρων
εὐνάς. - Aeschylus admits an anapaest only in the first foot of the trimeter. The one exception is Sept. 569, where the proper name could hardly have been otherwise brought into the verse. (In 840 below there is no anapaest; see note.) This ana- paest, like the tribrach and dactyl in the same place (see on 2 and 730), is never divided between two words: it generally consists of a trisyllabic word, but sometimes of the beginning of a longer word, as here and 64, 353, 796, 805, 811. There are thirteen such anapaests in the Prometheus.
7.
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7.
τὸ
σὸν
ἄνθος:
τὸν
σὸν
κόσμον, Schol. In Theognis 452, the 'clear lustre' of gold is called its
καθαρὸν
ἄνθος. –
παντέχνου
πυρός : cp. 110, and Xen. Mem. iv. 3. 7
τὸ
δὲ
καὶ
τὸ
πῦρ
πορίσαι
ἡμῖν,
ἐπίκουρον
μὲν
ψύχους,
ἐπίκουρον
δὲ
σκότους,
συνεργὸν
δὲ
πρὸς
πᾶσαν
τέχνην
καὶ
πάντα
ὅσα
ὠφελείας
ἕνεκα
ἄνθρωποι
κατασκευάζονται, Plat. Protag. 321
cὁ
Προμηθεὺς ...
κλέπτει
Ηφαίστου
καὶ
᾿Αθηνᾶς
τὴν
ἔντεχνον
σοφίαν
σὺν
πυρί. -
πυρὸς
σέλας: said by Homer Il. xix. 375. Cp. Hesiod Theog. 566
κλέψας
ἀκαμάτοιο
πυρὸς
τηλέσκοπον
αὐγήν.
9.
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9.
σφέ: =
αὐτόν, as Sept. 615, Soph.
Αί. 51, O. C. 40, Trach. 234, Eur. Ion 54, 71, and often. The tragedians use
σφέ for the accusative singular as well as plural, whereas in Homer it occurs only as plural. Krüg. II. § 51, 1, 14.
10.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-11
10.
ἄν: in final clauses after
ὡς and
ὅπως, very common in Attic; cp. 654, 706, 824. Aristophanes always uses
ὡς
ἄν, and in Attic inscriptions
ὅπως
ἄν is frequent.
11.
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11.
φιλανθρώπου
κτἑ. : that is, "turn his affections away from men to a worthier object."
13.
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13.
ἔχει
τέλος : =
τετέλεσται.
Εp. Soph. O. C. 1780
πάντως
ἔχει
τάδε
κῦρος (=
κεκύρωται). —
οὐδὲν
ἐμποδών : nihil vos detinet.
14.
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14.
συγγενή: the scholiast explains,
τὸν
ἀπὸ
μιᾶς
ὁρμώμενον
τέχνης, that is, "my
fellow-craftsman." Rather we must understand the word of
blood-relationship; cp. 39, 289. He- phaestus is the son of Zeus and Hera (Il. i. 577 ff.), or according to Hesiod Th. 927, the fatherless son of Hera; Prometheus is the son of Themis. Now Themis is the daughter of Ura- nus, and Hera his
grand-daughter.
17.
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17.
εὐωριάζειν:
ὀλιγωρεῖν,
μὴ
ἔχειν
φροντίδα,
παρακούειν, Hesych. One who is confident and unconcerned
(εὔωρος, securus) in
executing_a duty, is apt to take less pains. Cp. our colloquial expression 'take it easy.'
18.
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18.
Θέμιδος : see Introduction, p. 17.
αἰπυμῆτα : contrasted with
ὀρθο-
βούλου.
αἰπυμήτης, of towering thoughts, is one who in his shrewdness and sagacity aspires to too lofty things. Cp.
εὔβουλος
Θέμις, Pind. Isth. vii. 32. - The dactyl substituted for the third iambus of the tragic trimeter is very frequent; whereas in the first foot Aeschylus uses it seldom, and chiefly in proper names (730). In this play the dactyl in the third foot occurs eighteen times: it is always divided in the middle by the caesura, its long first syllable being either the end of a polysyllabic word, or a word of one syllable closely connected with the foregoing
(δέ 1009,
τὶς 1027). Ср. note on 2.
19.
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19.
ἄκοντα
σ'
ἄκων: cp. 671
ἄκου-
σαν
ἄκων, 218
ἑκόνθ᾽
ἑκόντι, Eur. Cycl. 258
ἑκὼν
ἑκοῦσι,
Ηipp. 319
οὐχ
ἑκοῦσαν
οὐχ
ἑκών. The poets are very fond of repetitions like this, in which the same word is twice used, referring to different persons. Further instances are Od. v. 155
παρ᾿
οὐκ
ἐθέλων
ἐθε-
λούσῃ =
οὐκ
ἐθέλων
παρ᾽
ἐθελούσῃ, iii. 272
τὴν
δ᾽
ἐθέλων
ἐθέλουσαν
ἀνήγαγεν,
ν.97
εἰρωτᾷς
μ᾽
ἐλθόντα
θεὰ
θεόν, Aesch. Cho. 89
παρὰ
φίλης
φίλῳ
φέρειν
γυναι-
κὸς
ἀνδρί, and below 29, 192, 276, 762, 921.
20.
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20.
ἀπανθρώπῳ: see note on
ἄβρο-
τον, 2. The idea is further expanded in the next verses. 'Eximia arte cu- mulavit poeta infinitam mali magnitu- dinem' (Hermann). -
πάγῳ: Hesy- chius has the gloss
πάγοι·
αἱ
ἐξοχαὶ
τῶν
πετρῶν
καὶ
τῶν
ὀρῶν. Cp. Od.
ν. 411
ἔκτοσθεν
μὲν
γὰρ
πάγοι
ὀξέες.
21.
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21.
του: the pronoun
τὶς, like the prepositions, is often, in poetical dic- tion, placed in
the second member of a disjunctive sentence, when it really belongs to both members. Cp. 156; Soph. Ant. 257
οὔτε
θηρὸς
οὔτε
του
κυνῶν, Eur. Hec. 370
οὔτ᾽
ἐλπίδος
γὰρ
οὔτε
του
δόξης, Soph. Trach. 3
οὔτ᾽
εἰ
χρηστὸς
οὔτ᾽
εἴ
τῳ
κακός, 1254
σπαραγ-
μὸν
ἤ
τιν᾿
οἶστρον,
Ο.
Τ. 816
ῷ
μὴ
ξένων
ἔξεστι
μηδ᾽
ἀστῶν
τινα
δόμοις
δέχεσθαι, Od. iv. 87
οὔτε
ἄναξ
ἐπιδευὴς
οὔτε
τι
ποιμήν, Solon Frg. 4, 12
οὔθ'
ἱερῶν
κτεά-
νων
οὔτε
τι
δημοσίων
φειδόμενοι. See on 458.
22.
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22.
ὄψει: belongs by zeugma to
φωνήν as well as
μορφήν : neither a voice (shalt thou hear) nor yet a form shalt thou see. Cp. Suppl. 1006
πρὸς
ταῦτα
μὴ
πάθωμεν
ὧν
πολὺς
πόνος,
πολὺς
δὲ
πόντος
εἵνεκ᾽
ἠρόθη
δορί. ‘Frequentis- sime hoc fit ubi grammatici
αἴσθησιν
ἀντὶ
αἰσθήσεωs poni aiunt, quibus in locis cum nomine notio verbi congen- eris tacite comprehenditur' (Lobeck). ·
σταθευτός :
φλογιζόμενος·
σταθεύειν
γὰρ
τὸ
κατ᾿
ὀλίγον
ὀπτᾶν
φασὶν
᾿Αττι-
κοί, Schol.
σταθευτός·
πεφλογισμένος
ἠρέμα, Hesych. That is, scorched. From
στατός and
εὕω. - After 15
(δυ-
σχειμέρῳ) we should expect rather the baleful effects of cold to be men- tioned. But a Greek's imagination would be more vividly affected by a description of the sun's scorching heat; the allusion to cold follows later (25). -
φοίβῃ: cp.
φοῖβον
ὕδωρ Hesiod Frg. 78.
φοῖβον
δὲ
δήπου
τὸ
καθαρὸν
καὶ
ἁγνὸν
οἱ
παλαιοὶ
πᾶν
ὠνόμα- Cov Plut. Mor. 493 c. - Notice the alliteration
φοίβῃ
φλογί, and cp. Sept. 661
φλύοντα
σὺν
φοίτῳ
φρενῶν,
Αg. 492
φῶς
ἐφήλωσεν
φρένας. – This passage seems to be parodied in a fragment preserved in Eustath. Comm. Od. p. 1484, 27,
χρόαν
δὲ
τὴν
σὴν
ἥλιος
λάμ-.
πων
φλογὶ
αἰγυπτιώσει.
23.
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23.
χροιάς :
χροιά, corresponding to Ionic
χροιή, is an older and less trite form for the common
χρόα. Simi- larly we have
ποία and
πόα,
ῥοιά and
ῥόα,
στοιά (Ar. Eccl. 676, 684, 686) and
στοά. -
ἄνθος: used as here of the color of the skin in Solon Frg. 27, 5
τῇ
τριτάτῃ
δὲ
γένειον
ἀεξομένων
ἔτι
γυίων
λαχνοῦται
χροιῆς
ἄνθος
ἀμειβομένης, Theodectes Frg. 17
ἧς
ἀγχιτέρμων
ἥλιος
διφρηλατῶν
σκοτει-
νὸν
ἄνθος
ἐξέχρωσε
λιγνύος
εἰς
σώματ᾽
ἀνδρῶν (of the black color of the Ethiopians); of the color of the hair, Soph. O. T. 742
λευκανθὲς
κάρα, Babr. 22.8
τῶν
τριχῶν
ἔτιλλεν
ἃς
ηὕρισκε
λευ-
κανθιζούσας; of color generally, Hdt. 1. 98
οὕτω
πάντων
τῶν
κύκλων
οἱ
προμα-
χεῶνες
ἠνθισμένοι
εἰσὶ
φαρμάκοισι (col- ored with paints). -
ἀσμένῳ: Il. xiv. 108
ἐμοὶ
δέ
κεν
ἀσμένῳ
εἴη, Soph. Trach. 18
ἀσμένῃ
δέ
μοι
ὁ
κλεινὸς
ἦλθε ...
παῖς, Eur. Phoen. 1043
χρόνῳ
δ᾽
ἔβα
τότ᾽
ἀσμένοις, Ar. Pax 582
ἀσμένοισιν
ἦλθες
ἡμῖν,
φιλτάτη. On this dative of a participle of feeling, chiefly used with
εἶναι and verbs of coming, see G. 184, 3, N. 5; H. 771 a. For the thought, cp. Deuteronomy xxviii. 67, 'In the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning!'
24.
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24.
ποικιλείμων: from
ποικίλος and
εἶμα.
ποικίλον
ἔνδυμα
ἔχουσα,
διὰ
τὸ
πεποικίλθαι
τοῖς
ἄστροις, Schol. For
ποικίλος, cp. Soph. Trach. 94
αἰόλα
νύξ, Eur. Hel. 1096
ἀστέρων
ποικίλματα, Frg. 596
ὀρφναία
νὺξ
αἰολόχρως
ἄκριτός
τ᾽
ἄστρων
ὄχλος. For the second part,
εἶμα, cp. Eur. Ion 1150
μελάμπεπλος
νύξ, Orph. Argonaut. 1031
νὺξ
ἀστροχί-
των (511
μήνη
ἀστροχίτων), Claudian Rapt. Proserp. ii. 363 nox picta sinus. –
ἀποκρύψει : initial
κρ, with the aid of the ictus, makes a long syl- lable; cp. 659 below
θεοπρόπους, Eum. 403
ἄτρυτον, Pers. 217
ἀποτροπήν, 395
ἐπέφλεγεν. –
ἀποκρύψει
φαος: Archil. Frg. 74
Ζεὺς
πατὴρ
Ὀλυμπίων
ἐκ
με-
σημβρίης
ἔθηκε
νύκτ᾽
ἀποκρύψας
φάος
ἡλίου
λάμποντος.
26.
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26.
ἀεὶ
δὲ
κτἑ.: the sense is, "ever will some evil be with thee, the pain of which shall make thee wretched," "one evil will ever be followed by another."
27.
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27.
ὁ
λωφήσων : cp. Soph. Ant. 261
οὐδ᾽
ὁ
κωλύσων
παρῆν,
Εl. 1197
οὐδ᾽
οὑπαρήξων
οὐδ᾽
ὁ
κωλύσων
πάρα. See also 771 below; Soph. Phil. 1242
τίς
ἔσται
μ᾽
οὐπικωλύσων
τάδε. The scholi- ast wrongly understands a particular person (Heracles).
λωφάω is here transitive, in 376 intransitive. In this use of the participle the object is commonly omitted. -
οὐ
πέφυκέ
πω:
οὔπω separated, as in 511, Pers. 179, Cho. 747, Eum. 590, Frg. 280, 5. In saying thy deliverer has yet to be born, Hephaestus means only, "no living soul can deliver thee."
28.
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28.
ἐπηύρου: of the verb
ἐπαυρίσκο-
μαι only the second aorist
ἐπηυρόμην is used by the tragic poets.
ἐπηύρου is here ironical; such reward thou didst reap! Cp. Il. i. 410; and xv. 16
οὐ
μὰν
οἶδ᾽
εἰ
αὖτε
κακορραφίης
ἀλεγεινῆς
πρώτη
ἐπαυρήαι,
καί
σε
πληγῇσιν
ἱμάσσω.
29.
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29.
θεὸς
θεῶν (see on 19): said with reference to
βροτοῖσι. The gods have a common interest as opposed to mortals.
θεῶν modifies
τιμάς.
ὑποπτήσσων: cp. 175, 960.
30.
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30.
τιμάς : distinctive possessions, privileges, prerogatives, like
γέρα, 107. See on 229. –
πέρα
δίκης: this, in the mouth of the
well-disposed Hephaes- tus, must be taken as expressing the poet's own sentiment.
31.
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31.
φρουρήσεις: said in reference to the sleeplessness mentioned in the next verse.
Α
φρουρός is forbidden to sleep.
-ἀτερπή : cp.
ἄζηλον 143; Od. xi. 94
ὄφρα
ἴδῃς
νέκυας
καὶ
ἀτερπέα
χῶρον.
32.
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32.
ὀρθοστάδην: see Introduction, p. 5, footnote 3. –
κάμπτων
γόνυ: of taking a posture of rest ;
γόνυ
κάμψαι·
ἀναπαύεσθαι, Hesych. Cp. 396; Il. vii. 118
φημί
μιν
ἀσπασίως
γόνυ
κάμψειν,
εἴ
κε
φύγῃσιν
δηΐου
ἐκ
πολέμοιο, Eur. Hec. 1080, 1150; Catull. lxiv. 303 niveos flexerunt sedibus artus.
33.
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33.
πολλοὺς
δ᾽
ὀδυρμούς:
προανα-
φωνεῖ
τὰς
μονῳδίας
αὐτοῦ, Schol.
35.
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35.
νέον: adverbial. See Krüger II. § 46, 6, 7. The same thought recurs 96, 149, 310, 389, 942, 955.
38.
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38.
προύδωκεν : like
κλέψας
ὤπασεν,
8.-Cratos begins this angry collo- quy with three verses (cp. 613), but afterwards speaks regularly two; He- phaestus speaks single verses through- out, in accordance with his gruff and
blunt-spoken nature. -
ὅστις: has a qualitative force, one who betrayed (was such as to betray) = since he be- trayed. So 759; Pers. 744
παῖς
δ᾽
ἐμὸς
τάδ᾽
οὐ
κατειδὼς
ἤνυσεν
νέῳ
θράσει,
ὅστις ...
ἤλπισε. ence.
39.
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39.
δεινόν: mighty, a mighty influ- Cp. Sept. 1031
δεινὸν
τὸ
κοινὸν
σπλάγχνον
οὗ
πεφύκαμεν, Soph. El. 770
δεινὸν
τὸ
τίκτειν
ἐστίν, Eur. Andr. 985
τὸ
συγγενὲς
γὰρ
δεινόν, Phoen. 355
δεί-
νὸν
γυναιξὶν
αἱ
δι
ὠδίνων
γοναί, Iph.
Α. 917
δεινὸν
τὸ
τίκτειν
καὶ
φέρει
φίλ-
τρον
μέγα. –
ὁμιλία: Quint. Decl. 321 consuetudo alienos etiam ac nulla necessitudine inter se
DIOV
TE
NJE coniunctos componere et ad- stringere officiis potest.
41.
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41.
οἷόν
τε; licet? is it allowa- ble? Cp. Ar. Thesm. 3
οἷόν
τε ...
παρὰ
σοῦ
πυθέσθαι; may a body ask? —
πῶς
οὐ: cp. 589, 759; Soph. Ai. 677
ἡμεῖς
δὲ
πῶς
οὐ
γνωσόμεσθα
σωφρονεῖν; Ar. Nub. 398
καὶ
πῶς,
εἴπερ
βάλλει ·
τοὺς
ἐπιόρκους,
δῆτ᾽
οὐχὶ
Σίμων᾽
ἐνέ-
πρησεν; Isocr. Paneg. 175
πῶς
οὐ
χρὴ
διαλύειν
ταύτας
τὰς
ὁμολογίας; –
δει-
μαίνεις ; refers to the foregoing
δεινόν.
42.
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42. The first and second persons of
εἰμί are less often omitted, yet see 178, 246, 320, 373, 987. Only with
ἕτοιμος is the omission common; here it occurs even though
ἐγώ is left out. Cp. Soph. Ai. 813
χωρεῖν
ἕτοιμος (sc.
εἰμί),
Ο.
Τ. 92, Eur. Med. 612. In 475 below, the missing
σύ can be sup- plied from the preceding
σεαυτόν. See Krüger I. § 62, 1, 5.
46.
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46.
νὶν: in tragedy this word stands for all genders, in singular and in plural. G. 79, 1,
Ν. 4; H. 261 D a. –
ὡς
ἁπλῷ
λόγῳ: equivalent to
ὡς
ἁπλῶς
εἰπεῖν, to speak plainly, bluntly. Ср. 975.
48.
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48. Cp. Eur. Iph.
Α. 86
τἀξίωμα
δὲ
ἄλλος
τις
ὤφελ᾽
ἀντ᾿
ἐμοῦ
λαβεῖν
τόδε.
49.
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49 f. The sense is, "another sta- tion would have another burden: every one is bound to service and obedience save Zeus, the sovereign ruler; he alone commands all and obeys none”
(ὑπ᾽
ἀρχᾶς
οὔτινος
θοάζων, Suppl. 595). –
ἐπαχθῆ: vexatious, dis- agreeable. –
κοιρανεῖν : with dative, like
ἄρχειν 940,
ἐπιδεσπόζει
στρατῷ Pers. 241. See Krüger II. § 47, 20, 3.
51.
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51.
ἔγνωκα
τοῖσδε: I recognize it (the truth of what you say) by this (what is here going on). –
οὐδὲν
ἀντειπεῖν : sc.
τὸ
μὴ
οὐ
τὰ
ἐπιτεταγμένα
ποιεῖν.
52.
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52.
δεσμὰ
περιβαλεῖν : resolution in the fifth foot is very rare in trag- edy. This is the only case in the Prometheus. See on 2.
53.
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53.
ἐλινύοντα:
ἐλινύω is absolute here, but is construed with a partici- ple in 529.
54.
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54.
ψέλια : the best manuscript has
ψάλια, others
ψέλια. Ammonius gives the distinction:
ψάλια
μὲν
τὸ
τοῦ
ἵππου,
ψέλιον
δὲ
τὸ
ἄκροις
βραχίοσι
περι
τιθέμενον
κόσμιον. With such brace-
let-like clamps Prometheus is fastened in the paintings described in the In- trod., p. 5, footnote
3.-δέρκεσθαι : said with reference to
προσδερχθῇ above.
55.
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55 f.
νὶν:
τὰ
ψέλια, Schol. ; see on 46. –
ἐγκρατεῖ
σθένει,
ῥαιστήρι : of these two datives the one denotes the inner power (dynamic dative), the other the external means (instrumen- tal dative).
ἐγκρατεῖ
σθένει nearly =
ἐγκρατῶς. In Il. xviii. 477 Hephaes- tus wields a
ῥαιστὴρ
κρατερή.
56.
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56.
θεῖνε
πασσάλευε : the connective is omitted ('asyndeton') when a sin- gle idea is expressed by two or more verbs, the second being a stronger ex- pression than the first.
Ср. 58, 141, 392, 608, 698, 937; Pers. 426
ἔπαιον
ἐρράχιζον, 463
παίουσι
κρεοκοποῦσι, Cho. 289
κινεῖ
ταράσσει, Sept. 60
χωρεῖ
κοι
νίει, 186
αύειν
λακάζειν, Soph. Ai. 60
ὤτρυνον
εἰσέβαλλον
εἰς
ἕρκη
κακά, 115, 811, 844, 988, Ant. 1037
κερδαίνετ'
ἐμπολᾶτε,
Εl. 719
ἤφριζον
εἰσέβαλλον
ἱππικαὶ
πνοαί, Trach. 1255
ἐγκονεῖτ᾽
αἴρεσθε, Eur. Hec. 507
σπεύδωμεν
ἐγκο-
νῶμεν, Phoen. 1434
ἔκλαι᾽
ἐθρήνει.
57.
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57.
ματᾷ:
διατρίβει,
χρονίζει,
He- sych.
59.
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59. Cp. Ar.
Εq. 758
ποικίλος
γὰρ
ἁνὴρ
κἀκ
τῶν
ἀμηχάνων
πόρους
εὐμή-
χανος
πορίζειν.
61.
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61.
πόρπασον : long à (not n), as in
πόρπαμα Eur. El. 820. Cp.
ἐκθοινά-
σεται 1025
(θοινατῆρος Ag. 1502,
θοί-
ναμα Eur. Ion 1495), and other tragic forms, as
εὐνατήρ Pers. 137,
εὐνάτειρα Pers. 157,
ποινάτωρ Ag. 1281,
ἱπποβά-
μων 805 below and Supp. 284,
έκα-
τογκάρανος 353
(καρανοῦται Cho. 528),
κυναγός,
βαλός,
γάπεδον,
γάμοροι,
γάπο-
τος,
ἕκατι,
δαρόν,
δάιος, and others.
62.
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62.
σοφιστής: in Aeschylus's time this word had not acquired the mean- ing which Socrates and Plato after- wards gave it, and which through their influence passed into history. Cp. Athen. xiv. 632 c
πάντας
τοὺς
χρω-
μένους
τῇ
τέχνῃ
ταύτῃ (i.e.
τῇ
μουσικῇ)
σοφιστὰς
ἀπεκάλουν,
ὥσπερ
καὶ
Αἰσχύ-
λος
ἐποίησεν
'εἴτ᾽
οὖν
σοφιστὴς
κᾶλα
παραπαίων
χέλυν.' In this play, both here and 944, the word implies a crafty and unscrupulous cleverness.
Cp. the sense of
σοφίζομαι in Soph. Phil. 77
ἀλλ᾿
αὐτὸ
τοῦτο
δεῖ
σοφισθῆ-
ναι,
κλοπεὺς
ὅπως
γένηται
τῶν
ἀνικήτων
ὅπλων. –
ὤν : the speaker does not mean that Zeus is a
σοφιστής. Logi- cally only
Διὸς
νωθέστερος belongs to
μάθῃ
ὤν.
σοφιστής, though grammat- ically a predicate, refers only to Pro- metheus. The general sense is, "may learn that with all his artfulness he is
slower-witted than Zeus."
64.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-49
64.
αὐθάδη: with this epithet the Homeric
νηλέϊ
χαλκῷ,
λᾶας
ἀναιδής, and the Euripidean
λάβρῳ
μαχαίρᾳ, Cycl. 403, may be compared. –
γνά-
θον: cp.
γένus used in the sense of
πέλεκυς in Soph. El. 196 and 485, Phil. 1205, and
πελέκεων
γνάθοις in Eur. Cycl. 395.
65.
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65.
στέρνων
διαμπάξ: the passage of Hesiod, Theog. 521,
δῆσε
δ᾽
ἀλυκτο-
πέδησι
Προμηθέα
ποικιλόβουλον
δεσμοῖς
ἀργαλέοισι
μέσον
διὰ
κίον᾽
ἐλάσσας, which should be construed
ἐλάσσας
(τὰ
δεσμὰ)
διὰ
μέσον
κίονα, riveting the chains through the middle of the pillar, was wrongly understood as
ἐλάσσας
κίονα
διὰ
μέσον
(τὸν
Προμηθέα). Ac- cordingly, on an ancient
black-figured vase, found at Chiusi and now in the Berlin Museum (No. 1722; Jahn, Archaeologische Beiträge, Plate viii.; Baumeister, Denkmäler fig. 1566), we find Prometheus represented as ac- tually impaled (on an upright stake passed lengthwise through the body). This revolting conception was modi- fied by Aeschylus into one more endurable for the eye. Even in He- siod's narrative the original notion is obscured: the older legend doubtless meant by the pillar a
κίων
οὐράνιος, that is, a sharp
mountain-peak rear- ing itself to the sky. See on 349.
66.
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66.
ὑπό : because of, by reason of, denoting the cause; as Thuc. ii. 85
ὑπὸ
ἀνέμων
καὶ
ὑπὸ
ἀπλοίας
ἐνδιέτριψεν
οὐκ
ὀλίγον
χρόνον,
ίν. 8
ὑλώδης
τε
καὶ
ἀτριβὴς
πᾶσα
ὑπ᾽
ἐρημίας
ἦν (sc.
ἡ
νῆ-
σος), Soph. Ant. 221
ὑπ᾽
ἐλπίδων
ἄνδρας
τὸ
κέρδος
πολλάκις
διώλεσεν, also Ag. 475
πυρὸς
δ᾽
ὑπ᾿
εὐαγγέλου
πόλιν
διήκει
θοὰ
βάξις.
67.
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67.
αὖ
κατοκνεῖς : see 36. –
ἐχθρῶν
ὕπερ: the tragedians often put the preposition after its noun when an attributive (as in 653 a genitive) follows both. Otherwise, the post- ponement of the preposition (with anastrophe of the accent) is per-
mitted in trimeter, as a rule, only when the preposition comes thereby to stand at the end of a verse. This occurs most frequently with
περί,
μετά,
παρά,
ὑπό,
ὑπέρ,
ἀπό, and
ἐπί, in con- nexion with the genitive. The re- maining cases in Aeschylus are: with the dative,
ὑπό 365 below and Pers. 190,
ἐπί Suppl. 1003,
μετά Pers. 613; with the accusative,
περί Pers. 61.
68.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-53
68.
ὅπως
μή
κτέ.: for this form of warning see GMT. 272; G. 217,
N. 4;
Η. 886.
70.
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70.
ὀρῶ: said with emphasis after
ὁρᾷς.
71.
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71.
μασχαλιστήρας : iron girths, passed round the body and nailed to the rock on either side.
72.
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72. The asyndeton of the two clauses (instead of
μηδὲν
ἐγκέλευ᾿
ἄγαν,
ἀνάγκη
γὰρ
ταῦτα
δρᾶν: see on 373 f.) expresses irritation. Krüger I. § 59, 1, 8, and II. § 59, 1, 7. Im- patience at the repeated admonitions is also implied in the compound
ἐγκέ-
λευε, command imperiously, urgently.
73.
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73.
ἡ
μὴν
κελεύσω: defiant reply to Hephaestus's demand. -
ἐπιθωύξω : ср. 277, 393, 1041; Eur. Hipp. 219
κυσὶ
θωύξαι. The scholiast on 277 remarks,
ἡ
μεταφορὰ
ἀπὸ
τῶν
κυνηγῶν: that is, the verb was properly used of a hunter's call to his dogs. –
καὶ
γέ: et quidem; yé serves to emphasize the stronger statement. Cp. Eur. Phoen. 610
ΠΟ.
ὅς
μ᾽
ἄμοιρον
ἐξελαύνεις.
ΕΤ.
καὶ
κατακτενῶ
γε
πρός. -
πρός: adverbial. Cp.
πρὸς
δέ 929,
καὶ
πρός Cho. 299. G. 191,
Ν. 2;
Η. 785. ...
74.
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74.
χώρει
κάτω: the scholiast un- derstands this literally :
διὰ
τοῦ
῾χώ-
ρει
κάτω᾿
τὸ
μέγεθος
ἐνέφηνε
τοῦ
δεσμευομένου
θεοῦ. But it may mean simply, "proceed to the lower limbs."
κίρκωσον:
ἀντὶ
τοῦ
κρίκωσον, Schol.
κρίκος, ring, is read in Il. xxiv. 272. The older form
κίρκος (circus) sur- vived in the name of the bird (Od. xiii. 86
ἴρηξ
κίρκος): see 857. Simi- lar are the Attic forms
φάρξαι for
φράξαι,
δαρχμή for
δραχμή.
76.
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76.
διατόρους
πέδας:
πέδας is ge- neric, as in 6.
διάτορος is here passive, perforated; the active sense (see 181) is more common. Schütz and Her- mann understand it of holes origi- nally made in the fetters for the reception of the nails. Rather it means "pierced by nails," "having nails driven through them," as in Soph. O. T. 1034
διατόρους
ποδοῖν
ἀκμάς means "feet pierced with needles."
θεῖνε then refers to the nails. Hephaes- tus
is bidden, before departing, to examine once more the different fas- tenings and drive the nails in each firmly home. - On the resolution, see note on 2. Three other resolutions of this foot occur (273, 680, 809). In 273 the second and third shorts of the tribrach are formed by a disyllable
(διά); in 809 they begin a word of three syllables; in 680, as here, they begin a word of four syllables.
77.
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77. Cp. 53 and 68. –
ἐπιτιμητής : cp. Pers. 827
Ζεύς
τοι
κολαστὴς
τῶν
ὑπερκόπων
ἄγαν
φρονημάτων
ἔπεστιν,
εὔθυνος
βαρύς, Soph. Frg. 478
κολασταὶ
κἀπιτιμηταὶ
κακῶν, Eur. Suppl. 255
τούτων
κολαστὴν
κἀπιτιμητήν,
ἄναξ.
78.
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78.
ὅμοια
μορφῃ:
ὡς
ἐκτραπέλου (grotesque)
πεποιημένου
τοῦ
προσώπου (mask)
αὐτοῦ, Schol.
79.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-62
79.
μαλθακίζου: on this use of the imperative to denote a permission, see Krüger I. § 54, 4, 2.
80.
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80.
ὀργῆς: violent nature.
81.
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81.
κώλοισιν: the dative depends on the notion of
ἀμφιβάλλειν implied in
ἀμφίβληστρ᾽
ἔχει. – Hephaestus, with these words, quietly goes his way, while Cratos remains to give further vent to his scorn. In this way time was secured for the retiring ac- tor to take his position for the part of Prometheus. See Introduction, p. 23.
82.
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82.
Cp. Il. xxi. 120
τὸν
δ'
᾿Αχι-
λεὺς
ποταμόνδε
λαβὼν
ποδὸς
ἧκε
φέρε-
σθαι,
καί
οἱ
ἐπευχόμενος
ἔπεα
πτερόεντ'
ἀγόρευεν·
ἐνταυθοῖ
νῦν
κεῖσο
μετ᾿
ἰχθύ-
σιν
κτέ., Od. xviii. 105
ἐνταυθοῖ
νῦν
ἦσο
σύας
τε
κύνας
τ᾿
ἀπερύκων
κτέ., Ar. Thesm. 1001
ἐνταῦθα
νῦν
οἰμῶξι
πρὸς
τὴν
αἰτρίαν, also Vesp. 149, Plut. 724.
83.
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83.
ἐφημέροισι: see on 546 f., and
ср. 253, 945, Eur. Orest. 976
ἰὰ
ἰώ,
πανδάκρυτ᾽
ἐφαμέρων
ἔθνη
πολύπονα, Ar. Nub. 223 (Socrates speaks as a god)
τί
με
καλεῖς,
ὦ
᾿φήμερε, Cic. Tusc. i. 39, 94 apud Hypanim fluvium... Aristoteles ait bestiolas quasdam nasci, quae unum diem vivant (Aris- totle H. An. v. 19, calls these animals
ἐφήμερα) . . Confer nostram longissimam aetatem cum aeternitate; in eadem prope- modum brevitate qua illae bestiolae reperiemur.
86.
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86. The construction
δεῖ
τινά
τινος is not elsewhere found in Aeschylus, but occurs several times in Euripides (Hec. 1021, Phoen. 470, Hipp. 23, Ion 1018, H. F. 1170, Rhes. 837).
G.
172, 2,
Ν. 2;
Η. 712 b. –
προμηθέως: the proper name is here used as an appel- lative,
fore-thinker, counsellor. Cp. Pind. Ol. vii. 79
ἐν
δ᾽
ἀρετὰν
ἔβαλεν
καὶ
χάρματ᾽
ἀνθρώποισι
Προμαθέος
αἰ-
δώς. Etymological interpretations of proper names are frequent in Aeschy- lus. His view on the subject is ex- pressed Ag. 681:
τίς
ποτ᾿
ὠνόμαζεν
ὧδ᾽
ἐς
τὸ
πᾶν
ἐτητύμως;
μή
τις
ὅντιν᾿
οὐχ
ὁρῶμεν
προνοίαισι
τοῦ
πε-
πρωμένου
γλῶσσαν
ἐν
τύχᾳ
νέ-
μων; where
Ἑλένα is explained as
ἑλέναυς,
ἕλανδρος,
ἑλέπτολις. Cp. ibid. 1080
᾿Απόλλων ...
ἀπόλλων
ἐμός, and similar cases, Sept. 658, 829, 536; ср. also Od. i. 60
οὔ
νύ
τ᾿
Ὀδυσσεὺς
χαρίζετο
ἱερὰ
ῥέζων;
τί
νύ
οἱ
τόσον
ὠδύ-
σαο,
Ζεῦ; Eur. Phoen. 636
ἀληθῶς
δ᾽
ὄνομα
Πολυνείκην
πατὴρ
ἔθετό
σοι
θείᾳ
προνοίᾳ
νεικέων
ἐπώνυμον. On the thought, cp. 474 f. below, and the passage of Mark there quoted.
87.
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87.
ὅτῳ
τρόπῳ
ἐκκυλισθήσει: cp. Eur. Med. 322
οὐκ
ἔχεις
τέχνην,
ὅπως
μενεῖς
παρ'
ἡμῖν, Thuc. i. 107
ἔδοξε
δ'
αὐτοῖς ...
σκέψασθαι,
ὅτῳ
τρόπῳ
ἀσφα-
λέστατα
διαπορεύσονται. The clause depends on the verbal idea
τοῦ
προμη-
θουμένου implied in
προμηθέως. –
τέ-
χνης:
τῶν
δεσμῶν, Schol.; another scholiast,
τοῦ
τεχνηέντως
κατεσκευ-
ασμένου
δεσμοῦ. Cp. Soph. O. C. 472
κρατῆρες
εἰσίν,
ἀνδρὸς
εὔχειρος
τέχνη, Frg. III. of the Prom. Solutus below, 8, qua miser sollertia transver- beratus. Prometheus is bound hand and foot, so that he cannot stir. This serves to excite the spectators' com- passion (cp. 32), but it also affords a reason for the immobility, during the entire play, of the figure representing Prometheus. See Introduction, p. 22.
88-127.
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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.
88.
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88.
δῖος: heavenly, from the root
δι-,
δις- (Sanskrit di-, shine). Cp. Il.
χνί. 365
αἰθέρος
ἐκ
δίης
ὅτε
τε
Ζεὺς
λαίλαπα
τείνῃ. —
ταχύπτεροι : said fig- uratively, with reference to the physi- cal impression made by a passing breeze. Actual winged daemons the guise in which the Winds and similar beings are depicted in ancient art- are not here to be understood.
90.
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90.
ἀνήριθμον
γέλασμα : of the slightly ruffled surface of the sea, lighted up by the sun. Cp. Il. xix. 362
γέλασσε
δὲ
πᾶσα
περὶ
χθὼν
χαλκοῦ
ὑπὸ
στεροπῆς. The verb
yeλᾶν often denotes merriment or cheerfulness in a figurative sense; thus Hesiod Theog. 40
γελᾷ
δέ
τε
δώματα
πατρὸς . . .
θεᾶν
ὀπὶ
λειριοέσσῃ
σκιδναμένῃ. The scholi- ast on our passage renders
γέλασμα by
διάχυμα. In a different sense Catullus, lxiv. 273, says of the
sea-waves leni resonant plangore cachinni. –
παμμήτορ
γῆ: cp. Hom. Hymn xxx. 1
γαῖαν
παμμήτειραν, Cho. 127
γαῖαν
ἡ
τὰ
πάντα
τίκτεται.
91.
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91.
καὶ ...
καλῶ:
ἤλλαξε
τὴν
φράσιν, Schol. Cp. Soph.
Αi. 859 &
φέγγος,
ὦ
γῆς
ἱερὸν
οἰκείας
πέδον
Σαλαμῖνος,
ὦ
πατρῷον
ἑστίας
βάθρον
κλειναί
τ᾽
᾿Αθῆναι,
καὶ
τὸ
σύντροφον
γένος,
κρῆναί
τε
ποτα-
μοί
θ'
οἵδε,
καὶ
τὰ
Τρωικὰ
πεδία
προσαυδῶ,
χαίρετ',
ὦ
τροφῆς
ἐμοί, also O. C. 1091. —
κύκλον : cp. Pers. 504
λαμπρὸς
ἡλίου
κύκλος. This expres- sion (like orbis solis) had its origin in ancient conceptions of the sun as a wheel of fire. In the Edda the sun is called fagravhel, that is,
'fair-wheel,' 'wheel of brightness.' See Grimm's Deutsche Mythologie, I. 586, II. 664.
92.
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92.
πρὸς
θεῶν:
πρός
τινος and
ἔκ
τι-
νος, for
ὑπό
τινος, are common in He- rodotus and the tragedians. Krüger II. § 52, 3, 1.
πάσχειν
ἐκ Occurs 759,
πάσχειν
ὑπό 1041.
93.
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93 f. The transition from iambi to anapaests marks an outbreak of more violent passion. At 101, with a calmer mood, the quieter rhythm returns.
αἰκίαισιν (=
ἀεικελίοις
μόχθοις)
δια-
κναιόμενος : cp. 541. -
τὸν
μυριετή
χρόνον: said like
τὸν
πλείω
χρόνον, (Ar. Ran. 160, Thuc. iv. 117),
τὸν
πάντα
χρόνον (Ar. Nub. 462).
μυριετῆ·
πολυετῆ·
ἐν
γὰρ
τῷ
πυρφόρῳ
τρεῖς
μυ-
ριάδας
φησὶ
δεδέσθαι
αὐτόν, Schol. (cp. Hygin. Poet. astr. ii. 15). Both num- bers are merely hyperbolic expres- sions for a very long time. –
ἀθλεύσω : absolute, suffer. Cp. Il. xxiv. 734
ἀθ-
λεύων
πρὸ
ἄνακτος
ἀμειλίχου. The word is Ionic.
96.
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96.
ταγός: cp. Pers. 23
ταγοὶ
Περ-
σῶν, 323
νεῶν
ταγός, Soph. Ant. 1057
ἆρ'
οἶσθα
ταγοὺς (lords and masters)
ὄντας
ἂν
λέγῃς
λέγων;
97.
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97. The anapaestic monometer forms a close, but a less emphatic one than the
paroemiac.-δεσμόν : the singular as in 141. We have
δεσμούς
ἀεικεῖς 525. –
ἀεική: see on 113.
99.
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99.
στενάχω,
πῇ: as it were I groan to think how, etc. Cp. 182; Soph. Ai. 794
ὥστε
μ'
ὠδίνειν
τί
φής, Eur. Hec. 184
δειμαίνω
τί
ποτ᾿
ἀναστένεις, Ar. Nub. 1391
οἶμαί
γε
τῶν
νεωτέρων
τὰς
καρδίας
πηδᾶν
ὅ
τι
λέξει. -
πῇ
πότε: cp. 545; Eur. Alc. 213
ἰὼ
Ζεῦ,
τίς
ἂν
πῶς
πᾶ
πόρος
κακῶν
γένοιτο ; Krüger I. § 51, 17, 10; H. 1013.
100.
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100.
χρή: nearly =
μέλλει. –
ἐπι-
τεῖλαι:
ἐπιτέλλεσθαι of the rising of heavenly bodies, Hom. Hymn iii. 371
ἠελίοιο
νέον
ἐπιτελλομένοιο, Hesiod
Ο. D. 567
πρῶτον
παμφαίνων
ἐπιτέλλε-
ται. The active in the
'Iλιὰς
μικρά (Tzetzes on Lycophr. 344)
λαμπρή
δ᾽
ἐπέτελλε
σελήνη. In a figurative sense, Theogn. 1275
ὡραῖος
καὶ
ἔρως
ἐπιτέλλεται
ἡνίκα
περ
γῆ
ἄνθεσιν
εἰαρι-
νοῖς
θάλλει
ἀεξομένη.
101.
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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.
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102.
ποταίνιον: predicative; shall not come unexpected.
105.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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110 f.
διδάσκαλος
τέχνης
πάσης : see on 7. -
πόρος : absolute, as in 477.
112.
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112.
τοιώνδε
ποινὰς
ἀμπλακημάτων: ср. 564, 620.
113.
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113.
ὑπαιθρίοις: explains
προυσε-
λούμενος; the insult of the punish- ment consists in its publicity, See also 158. Prometheus lays stress on the ignominious nature of his punish- ment, 97, 177, 195, 227, 256, 438, 525. For the connexion of
ὑπαιθρίοις and
δεσμοῖσι, see on
ἀφεγγής 115. –
πρου-
σελούμενος: this word recurs 438; it is found elsewhere only in Ar. Ran. 730
(προυσελοῦμεν). Cp. Etym. Mag. p. 690, 11
προυσελεῖν
λέγουσι
τὸ
ὑβρί-
ζειν. It is therefore equivalent to
αἰκίζομαι, the word employed in most of the similar passages of this play (cp. Hesych.
προυγελεῖν·
προπηλακί-
ζειν,
ὑβρίζειν). The etymology of the word is unknown: it has been proposed to derive it from
προσεέλ-
λειν, on the supposition that the digamma, falling out after o, has lengthened the preceding syllable, as in
θεουδής
(θεοδρής).
114-127 announce the approach of the chorus and accompany (from 120 on) the movements of the winged chariot. Similarly in the Electra of Sophocles anapaests of Electra ac- company the entrance of the chorus.
114.
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114. A rush or whir is heard in the air. -ad:
ἐκπλήξεως
ἐπιρρήματα, Schol. Ce mélange de douleur et d'effroi, de faiblesse et de fermeté me paraît tout à fait admirable' (Patin).
115.
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115. The bacchic rhythms express surprise and amazement.
·ὀδμά: an odor of the sea is supposed to pre- cede the nymphs, in whose costume seaweed, shells, etc., may well have been prominent. Cp. Eur. Hipp. 1391
ἔα·
ὦ
θεῖον
ὀδμῆς
πνεῦμα·...
ἔστ᾽
ἐν
τόποισι
τοισίδ᾽
῎Αρτεμις
θεά, Verg. Aen. i. 403 ambrosiaeque comae di- vinum vertice odorem spira- vere. -
προσέπτα: cp. Plaut. Amphitr. 325 vox mi ad auris advo- lavit. The verb, in a somewhat different sense, is joined with the da- tive in 555 and 644. –
ἀφεγγής: (here nearly =
ἀφανής) is, by a figure com- mon in the poets, connected with
ἀχώ and
ὀδμά, whereas it is properly an epithet of the object from which they emanate. - For the situation cp. Soph. Phil. 203
προυφάνη
κτύπος
βάλλει
μ᾽
ἐτύμα
φθογγά
του.
116.
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116.
θεόσυτος: the tribrach in the first foot generally, in Aeschylus, con- sists of a single word of three sylla- bles, as in 666. Here and 817 it is the first part of a longer word: the remaining cases of this are Sept. 272
πεδιονόμοις,
Eum. 806
λιπαροθρόνοισιν, Frg. 195, 2
βορεάδας. - Compounds in
-συτος and in -puros either double the medial o or p, or do not double it, according to the requirements of the verse: cp. 643. With
θεόσυτος
ή
βρότειος cp. 765. –
κεκραμένη :
ἡμιθέων, Schol. Demigods according to the later conception are not meant, but beings who, like the Oceanids, stand midway between the higher (celestial) gods and the human race: cp. 529 f., 902. For the expression cp. Eur. Cycl. 218
μήλειον
ἢ
βόειον
ἢ
μεμιγμένον ;
117.
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117. The rhythm (dochmius and cretic) indicates painful emotion. The question "Who can it be" (115, 116) is followed by the conjecture that the person in question comes as an unwel- come spectator of his sufferings. The reason of this conjecture is suggested by the opening words,
ἵκετο
τερμόνιον
ἐπὶ
πάγον (“a cliff at the end of the world"). –
ἵκετο : is he come; the sub- ject is the unknown newcomer; not
θεωρός, which expresses the motive of the coming. -
τερμόνιον: this adjective occurs only here: it is formed from
τέρμων, while
τέρμιος is from
τέρμα.
118.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-93
118.
ἢ
τί
δὴ
θέλων : cp. Soph. Trach. 390
ἡμεῖς
δὲ
προσμένωμεν;
ἢ
τί
χρὴ
ποιεῖν;
119.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-94
119.
ετάρο: said with reference to
<ε
θεωρός. The imperative has the sense of
ὁρᾶν
πάρα.
120.
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120 f. The iambi again give place to anapaests; see on 93. The speaker is outraged at the thought of becom- ing a spectacle for others; cp. 156. -
πᾶσι
θεοῖς
δι᾽
ἀπεχθείας
ἐλθόντα: cp. Eur. Hipp. 1164
δι᾽
ἔχθρας
μῶν
τις
ἦν
ἀφιγμένος, Phoen. 479
καὶ
μὴ
δι᾽
ἔχθρας
τῷδε
καὶ
φόνου
μολών,
Η. F. 220
Μι-
νύαισι
πᾶσι
διὰ
μάχης
μολών, Iph.
Α. 1392 similarly, Androm. 416
πατρὶ
τῷ
σῷ
διὰ
φιλημάτων
ἰών, Soph. Ant. 742
διὰ
δίκης
ἰὼν
πατρί, Ar. Ran. 1412
οὐ
γὰρ
δι᾽
ἔχθρας
οὐδετέρῳ
γενήσομαι, [Plato] Theag. 130 b
μοι
δι᾽
ἀπεχθείας
ἐν
λόγοις
τισὶν
ἐγεγόνει. These com- binations of a verb of motion with
διά arose from the local meaning of the preposition. Krüger I. § 68, 22, 2.
122.
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122.
αὐλήν: cp. Od. iv. 74
Ζηνός
που
τοιήδε
γ᾽
Ὀλυμπίου
ἔνδοθεν
αὐλή.
εἰσοιχνεῦσιν : Ionic contraction, like
πωλεύμεναι 645; used because
οἰχνέω and
πωλέομαι are epic words. Cp. Eur. Med. 422
ὑμνεῦσαι, Hipp. 167
ἀΰτευν,
Ιph.
Α. 789
μυθεῦσαι. Cp. also Ag. 942
δήριος (from the Ionic
δῆρις).
124.
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124 ff.
κινάθισμα:
κίνημα
πλήθους, Hesych. –
οἰωνῶν : the chorus is now so near that Prometheus can distin- guish the sound of wings. -
ἐλαφραῖς
πτερύγων
ῥιπαῖς:
cp. Eur. Frg. 597
ταῖς
ὠκυπλάνοις
πτερύγων
ῥιπαῖς. –
ὑπο-
συρίζει: this does not mean leniter stridet (Blomfield), but
ὑπο- ex- presses the idea of accompaniment, as in
ὑπάδειν,
ὑποστεναχίζειν,
ὑπορχεῖ-
σθαι,
ὑπηχεῖν, succinere.
127.
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128-192.
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128-192. Parodos. It is com- matic, that is, divided between actor and chorus. The chorus enter in a winged car
(ὄχῳ
πτερωτῷ 135,
κραι-
πνόσυτον
θᾶκον 279), moved by the- atrical machinery. The car, advancing from the right side, has gradually approached Prometheus. It is seen by the spectators while still invisible to Prometheus, who can only look straight before him. At 124 the chorus are already very near, and they hear the words of 127
(φοβερόν). - The
᾿Ωκεανίδες are daughters of Oceanus and Tethys; see Hesiod Theog. 362. Hesiod (ibid. 346) enum- erates
forty-one by name, and adds
πολλαί
γε
μέν
εἶσι
καὶ
ἄλλαι,
τρὶς
γὰρ
χίλιαί
εἰσι
τανύσφυροι
Ωκεανῖναι. Aes- chylus's chorus consisted of twelve persons. The first strophe gives the motive of the chorus for coming; this is what an unknown grammarian (in the hypothesis to the Persians) calls '
παροδικά,
ὅτε
λέγει (sc.
ὁ
χορός)
δι᾽
ἣν
αἰτίαν
πάρεστιν.' - The rhythms (
ῥυθμὸς
᾿Ανακρεόντειός
ἐστι
κεκλασμένος
πρὸς
τὸ
θρηνητικόν, Schol.) are in keeping with the sorrowful tone of the composition (see 144 ff.); they
are furthermore especially appropri- ate to a female chorus.
128.
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128.
τάξις: said like
στάσις
Εum. 311
ὡς
ἐπινωμᾷ
στάσις
ἁμά, Cho. 458
στάσις
δὲ
πάγκοινος
ἅδ᾽
ἐπιρροθεῖ.
129.
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129.
πτερύγων
ἁμίλλαις : =
πτέρυξιν
ἁμιλλωμέναις. Cp. 147. The emula- tion is between the wings of the right and left sides of the car, which are imagined as striving to outdo one another. Cp. Soph. Ant. 1065
τροχοὺς
ἁμιλλητῆρας
ἡλίου.
131.
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131.
μόγις: 'Quod se patri aegre persuasisse dicunt, ut iis commeatum daret, id e vetere sexus muliebris, vir- ginum inprimis disciplina iudican- dum. Sic paedagogus Antigones apud Euripidem (Phoen. 89) viam circumspicit, verens ne quis in publi- cum prodeuntem regis filiam vitu- peret' (Schütz). Cp. Suppl. 996
ὑμᾶς
δ᾽
ἐπαινῶ
μὴ
καταισχύνειν
ἐμὲ
ὥραν
ἐχούσας
τήνδ᾽
ἐπίστρεπτον
βροτοῖς,
κτἑ. –
παρειποῦσα: cp. Il. vi. 62; vii. 120
ὡς
εἰπὼν
παρέπεισεν
ἀδελφειοῦ
φρένας
ἥρως
αἴσιμα
παρειπών. See also Il. i. 555, vi. 337, Hes. Theog. 90
μαλακοῖσι
παραιφάμενοι
ἐπέεσσιν. Grammatically
παρειποῦσα can be taken with
τάξις,
130. 135.
our
maiden
s
mydeply of
grave
infert but in thought it stands as if
ἐγὼ
προσέβην had preceded. See on 201.
132.
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132.
κραιπνοφόροι
αύραι: that is, "and I came with great haste."
133.
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133.
ἐκ
δ᾽
ἔπληξε:
δέ is often put between preposition and verb (tme- sis). Krüger II. § 68, 48, 1.
ἐξέπληξε, here and 360, is not wholly figurative, but is chosen with reference to the actual nature of the cause (here the blows). Cp. 370; Ag. 480
φλογὸς
παρ-
αγγέλμασιν
νέοις
πυρωθέντα
καρδίαν.
134.
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134.
θεμερώπιν: Empedocles 23
Δῆρις
δ᾽
αἱματόεσσα
καὶ
῾Αρμονίη
θεμε-
ρώπις. Hesychius interprets
θεμερῶπις
(αἰδώς)·
ἐρασμία
αἰσχύνη, but this is inexact, for
θεμερός (from the root
06-) means settled, tranquil, sedate; cp. Hesych.
θεμερή·
βεβαία,
σεμνή,
εὐστα-
θής; also the words
θέμα,
θέμεθλον,
θεμοῦν. Accordingly
θεμερῶπις
αἰδώς is the modesty which makes maidens quiet and sedate. Its opposite is im- plied in
σύθην
ἀπέδιλος.
135.
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135.
σύθην: the tragedians omit the syllabic augment not infrequently in lyric passages and in the narratives
of messengers. The temporal aug- ment is much less often omitted; yet
see
ἐρέθισε 181. –
ἀπέδιλος: the scholi- ast cites Hesiod O. D. 345
γείτονες
ἄζωστοι
ἔκιον. Cp. Soph. El. 871
ὑφ'
ἡδονῆς
τοι,
φιλτάτη,
διώκομαι
τὸ
κόσμιον
μεθεῖσα
σὺν
τάχει
μολεῖν,
Theocr. Id. xix. 36
ἄνστα
μηδὲ
πόδεσσιν
ἐοῖς
ὑπὸ
σάνδαλα
θείης (Bion i. 19 &
δ'
᾿Αφροδίτα
λυσαμένα
πλοκαμίδας
ἀνὰ
δρυμὼς
ἀλά-
ληται
πενθαλέα
νήπαστος
ἀσάνδαλος), Apoll. Rhod. iv. 43
γυμνοῖσιν
δὲ
πό-
δεσσιν
ἀνὰ
στεινοὺς
θέεν
οἴμους (said of Medea). -
ὄχῳ
πτερωτῷ: winged chariots are not rare in ancient art: cp. for instance
Müller-Wieseler, Denkmäler der alten Kunst, Vol. II. Plate ix. n. 110, Plate x.
п. 111, 112, where Triptolemus is seen mounted on a car furnished with swan's wings.
137.
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137.
πολυτέκνου: see on 128. Cp. Il. xiv. 201
Ωκεανόν
τε,
θεῶν
γένεσιν,
καὶ
μητέρα
Τηθύν.
138.
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138.
περὶ
πᾶσαν
εἰλισσομένου
χθόνα : cp.
ἀψορρόου
Ὠκεανοῖο Il. xviii. 399, Od. xx. 65. Cp. also
150. Ovid Fast. v. 81 duxerat Oceanus quondam Titanida Tethyn, qui terram liquidis qua patet ambit aquis. For the form
εἱλισσομένου see on 345.
139.
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139.
ἀκοιμήτῳ
ῥεύματι : cp. Il. xiv. 244
ἄλλον
μέν
κεν
ἔγωγε (the speaker is Sleep)
θεῶν
αἰειγενετάων
ῥεῖα
κατευ-
νήσαιμι
καὶ
ἂν
ποταμοῖο
ῥέεθρα
᾿Ὠκεανοῦ,
ὅς
περ
γένεσις
πάντεσσι
τέτυκται.
141.
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141 f. Synonyma haec vehemen- tiam commoti animi produnt' (Schütz). –
προσπορπατός: cp. 61.
143.
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143.
φρουρὰν
ὀχήσω: see
on
φρου-
ρήσεις, 31.
ὀχεῖν = sustinere, as in Od. vii. 211
ὀχέοντας
ὀιζύν,
xi. 618
κακὸν
μόρον,
ὅν
περ
ἐγὼν
ὀχέεσκον
ὑπ᾿
αὐγὰς
ἠελίοιο, xxi. 302
ἣν
ἄτην
ὀχέων
ἀεσίφρονι
θυμῷ. –
ἄζηλον: cp.
ἀτερπῆ 31,
ἀμέγαρτα 402; and Cho. 1017
ἄζηλα
νίκης
τῆσδ᾽
ἔχων
μιάσματα.
145.
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145.
πλήρης
δακρύων: like a rain- cloud. Cp. Sept. 228
χαλεπᾶς
δύας
ὕπερθ᾽
ὀμμάτων
κρημναμενᾶν
νεφελᾶν,
Soph. Ant. 528
νεφέλη
δ᾽
ὀφρύων
ὕπερ
αἱματόεν
ῥέθος
αἰσχύνει
τέγγουσ᾽
εὐῶπα
παρειάν, Eur. Hipp. 173
στυγνὸν
δ᾽
ὀφρύων
νέφος
αὐξάνεται, Antiphanes in Meineke Com. iii. p. 197
τὸ
προσὸν
νῦν
νέφος
ἐπὶ
τοῦ
μετώπου, Hor. Epist. i. 18,94 deme supercilio nubem. The figure was used by Homer Il. xvii. 591
τὸν
δ' (Hector)
ἄχεος
νεφέλη
ἐκάλυψε
μέλαινα. —
εἰσιδοῦσαν : the accusative follows the dative
ἐμοῖσιν
ὄσσοις as Cho. 410
πέπαλται
δ᾽
αὐτέ
μοι
φίλον
κέαρ
τόνδε
κλύουσαν
οἶκτον, Pers. 913
λέλυται
γὰρ
ἐμῶν
γνίων
ῥώμη
τήνδ'
ἡλικίαν
ἔσιδόντα, Soph.
Εl. 479
ὕπεστί
μοι
θράσος
ἁδυπνόων
κλύουσαν
ἀρτίως
ὀνειράτων,
Αἰ. 1006
ποῖ
γὰρ
μολεῖν
μοι
δυνατὸν
τοῖς
σοῖς
ἀρήξαντ᾽
ἐν
πόνοισι
μηδαμοῦ. The reverse change (from acc. to dat.) in Eur. Med. 57
ὥσθ᾽
ἵμερός
μ᾽
ὑπῆλθε...
λέξαι
μολούσῃ.
146.
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146.
πέτρα
προσαυαινόμενον : =
πρὸς
πέτρᾳ
αὐαινόμενον. Cp. Soph. Phil. 954
αὐανοῦμαι
τῷδ᾽
ἐν
αὐλίῳ
μόνος,
Εl. 819
αὐανῶ
βίον. – With
αὐαινόμενον
λύμαις ср. 93.
147.
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147.
ἀδαμαντοδέτοισι
λύμαις: nearly equivalent to
ἀδαμαντίνοις
δεσμοῖς
λυ-
μαντηρίοις (991). Cp. 580
οἰστρηλάτῳ
δείματι, Theocr. Epigr. xiii. 4
κηροδέτῳ
πνεύματι.
148.
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148.
γάρ: the chorus explains to itself the reason of Prometheus's
155 maltreatment. —
οἰακονόμοι : Zeus is meant. Sic et nos: denn jetzt sitzen neue Herrn am Ruder, quamvis de uno tantum sermo sit' (Schütz). For the figure cp. Sept. 2
ὅστις
φυλάσ-
σει
πρᾶγος
ἐν
πρύμνῃ
πόλεως
οἴακα
νωμῶν, ibid. 62, Pers. 767; also 515 below.
150.
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150.
νόμοις :
νόμοι are changeable laws, made by temporal authorities (cp. Sept. 1070
πόλις
ἄλλως
ἄλλοτ᾽
ἐπαινεῖ
τὰ
δίκαια), in distinction to
θεσμοί, immutable statutes, based upon eternal right. —
ἀθέτως·
ἀθέσμως,
οὐ
συγκατατεθειμένως, Hesych. That is, Zeus issues ordinances in his own right (186), without acknowledging the authority of a higher law. Cp. 324
οὐδ᾽
ὑπεύθυνος
κρατεῖ.
151.
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151.
τὰ
πρὶν
πελώρια : in a general sense; the
former powers
(τοὺς
Τιτάνας
καὶ
τοὺς
τούτων
νόμους, Schol.). The word
πελώρια is appropriate in refer- ence to the reign of the Titans. For the thought, cp. Ag. 168
οὐδ᾽
ὅστις
πάροιθεν
ἦν
μέγας,
παμμάχῳ
θράσει
βρύων,
οὐδὲ
λέξεται
πρὶν
ὤν. –
ἀιστοῖ :
the verb denotes absolute annihila- tion, so that a thing is neither seen nor heard of more: from
ἄϊστος, out of sight and mind.
152.
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152.
νέρθεν
"Αιδου: with emphasis, nay, under very Hades. That is, into
Tartarus, following the conception of
11. viii. 13
ἤ
μιν
ἑλὼν
ῥίψω
ἐς
Τάρτα-
ρον
ἠερόεντα, ...
τόσσον
ἔνερθ᾽
᾿Αίδεω
ὅσον
οὐρανός
ἐστ᾿
ἀπὸ
γαίης (whereas in Eum. 72
Τάρταρόν
θ᾽
ὑπὸ
χθονός, Tar- tarus is equivalent to Hades). Into Tartarus the other Titans had been thrown: Il. viii. 481; Hesiod Theog. 719
τόσσον
ἔνερθ᾽
ὑπὸ
γῆς
ὅσον
οὐρανός
ἐστ᾿
ἀπὸ
γαίης·
ἶσον
γάρ
τ᾽
ἀπὸ
γῆς
ἐς
Τάρταρον
ἠερόεντα.
153.
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153 f.
τοῦ
νεκροδέγμονος : cp. Sept. 860
πάνδοκον
εἰς
ἀφανῆ
τε
χέρσον, Suppl. 157
τὸν
πολυξενώτατον
Ζῆνα
τῶν
κεκμηκότων. In Hom. Hymn v. 9, 17, 430, Hades is called
Πολυδέκτης and
Πολυδέγμων. Cp.
οἰστοδέγμονα
θησαυρόν Pers. 1020. –
ἀπέραντον : see 1078.
δεσμοῖς
πελάσας : " and had put me in bonds there as here." For the expression
δεσμοῖς
πελάσας cp. Eur. Alc. 229
βρόχῳ
δέρην
οὐρανίῳ
πελάσσαι, also
ΙΙ.
ν. 766
κακῆς
ὀδύνῃσι
πελάζειν.
156.
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156.
μήτε
τις
ἄλλος: Prometheus shrinks from the mention of man- kind. For the position of ris see on
165. 21.- Nothing, to the unfortunate, is so hard to bear as the malicious exultation of their enemies.
Ср. Il. iii. 51; vi. 82; x. 193; Hesiod O. D. 701, Aesch. Pers. 1034, Soph. Ai. 382, Ant. 647, Eur. Med. 383.
157.
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157.
ὡς . . .
ἐπεγήθει: cp. 749; Cho. 195
εἴθ᾽
εἶχε
φωνὴν ...
ὅπως
δίφροντις
οὖσα
μὴ
᾿κινυσσόμην. GMT. 333.
ἐπι-
γηθεῖν, like
ἐπιχαίρειν (cp. 158
ἐπί-
χαρτα, 160
ἐπιχαρῆ) signifies
τὸ
συν-
επιγελᾶν
τοῖς
ἀλλοτρίοις
κακοῖς.
158.
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158.
κίνυγμα: Eustathius on Il. iv. 281 says,
τοῦ
δὲ
κινύω
αὖθις
παράγω-
γον
τὸ
κινύσσω·
ἐξ
οὗ
παρ᾿
Αἰσχύλῳ
αἰθέριον
κίνυγμα,
τὸ
ἀέριον
εἴδωλον. It is formed like
αἴθυγμα from
αἰθύσσω,
αἴνιγμα from
αἰνίττομαι. Cp. Cho. 196
ἐκινυσσόμην, might be driven this way and that, might waver.
αἰθέριον
κίνυγμα (oscillum) is a thing waving in
mid-air. It applies to Prometheus in that he hangs in the open air with nothing for his feet to rest on.
161.
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161.
συνασχαλᾷ: from
συνασχα-
λάω, whereas
συνασχαλῶν 303 is future of
συνασχάλλω. Cp. Isocr. Iv. 181
συνοργισθῆναι
τοῖς
ἀδικηθεῖσιν, also
συμ-
πονεῖν 274 below, and
συγχαίρειν,
συνή-
δεσθαι. In all these,
συν- denotes sympathy with grief or joy.
162.
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162. The ancient form
τεός for
σός occurs now and then in the lyric por- tions of tragedy. In Aeschylus twice besides this place, Sept. 105, Frg. 66. Only the melic trimeter (162 = 181) admits, in Aeschylus, three resolutions in a single verse. Cp. Suppl. 111 = 123, Ag. 485, Cho. 44 = 55. A tribrach in the second foot is found in only one other verse of this play (715), and there in a proper name.
163.
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163.
θέμενος: cp. Il. ix. 629
ἄγριον
ἐν
στήθεσσι
θέτο
μεγαλήτορα
θυμόν, Tyrtaeus Frg. 11, 5
ἐχθρὰν
μὲν
ψυ-
χὴν
θέμενος, Theogn. 89
ἀλλὰ
φίλει
καθαρὸν
θέμενος
νόον
ἤ
μ᾿
ἀποειπὼν
ἔχθαιρε. –
ἄγναμπτον: instead of this, the metre demands a word which shall form two iambi. Cp. the anti- strophe 182. Probably H. L. Ahrens's conjecture,
ἀκνάμπετον, is to be received (cp.
ἄπευκτος and
ἀπεύχετος,
καμψίπους and
καμπεσίγουνος,
παναρκής and
πανάρκετος). With
ἄγναμπτον
νόον cp. Il. xxiv. 41
οὐδὲ
νόημα
γναμπτὸν
ἐνὶ
στήθεσσι. 170.
175
164.
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164 f.
δάμναται : an epic word; ac- tive in sense here and Od. xiv. 487
ἀλλά
με
χεῖμα
δάμναται, passive Suppl. 904, as in the Iliad. –
Οὐρα-
νίαν
γένναν : the race of Uranus. Cp. 205, and Frg. III. of the
Προμηθεὺς
λυόμενος below, Titanum suboles generata Caelo; also Il. v. 898
Οὐρανιώνων.
Οὐρανίαν is said like Ag. 83
Τυνδαρέα
θύγατερ, ibid. 1499
᾿Αγα-
μεμνονίαν
ἄλοχον,
Il.
xiv. 317
Ιξιονίης
ἀλόχοιο. See also 590 below.
166.
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166.
παλάμᾳ: coup de main, bold or sudden stroke. -
τινί : cp. Cho. 138
ἐλθεῖν
δ᾽
᾿Ορέστην
δεῦρο
σὺν
τύχῃ
τινὶ
κατεύχομαι, Soph.
Αi. 853
ἀρκτέον
τὸ
πρᾶγμα
σὺν
τάχει
τινί, Pind.
Οl. ix. 39
σύν
τινι
μοιριδίῳ
παλάμᾳ.
167.
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167.
ἡ
μὴν
ἔτι: cp. 907 below.
168.
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168.
ἐν: more vivid than the sim- ple dative of instrument. Cp. 562, 6, and see on 426. –
αἰκιζομένου: here passive; in active sense 195, 227, 256.
170.
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170.
νέον : new, and hence danger- ous. So Suppl. 341
πόλεμον
αἴρεσθαι
νέον. –
βούλευμα :
περὶ
τοῦ
ἔρωτος
τῆς
Θέτιδός
φησι, Schol. See Introduc- tion, pp. 9 and 17. - 'Id consilium hic subobscure et ambigue Prome- theus indicat; in quo magna cernitur
ars poetae, qui sic et attentionem spectatorum acuit et actionis trag- icae cursum, ne iusto citius ad finem perveniat, inhibet ac suspendit' (Schütz).
171.
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171.
ἀποσυλᾶται: the present is here used, without reference to time, to express simply the working out of a result. Cp. 764, 948.
172.
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172 ff.
οὔτε ...
τ᾿
οὔποτε: for
οὔτε ...
τε ср. 244, 260; and for
οὔτε ...
τ'
οὔ(ποτε) Soph. Ant. 763
ἔμοιγε ...
οὔθ᾽
ἥδ᾽
ὀλεῖται
πλησία
σύ
τ᾽
οὐδαμὰ
τοὐμὸν
προσόψει
κρᾶτα, Eur. Hipp. 302
οὔτε
γὰρ
τότε
λόγοις
ἐτέγγεθ᾽
ἥδε
νῦν
τ᾽
οὐ
πείθεται, Heracl. 605
οὔτε
τούτοις
ἥδομαι
πεπραγμένοις
χρησμοῦ
τε
μὴ
κρανθέντος
οὐ
βιώσιμον, Thuc. i. 126
οὔτ᾽
ἐκεῖνος
ἔτι
κατενόησε
τό
τε
μαν-
τεῖον
οὐκ
ἐδήλου.
Βy
οὔτε .. persuasion and force are contrasted. The change from
οὔτε to
τ᾽
οὔποτε accompanies the change in structure from
θέλξει
τo
πτήξας
κατμηνύσω.
Ε...
Τε Similarly in the example
from Soph. (Ant. 763) quoted above. -
μελιγλώσ
σοις: recalls Il. i. 249
τοῦ
καὶ
ἀπὸ
γλώσσης
μέλιτος
γλυκίων
ῥέεν
αὐδή. Cp. Eur. Frg. 891
εἴ
μοι
τὸ
Νεστόρειον
εὔγλωσσον
στόμα ...
δοίη
θεός. - The caesura after the second foot of the anapaestic tetrapody
(μελι-γλώσσοις) is not observed with absolute strict- ness before Euripides.
176.
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176.
χαλάσῃ: sc.
με. Here tran- sitive, but intransitive in 58 and 179. Cp.
λωφᾶν 27.
180.
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180.
ἐλευθεροστομεῖς : cp.
λαβρο-
στομεῖν 327,
θρασυστομεῖν Suppl. 203,
χαριτογλωσσεῖν 294 below.
181.
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181.
ἐρέθισε: see on 135. The tri- brach in the third foot here consists of three syllables which belong in one word; this is admissible only in the melic trimeter. See on 162 and on 2. The aorist as in
ἐγέλασα,
ἥσθην,
ἀπέπτυσα (1070 below). Krüger I, § 53, 6, 3; GMT. 60;
Н. 842,
182.
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182 f.
δέδια ...
πᾶ
πότε: see on
184.
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184. At 100 above, the figure is that of daybreak after darkness; here of reaching land after a stormy and perilous voyage. -
ἀκίχητα: an epic word. Cp. Il. xvii. 75
ἀκίχητα
διώκων.
185.
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185.
ἀπαράμυθον : with long a- priv- ative. So, in epic poetry,
ἀθάνατος,
ἀκάματος, from the necessities of the metre.
ἀθάνατος kept this measure- ment throughout, even in Attic po- etry.
186-192.
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186-192. This fourth anapaestic system does not correspond in length to the third (167-177), as the sec- ond (152 ff.) does to the first (137 ff.). Perhaps this is because it forms the close. Cp. Soph. Ai. 257 ff. Possibly, however, some verses have been lost. Weil assumes a gap after
ῥαισθῇ.
186.
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186 f.
παρ'
ἑαυτῷ
τὸ
δίκαιον
ἔχων: cp. 403, 150; also Eur. Suppl. 429
οὐδὲν
τυράννου
δυσμενέστερον
πόλει,
ὅπου
τὸ
μὲν
πρώτιστον
οὐκ
εἰσὶν
νόμοι
κοινοί,
κρατεῖ
δ᾽
εἷς
τὸν
νόμον
κεκτημένος
195.
200
αὐτὸς
παρ᾽
αὑτῷ, Aesch. Suppl. 370
σύ
τοι
πόλις,
σὺ
δὲ
τὸ
δάμιον. For
δίκαιον see on 150.
187.
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187.
ὀίω : =
οἶμαι (758), opinor, I trow, I hope. Cp.
11. viii. 536
ἀλλ᾿
ἐν
πρώτοισιν,
οίω,
κείσεται
οὐτηθείς. Here with short
4, as in Homer in the middle of the hexameter, while at the end
ὀtw is used.
189.
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189.
ταύτῃ
ῥαισθῇ: said with ref- erence to 169 f. See on 170. Prome- theus speaks mysteriously and in a tone of secret exultation over some- thing not disclosed. With
ταύτῃ cp.
τῶνδε 247.
190.
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190.
ἀτέραμνον: cp. 1062.
ἀτέραμ- vos is an Homeric word. Cp. Od. xxiii. 167
κῆρ
ἀτέραμνον. Hesych. defines it,
τὸ
μὴ
ἐνδιδοῦν,
σκληρόν. Cp.
ὀργὰς
ἀτενεῖς
Αg. 71. -
στορέσας : meta- phorical; the figure is that of calm- ing the waves after a storm.
191.
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191.
εἰς
ἀρθμὸν
καὶ
φιλότητα: so Hom. Hymn iii. 524
κατένευσεν
ἐπ᾿
ἀρθμῷ
καὶ
φιλότητι.
Cp. Il.
vii.
302
ἐν
φιλότητι
διέτμαγεν
ἀρθμήσαντε.
193-396.
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193-396. First Episode. 193- 283. First Scene: Prometheus and the Coryphaeus. The scholiast says:
τὴν
ὑπόθεσιν (that is, the expo- sition of the events supposed to pre- cede the opening of the play)
βουλό-
μενος
διδάξαι,
τὸ
περίεργον (curiosity)
τοῦ
γυναικώδους
ήθους
προσέλαβεν (availed himself of, as a motive).
οὐκ
ἂν
γὰρ
ὁ
᾿Ὠκεανds (who enters later)
ἠξίωσεν
ἐρωτῆσαι
εἰδώς. The curiosity of the chorus is a natural conse- quence of their awakened sympathy. Still it is to be observed that Prome- theus on his part is moved to tell his story by the longing to unburden his heart to sympathizing friends (see 198). He needs only the request in order to comply at once. - The Pro- logue and this first scene of the first episode constitute the first act of the drama, which expounds the situation and prepares the way for the follow- ing dramatic development.
196.
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196.
εἴ
τι
μή: cp. Pers. 157
θεοῦ
δὲ
καὶ
μήτηρ
ἔφυς,
εἴ
τι
μὴ
δαίμων
παλαιὸς
νῦν
μεθέστηκε
στρατῷ, Suppl. 1016
εἰ
ahaad.
205
210-
γάρ
τι
μὴ
θεοῖς
βεβούλευται
νέον. Cp.
763.-It is noteworthy that all the speeches of the coryphaeus (which exceed a single verse) consist of four verses (see 242, 259, 472, 507, 631, 819, 1036) except 698 f. The same tendency in the speeches of other persons, 393, 511, 522, 589, 609.
197.
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197 f.
ἀλγεινὰ
μέν ...
ἄλγος
δέ: for the anaphora, cp. 238 and Pers. 27
φοβεροὶ
μὲν
ἰδεῖν,
δεινοὶ
δὲ
μάχην.
200.
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200.
ὠροθύνετο : an epic word,
201.
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201.
οἱ
μὲν
θέλοντες: absolute nominative, used as if
δαίμονες
ἐν
ἀλλήλοις
ἐστασίαζον had preceded. Cp. Soph. Ant. 259
λόγοι
δ᾽
ἐν
ἀλλή-
λοισιν
ἐρρόθουν
κακοί,
φύλαξ
ἐλέγχων
φύλακα, Eur. Phoen. 1462
ἦν
δ᾽
ἔρις
στρατηλάταις,
οἱ
μὲν
πατάξαι
πρόσθε
Πολυνείκην
δορί,
οἱ
δ᾽
ὡς
θανόντων
οὐδα-
μοῦ
νίκη
πέλοι, Bacch. 1131
ἦν
δὲ
πᾶσ᾽
ὁμοῦ
βοή,
ὁ
μὲν
στενάζων
κτἑ. Krüger I. § 56. 9, 4. See also on 569 below.
202.
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202.
δήθεν: scilicet; here with. out the usual tinge of irony (986), or notion of pretence. So Eur. Ion 831
Ιων,
ἰόντι
δῆθεν
ὅτι
συνήντετο.
203.
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203.
ὡς
Ζεὺς
μήποτ᾿
ἄρξειεν
θεῶν : said instead of "that Cronus might remain in power," because the per- sonality of Zeus is uppermost in the speaker's mind.
204.
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204.
τὰ
λῷστα
πιθεῖν
Τιτάνας: on the double accusative, see Krüger I. § 46, 11, 2. - The aorists
ἔπιθον and
ἐπιθύμην are very frequent in tragedy.
205.
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205. Cp. Hes. Theog. 644
Γαίης
τε
καὶ
Οὐρανοῦ
ἀγλαὰ
τέκνα.
208.
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208.
ἀμοχθί: the sense is, "in their pride of heart, they thought easily to master their foe by sheer brute force, without tedious manoeuvres." -
πρὸς
βίαν: opposed to
αἱμύλας
μηχανάς. Cp. Hor. Carm. iii. 4, 65 vis consili expers mole ruit sua.
210.
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210.
πολλῶν
ὀνομάτων
μορφὴ
μία: said in order to explain the identifi- cation of Gaea and Themis (cp. 1091), whom the common tradition distin- guished as mother and daughter (so Hesiod Theog. 135, and Aeschylus himself in Eum. 2
Γαῖαν·
ἐκ
δὲ
τῆς
Θέμιν). In identifying the two, the poet seems to have followed a local Attic tradition, of which an Attic inscription,
Ἱερίας
Γῆς
Θέμιδος, affords
220. a hint. In Arcadia, Demeter had the cognomen Themis; Paus. viii. 25, 4. Themis in 874 is called
Ti-
τανίς, as being the mother of the Titans; the poet includes under the term
Τιτάν all who belong to the Titan race. Similarly Prometheus, the son of a Titan, is spoken of as
Τιτὰν
Προμηθεύς, Soph.
Ο. C. 56, Eur. Phoen. 1122, Ion 455. Aeschylus, having of his own invention made Prometheus a son of Themis, wished to guard against a possible feeling of bewilderment on the part of his spectators, that the functions given to Gaea in the cosmogonic accounts (see Hesiod Theog. 463, 470, 494, 626, 884) should be transferred outright to Themis.
211.
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211.
κραίνοιτο : present tense, be- cause the prophesier thinks of the future as already present. Cp.
τίθη-
σιν 848,
τελεῖται 929.
212.
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212. Cp. Soph. Phil. 594
ἡ
μὴν
ἢ
λόγῳ
πείσαντες
ἄξειν
ἢ
πρὸς
ἰσχύος
κράτος, and see Krüger I. § 68, 39, 8.
213.
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213.
δόλῳ
δὲ
τοὺς
ὑπερσχόντας : =
τοὺς
δὲ
δόλῳ
ὑπερσχόντας, subject ac- cusative to
κρατεῖν. A fuller and
more emphatic expression for simple
δόλῳ. The position of
δόλῳ is due to the antithesis. Cp. Eur. Andr. 215
Θρήκην
χιόνι
τὴν
κατάρρυτον, Soph.
Ο.
Τ. 139
ἐκεῖνον
ὁ
κτανών, Demosth. VIII. 28
ταῦτα
τοὺς
ἀδικοῦντας,
ΧΙν. 25
ταῦτα
δὲ
οἱ
κεκτημένοι. The aor- ist
ὑπερσχόντας stands in connexion with
χρείη
κρατεῖν, “those were des- tined to be victors who should have outdone their adversaries in craft."
215.
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215.
προσβλέψαι :
προσβλέπειν is used in the sense in which
ἀποβλέ-
πειν is more commonly employed.
216.
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216. Cp. Ag. 1053
τὰ
λῶστα
τῶν
παρεστώτων
λέγει, Ar.
Εq. 30
κράτιστα
τοίνυν
τῶν
παρόντων
ἐστὶ
νῷν
κτἑ.
217.
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217.
προσλαβόντι:
συναιρομένῳ
τῆ
μητρί, Schol. The dative in agree- ment with
μοί, whereas the following
ἕκοντα (necessarily accusative on ac- count of
ἕκοντι) connects itself more closely with the infinitive. G. 138, N. 8 b; H. 941. Observe that
προλα-
βόντα
μητέρα would have been an equivocal succession. In Soph. O. T. 353, after
ἐννέπω
σε . . .
προσαυδᾶν
μήτε
τούσδε
μήτ'
ἐμέ, comes the dative
ὡς
ὄντι
γῆς
τῆσδ᾽
ἀνοσίῳ
μιάστορι, be- cause
ὡς
ὄντα ...
μιάστορα might seem to refer to
ἐμέ. Cp. also Soph. El.
225
230 959
ἢ
πάρεστι
μὲν
στένειν ...
ἐστε-
ρημένῃ,
πάρεστι
δ᾽
ἀλγεῖν ...
ἄλεκτρα
γηράσκουσαν, Eur. Med. 1237
δέ-
δοκταί
μοι
παῖδας
κτανούσῃ
τῆσδ᾽
ἀφορμᾶσθαι
χθονὸς
καὶ
μὴ
σχολὴν
ἄγουσαν
ἐκδοῦναι
τέκνα (in both examples the accusative is used under influence of the metre).
219.
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219.
Ταρτάρου: cp. passages quoted in note on 152; also Hesiod Theog. 851
Τιτῆνές
θ᾽
ὑποταρτάριοι
Κρόνον
ἀμφὶς
ἐόντες.
μελαμβαθής: cp. 1029, 1050, Il. viii. 479
ἵν᾽
Ἰάπετός
τε
Κρόνος
τε
ἥμενοι
οὔτ᾽
αὐγῇς
Ὑπερίονος
ἠελίοιο
τέρποντ᾽
οὔτ᾽
ἀνέμοισι,
βαθὺς
δέ
τε
Τάρταρος
ἀμφίς.
221.
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221.
αὐτοῖσι
συμμάχοισι : cp. 1047. G. 188, 5, N.;
H. 774 a. The article is generally omitted in this idiom.
223.
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223.
κακαῖσι
ποιναῖς: sometimes, it is true,
ποινή (indemnity, requital) is used, like
ἄποινα, in a good sense; so Suppl. 625
λέξωμεν
ἐπ᾿
᾿Αργείοις
εὐχὰς
ἀγαθὰς
ἀγαθῶν
ποινάς, Cho. 792
δίδυμα
καὶ
τριπλᾶ
παλίμποινα
θέλων
ἀμείψει, Pind. Pyth. i. 113
ποινὰν
τεθρίππων, Nem. i. 107
ἡσυχίαν
καμάτων
μεγάλων
ποινάν. Here, however,
κακαῖσι is added not simply to show that
ποιναῖς has its bad meaning (pénalty), for that is sufficiently indicated by
ταῖσδε,
but rather to emphasize further the idea contained in
ταῖσδε
ποιναῖς, as it were
ταῖσδε
ποιναῖς,
κακαῖς
ποιναῖς. Cp. Soph. Phil. 477
σοὶ
δ᾽
ὄνειδος
οὐ
καλόν, Eur. Phoen. 94
φαῦλος
ψόγος. –
ἐξημείψατο : used in the sense in which
ἀνταμείβομαι is commonly said. See on 215.
229.
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229.
νέμει : see on 109,
θηρῶμαι. – According to Hesiod Theog. 881, at the conclusion of the conflict with the Titans, the Olympian gods, fol- lowing Gaea's suggestion, appoint Zeus as the sovereign of the gods:
ὁ
δὲ
τοῖσιν
ἐὺ
διεδάσσατο
τιμάς. Cp. ibid. 73
εὖ
δὲ
ἕκαστα
ἀθανάτοις
διέταξεν
ὁμῶς
καὶ
πέφραδε
τιμάς.
230.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-166
230.
διεστοιχίζετο :
διήρει, Schol.
διετίθετο
ἐν
στοίχῳ
καὶ
τάξει,
διήρει·
ἀπὸ
τῶν
εἰς
τοὺς
σηκοὺς
εἰσαγόντων
τὰ
ποιμνία
καὶ
διακρινόντων
ἐκ
τῆς
νομῆς
ἑκάστῳ
τὰ
ἴδια, Hesych.
232.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-167
232 f.
ἀιστώσας: see on 151 and 668. Aeschylus has taken the legend 235
240 of a succession of ages and races of men, and modified it to suit his own conceptions. See Introduction, p. 15.
234.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-168
234.
καὶ
τοῖσιν : the article retains its pronominal force most frequently in connexion with
καί,
δέ (cp. 816), and
γάρ. Krüger II. § 50, 1, 1-5.
235.
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235. On asyndeton in explanations see Krüger I. § 59, 1, 5. –
ἐξελυσά-
μην: of deliverance from an impend- ing disaster, not yet actually present. So Od. x. 286
ἀλλ᾽
ἄγε
δή
σε
κακῶν
ἐκλύσομαι
ἠδὲ
σαώσω, Eur. Andr. 818
θανάτου
νιν
ἐκλύσασθε.
236.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-170
236. The infinitive with
τὸ
μή fol- lows expressions signifying prevention, or any other action opposed to that expressed by the infinitive itself. Krüger I. § 67, 12, 2–4; GMT. 811. See also 865 below, Ag. 1170
ἄκος
δ'
οὐδὲν
ἐπήρκεσαν
τὸ
μὴ
(μὴ
οὐ ?)
πόλιν
μὲν
ὥσπερ
οὖν
ἔχει
παθεῖν, Pers. 291
ὑπερβάλλει
γὰρ
ἥδε
συμφορὰ
τὸ
μήτε
λέξαι
μήτ᾽
ἐρωτῆσαι
πάθη.
237.
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237.
τῷ : therefore, as in Homer. Cp. Soph. O.
Τ. 511
τῷ
ἀπ᾿
ἐμᾶς
φρενὸς
οὔποτ᾽
ὀφλήσει
κακίαν. See on 234. —
τοῖαῖσδε : in
τοιοῦτος,
τοιόσδε (see Sept. 27, Ag. 1075),
οἷος,
ποιῶ, the diphthong
οι is often shortened. Krüger II. § 3, 3, 1; H. 92 D, d. In such cases o was probably writ- ten;
ποεῖν is often found in inscrip- tions.
239.
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239.
ἐν
οἴκτῳ
προθέμενος :
προ- has its temporal meaning, though I began by showing compassion. Cp.
Ag. 1008
καὶ
τὸ
μὲν
πρὸ
χρημάτων
κτησίων
ὄκνος
βαλών, Eur.
Ion 914
χάριν
οὐ
προ-
λαβών. –
τούτου: i.e.
τοῦ
ἐν
οἴκτῳ
τίθεσθαι.
241.
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241.
ἐρρύθμισμαι: ironical, have been disciplined, brought to order.
Ζηνὶ...
θέα: appositional phrases like this, taking up the second half of a verse, are very effective; see 350, 461. ،
242.
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242. Iron' and 'stone' are, from Homer on, frequent designations of what is unfeeling or stubborn. In Il. xvi. 33 Patroclus says to Achilles,
νη-
λεές,
οὐκ
ἄρα
σοί
γε
πατὴρ
ἦν
ἱππότα
Πηλεὺς
οὐδὲ
Θέτις
μήτηρ·
γλαυκὴ
δέ
245
250
σε
τίκτε
θάλασσα
πέτραι
τ'
ἠλίβατοι,
ὅτι
τοι
νόος
ἐστὶν
ἀπηνής, imitated by Verg. Aen. iv. 366 duris genuit te cautibus horrens Cauca- sus Hircanaeque admorunt ubera tigres; see also Ecl. viii. 43.
Ср. Il. xxiv. 205
σιδήρειον
νύ
τοι
ἦτορ, Hesiod Theog. 239
Εὐρυβίην
τ᾽
ἀδάμαντος
ἐνὶ
φρεσὶ
θυμὸν
ἔχουσαν, Pind. Frg. 88
ὃς
μὴ
πόθῳ
κυμαίνε-
ται,
ἐξ
ἀδάμαντος
ἢ
σιδάρου
κεχάλκευ-
ται
μέλαιναν
καρδίαν, Aesch. Sept. 52
σιδηρόφρων
γὰρ
θυμὸς
ἀνδρείᾳ
φλέγων
ἔπνει, Eur. Med. 1279
τάλαιν',
ὡς
ἄρ᾽
ἦσθα
πέτρος
ἢ
σίδαρος,
ἅτις
KTE-
νεῖς, Cycl. 596
πέτρας
τὸ
λῆμα
κἀδά-
μαντος
ἕξομεν, Theocr. x. 7
Μίλων
ὀψαμᾶτα,
πέτρας
ἀπόκομμ᾽
ἀτεράμνω, Moschus iv. 44
μοχθίζει
πέτρης
ὁ
γ'
ἔχων
νόον
ἠὲ
σιδήρου
καρτερὸν
ἐν
στή-
θεσσι, Tibull. i. 1, 63 flebis: non tua sunt duro praecordia ferro vincta neque in tenero stat tibi corde silex, Ovid Amor. iii. 6, 59 ille habet et silices et vivum in pectore ferrum, Hor. Carm. i.
3,
9 illi ro- bur et aes triplex circa pec- tus erat. ..
246.
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246.
‘καὶ
μήν aut et vero, et sane aut atqui significat' (Her- mann ad Vigerum, 332). Here it means et sane (with emphasis on
φίλοις); in 459, 1080 it means et vero in 982, 985, atqui. - For the omission of
εἰμί see on 42.
247.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-176
247.
μή: cp. 959, Pers. 344
μή
σοι
δοκοῦμεν
τῇδε
λειφθῆναι
μάχη; The chorus inclines to account for the severity of the punishment by sup- posing a more heinous crime. -
τῶνδε : than what thou hast said; cp.
ταύτῃ 189.
248.
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248.
προδέρκεσθαι : foreseeing death is an evil, in that it benumbs man's energies and stupefies his faculties, since death is ever present before his eyes, and a fixed limit is set to his activity. By
προδέρκεσθαι
μόρον the poet means this anxious expecta- tion of death. A somewhat different conception appears in Plato Gorg. 523 d, where Zeus says,
πρῶτον
μὲν
οὖν
παυστέον
ἐστὶ
προειδότας
αὐτοὺς
τὸν
θάνατον.
νῦν
γὰρ
προΐσασι.
τοῦτο
μὲν
οὖν
καὶ
δὴ
εἴρηται
τῷ
Προμηθεῖ
ὅπως
ἂν
παύσῃ
αὐτῶν. Here it is stated that men are not to know beforehand when they are to die, so that they may not try to deceive the judges of the lower world by pre- meditated artifices, and by providing witnesses to testify in their behalf. Cp. also Hor. Carm. iii. 29, 29 pru- dens futuri temporis exi- tum caliginosa nocte premit deus.
249.
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249.
τὸ
ποῖον
κτἑ. : =
τὸ
φάρμακον
τῆσδε
νόσου
ποῖον
εὑρών; remedium quod huic morbo adhibuisti quale fuit? Is qui interrogat, audiendi studio id, quod alterum dicere vult, occupaturus ipse ora- tionem incohat, quam ab illo ab- solvi vult; ipse autem quia eam absolvere non potest, addit pronomen interrogativum' (Hermann ad Vige- rum 25). –
νόσου: cp. 384, 596, 606, 632, 977, 1069.
250.
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250. As in dealing with the myth of the golden and silver ages, 232, Aeschylus here uses great freedom in treating the myth of Pandora (Hesiod O. D. 94: see Introduction, p. 6), so that the original form of
the story is no longer recognizable, and only the deeper significance re- mains. Man, never deserted by Hope, strives ceaselessly for the attainment of his ends, unmindful of death and untroubled by the thought that he may be cut off before his goal is reached. Cp. Simonides Amorg. Frg. 1, 3
ἐφήμεροι
ἃ
δὴ
βότ᾽
αἰεὶ
ζῶμεν,
οὐδὲν
εἰδότες
ὅπως
ἕκαστον
ἐκτελευτή-
σει
θεός.
ἐλπὶς
δὲ
πάντας
κἀπι-
πειθείη
τρέφει
ἄπρηκτον
ὁρμαίνοντας, Soph. Ant. 615
ὁ
γὰρ
δὴ
πολύπλαγκτος
ἐλπὶς
πολλοῖς
μὲν
ὄνασις
ἀνδρῶν,
πολ-
λοῖς
δ᾽
ἀπάτα
κουφονόων
ἐρώτων.
252.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-180
252.
σφίν : =
αὐτοῖς, as in 457. Krüger II. § 51, 1, 19.
σφίσιν in this sense is Homeric (Krüger II. § 51, 1, 17), but occurs in tragedy only in 481 below.
253.
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253.
φλογωπόν: the brightness of the fire is put forward, as rendering it the more unfit for the
ἐφήμεροι. The addition of this emphatic word justi- fies the repetition of
πῦρ. Cp. Suppl.
508
ΒΑ.
λευρὸν
κατ᾿
ἄλσος
νῦν
ἐπιστρέ-
φου
τόδε.
ΧΟ.
καὶ
πῶς
βέβηλον
ἄλ-
σος
ἂν
ῥύοιτό
με ; –
ἐφήμεροι : see on 83. Even the chorus feels it to be wrong that men should receive what properly belongs to the gods.
254.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-182
254.
γέ: in answers, affirms by adding a further statement ("yes, and from it..."); cp. 258, 379, 746, 768, 774. –
ἀφ᾿
οὗ: cp. 170.
255.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-183
255 f. Prometheus interrupts the question by his answer, and to the simple answer
(αἰκίζεται) adds the significant statement
οὐδαμῇ
χαλᾷ
και
κῶν. By this addition the artifice for preserving the stichomythy is con- cealed, and the dialogue proceeds naturally. A more common device is the insertion of a question; this question is so connected in construc- tion with the interrupted sentence which precedes, that in answering it the speaker simply takes up his un- finished speech where he left it off. Thus Pers. 734
ΑΤ.
Ξέρξην
φασὶν.
ΔΑ.
πῶς
τελευτᾶν;
ΑΤ.
ἄσμενον
μο-
λεῖν.
257.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-184
257.
οὐδέ: cp.
καί in 253.
258.
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258. Ср. 376. A different state- ment is made in 756.
259.
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259.
δόξει
δὲ
πῶς:
δόξει stands first because it takes up the thought of the preceding
δοκῇ. Cp. Soph. El. 1429
ΧΟ.
λεύσσω
γὰρ
Αἴγισθον.
ΟΡ.
εἰσ-
ορᾶτε
ποῦ
τὸν
ἄνδρα;
260.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-187
260.
ἥμαρτες : a moral wrong is not meant, but only an act of im- prudence and mistaken judgment- rebellion, that is, against a superior adversary. This is clear from 266 and its explanation in 267.
262.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-188
262.
ἔκλυσιν
ζήτει
τινά: that is, by submission. Cp. 316 with 315.
263.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-189
263. Cp. Cho. 697
ἔξω
κομίζων
ὀλε-
θρίου
πηλοῦ
πόδα (where the scholiast remarks,
ἔξω
πηλοῦ
πόδα,
παροιμία), Soph. Phil. 1260
ἴσως
ἂν
ἐκτὸς
κλαυμά-
των
ἔχοις
πύδα, Eur. Heracl. 109
καλὸν
δέ
γ'᾽
ἔξω
πραγμάτων
ἔχειν
πόδα,
εὐβου-
λίας
τυχόντα
τῆς
ἀμείνονος. 265
270
264.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-190
264.
Cp. Eur. Alc. 1078
ῥᾷον
παραι-
νεῖν
ἢ
παθόντα
καρτερεῖν,
H. F. 1249
σὺ
δ᾽
ἐκτὸς
ὤν
γε
συμφορᾶς
με
νουθετεῖς, Terent. Andr. 309 facile omnes, quom valemus, recta con- silia aegrotis damus
265.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-191
265 f. With the words
ἐγὼ
δὲ
ταῦθ᾽
ἅπαντ᾿
ἠπιστάμην and
ἑκών Prome- theus rejects the charge of impru- dence, and restricts his
ἁμάρτημα to the disregard of
self-interest, as de- scribed in the next verse (267). So his 'error' is after all a noble ac- tion. –
ἑκὼν
ἑκών: repetition
(ἀva-
δίπλωσις) emphasizes expressions of sorrow, entreaty, and asseveration. Ср. 274, 338, 688, 694, 887, 894, 999; also 577, 594, and 392, 937. –
οὐκ
ἀρνήσομαι: this refers only to the word
ἥμαρτον. The sense is, "I will not object to your phrase
ἥμαρτες” (260), "I will not insist on another word."
267.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-192
267.
θνητοῖς
ἀρήγων: explanatory asyndeton. See on 235. –
ηὑρόμην : cp. Sept. 878
μελέους
θανάτους
ηὕροντο, Soph. Ai. 1023
καὶ
ταῦτα
πάντα
σοῦ
θανόντος
ηὑρόμην.
268.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-193
268 ff.
ᾠόμην...
με
κατισχνανεῖ-
σθαι . . .
τυχόντα: instead of
ᾠόμην
κατισχνανεῖσθαι
τυχών. Krüger I. § 55, 2, 3; H. 940 b. For Homeric exam- ples see Krüger II. § 51, 2, 1 and § 55, 2, 2. Cp. also Soph. Ai. 606
κακὰν
ἐλπίδ᾽
ἔχων
ἔτι
μέ
ποτ᾽
ἀνύσειν,
Ει. 65
καμ᾽
ἐπαυχῶ...
λάμψειν
ἔτι, 471
δοκῶ
με
πεῖραν
τήνδε
τολμήσειν
ἔτι, Eur. Alc. 641
καί
μ᾽
οὐ
νομίζω
παῖδα
σὸν
πεφυκέναι, Hdt. i. 34
ὅτι
ἐνόμισε
ἑωυτὸν (emphatic)
εἶναι
ἀνθρώ-
πων
ἁπάντων
ὀλβιώτατον, Plat. Rep. iii. 400 b
οἶμαι
δέ
με
ἀκηκοέναι, Isocr.
ιν. 85
οὐκ
ἐχθροὺς
ἀλλ᾽
ἀνταγωνιστὰς
σφᾶς
αὐτοὺς
εἶναι
νομίζοντες. -
κατι-
σχνανεῖσθαι: cp. 147. Future middle used like
aὐανοῦμαι, Soph. Phil. 954. Krüger I. § 39, 11. –
πεδαρσίοις : see 710, 916; Cho. 846
λόγοι
πεδάρσιοι
θρώσκουσι. This Aeolic form
(πεδά =
μετά) Aeschylus uses in a few other words:
πέδοικος Frg. 48,
πεδαίχμιος and
πεδάορος Cho. 589 f. –
ἐρήμου: cp. Frg. 305, 10
δρυμοὺς
ἐρήμους
καὶ
πά- 275
280
γους, Soph. Phil. 691
ἵν᾿
αὐτὸς
ἦν
πρόσουρος
οὐκ
ἔχων
βάσιν
οὐδέ
τιν'
ἐγχώρων
κακογείτονα.
271.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-194
271.
καί
μοι
κτέ.: and so bewail my lot no more, presupposing the thought "your admonitions are unavailing." ·
δύρεσθε:
δύρομαι =
ὀδύρομαι belongs to tragic diction.
272.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-195
272.
πέδοι
βᾶσαι: i.e. so as to listen more conveniently to a long narra- tion. A motive is thus provided for the descent of the chorus from its
ear into the orchestra.
βούλεται
γὰρ
στῆσαι
τὸν
χορὸν
ὅπως
τὸ
στάσιμον
ᾄσῃ, Schol.
273.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-196
273.
διὰ
τέλους: cp. Soph. Ai. 685
διὰ
τέλους
εὔχου
τελεῖσθαι. For the resolution see on 76. It is rendered easier by the fact that the chief cae- sura falls in the fourth foot (see on 2).
275.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-197
275.
νῦν: said in reference to the thought which follows,
"to-morrow your turn may come." -
ταὐτά: ad- verbial, nearly =
κατὰ
κοινόν, impar- tially, for all alike. See on 398, and cp. Soph. Ai. 687
ταὐτὰ
τῇδέ
μοι
τάδε
τιμᾶτε. Properly it is the inner object (cognate accusative).
276.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-198
276.
πρὸς
ἄλλοτ᾽
ἄλλον: for the order, see on 762 and 19. - For the
thought cp. Archil. Frg. 9, 7
ἄλλοτε
δ᾽
ἄλλος
ἔχει
τόδε·
νῦν
μὲν
ἐς
ἡμέας
ἐτράπεθ᾽,
αἱματόεν
δ᾽
ἕλκος
ἀναστένομεν,
ἐξαῦτις
δ᾽
ἑτέρους
ἐπαμείψεται, Pind. Ol. ii. 60
ῥοαὶ
δ᾽
ἄλλοτ᾽
ἄλλαι
εὐθυμιᾶν
τε
μέτα
καὶ
πόνων
ἐς
ἄνδρας
ἔβαν.
277-283.
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277-283. The anapaests of the chorus accompany the action of the machinery by which Oceanus is brought on the scene. See on 114-127.
277.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-200
277. Cp. Soph. Phil. 1178
φίλα
μοι,
φίλα
ταῦτα
παρήγγειλας
ἑκόντι
τε
πράσ-
σειν, Homer Il. iv. 73
ώτρυνε
πάρος
μεμαυῖαν
᾿Αθήνην. –
ἐπεθώυξας : see on 73.
279.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-201
279.
καί: and so, accordingly.
282.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-202
282 f.
πελῶ: future of
πελάζω.
πόνους . . .
διὰ
παντὸς
ἀκοῦσαι: as promised in 272. Compliance with this request follows much later, 755 ff. and in the speech beginning at 823. Curiosity and expectation are thus maintained.
284-396.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-203
284-396. Second Scene of the First Episode. Oceanus, father of the Oceanids, enters (from the right), mounted upon a winged steed
(τετρασκελής
οἰωνός 395) like 285.
290 Pegasus. The scholiast understands a griffin, because of this word
οἰωνός, but
sea-gods, in older Greek art, are often seen riding on hippocamps or
sea-horses. The machine here used was the
αἰώρημα, a sort of crane with hanging ropes, by which persons could be swung aloft, moved through the air, and let down again. The scholiast remarks,
καιρὸν
δίδωσι
τῷ
χορῷ
καθήκασθαι
(καθιμᾶσθαι ?)
τῆς
μηχανῆς
᾿Ὠκεανὸς
ἐλθών·
ὑπερβολῇ
δὲ
ἐχρήσατο,
ὅπου
γε
Ὅμηρος
οὐκ
εἰσήγα-
γεν
᾿Ὠκεανὸν
εἰς
τὸν
σύλλογον
τῶν
θεῶν (on this cp. Il. xx. 7
οὔτε
τις
οὖν
Ποταμῶν
ἀπέην
νόσφ᾽
᾿Ὠκεανοῖο). The anapaests of Oceanus accompany the descent of the chorus from their chariot into the orchestra. - This scene and the second episode form the second act, the beginning of the action which leads to the catastrophe. See on 307 and 436.
284.
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284.
δολιχῆς : an epic word. The way is long because Oceanus comes from the depths of the sea. Cp. 300 f.
285.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-205
285.
διαμειψάμενος : cp. Sept. 334
δια-
μεῖψαι
ὁδόν, 856
δι᾽
᾿Αχέροντ᾽
ἀμείβεται
τὰν
ναύστολον
θεωρίδα. ‘Dicendum erat
κέλευθον
διαμείβεσθαι, pro quo
τέρμα
κελεύθου dixit ratione habita verbi
ἥκω' (Dindorf). Cp. Eur. Phoen. 163
εἴθε
δρόμον
νεφέλας
ποσὶν
ἐξανύσαιμι
δι᾽
αἰθέρος
πρὸς
ἐμὸν
ὁμογενέ-
τορα.
286.
mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-206
286.
πτερυγωκή: formed like
πο-
δώκης. Cp.
ὠκύπτερος.
287.
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287.
γνώμῃ : 'admirationis augen- dae causa non brutus, sed mente ac ratione praeditus esse fingitur' (Schütz). In Il. xviii. 419, the golden handmaids of Hephaestus are endowed with reason, speech, and power of action; in Od. viii. 556, the ships of the Phaeacians sail
τιτυσκό-
μεναι
φρεσί, and we are told that
αὐταὶ
ἴσασι
νοήματα
καὶ
φρένας
ἀνδρῶν. As these ships need neither helms- man nor rudder, so Oceanus's steed needs no bit, because of its own ac- cord it obeys the will
(γνώμη) of its rider.
