N. Wecklein Prometheus Bound 151.comm-151

F. D. Allen (Translator)

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Prometheus Bound. N. Wecklein. F. D. Allen (Translator). . .

Current edition Experimental

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

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (7)
Προμηθεὺς Δεσμώτης First1KGreek (Aeschyli Tragoediae. Sidgwick, Arthur, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1902.) — 128-194 focus
Προμηθεὺς δεσμώτης Perseus (Aeschylus, Volume 1. Smyth, Herbert Weir, editor. London; New York: William Heinemann; G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1922.) — 128-195 focus
Προμηθεὺς Δεσμώτης (OCR draft) Experimental (Προμηθεὺς Δεσμώτης. Guilielmus Dindorfius, 1882.) — 144 focus
Προμηθεὺς Δεσμώτης (OCR draft) Experimental (Προμηθεὺς Δεσμώτης. Gottfried Hermann, 1852.) — 144 focus
ΠΡΟΜΗθΕΥΣ ΔΕΣΜΩΤΗΣ (OCR draft) Experimental (ΠΡΟΜΗθΕΥΣ ΔΕΣΜΩΤΗΣ. Paul Mazon, 1920-1925.) — 144 focus
Προμηθεὺς Δεσμώτης (OCR draft) Experimental (Προμηθεὺς Δεσμώτης. N. Wecklein, 1885.) — 144 focus
λεύσσω, Προμηθεῦ· φοβερὰ
150
δ᾽ ἐμοῖσιν ὄσσοις
ὁμίχλη προσῇξε πλήρης
δακρύων, σὸν δέμας εἰσιδοῦσα
πέτραις προσαυαινόμενον
ταῖσδ᾽ ἀδαμαντοδέτοισι λύμαις·
155
νέοι γὰρ οἰακονόμοι
κρατοῦσ᾽ Ὀλύμπου,
νεοχμοῖς δὲ δὴ νόμοις
Ζεὺς ἀθέτως κρατύνει.
τὰ πρὶν δὲ πελώρια νῦν ἀιστοῖ.
160
εἰ γάρ μ' ὑπὸ γῆν νέρθεν θ' Ἅιδου
τοῦ νεκροδέγμονος
εἰς ἀπέραντον Τάρταρον ἧκεν,
δεσμοῖς ἀλύτοις ἀγρίοις πελάσας,
ὡς μήτε θεὸς μήτε τις ἄλλος
165
τοῖσδ᾽ ἐπεγήθει.
νῦν δ᾽ αἰθέριον κίνυγμ᾽ ὁ τάλας
ἐχθροῖς ἐπίχαρτα πέπονθα.
Aeschyli Prometheus Vinctus (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschyli Prometheus Vinctus. Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, 1914.) — 144 focus
Translations (9)
Prometheus Bound Perseus (Aeschylus, Volume 1. Smyth, Herbert Weir, translator. London; New York: William Heinemann; G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1922. (Modernized by Perseus.)) — 128-195 focus
Prometheus Bound. (OCR draft) Experimental (Prometheus Bound.. Theodore Alois Buckley, 1849.) — 144 focus
I see, Prometheus: and a fearful mist full of tears darts over mine eyes, as I looked on thy frame withering on the rocks
in these galling adamantine fetters: for new pilots are the masters of Olympus; and Jove, contrary to right, lords it with new laws, and things aforetime had in reverence he is obliterating.
Oh would that he had sent me beneath the earth, and below into the boundless Tartarus of Hades that receives the dead, after savagely securing me in indissoluble bonds, so that no god at any time, nor any other being, had exulted in this my doom. Whereas now, hapless one, I, the sport of the winds, suffer pangs that gladden my foes.
PROMÉTHÉE ENCHAINÉ (OCR draft) Experimental (PROMÉTHÉE ENCHAINÉ. Paul Mazon, 1920-1925.) — 144 focus
au nom de lois nouvelles, Zeus exerce un pouvoir sans règle et détruit aujourd'hui les colosses d'antan.
mes ennemis !
Prometheus Chained (OCR draft) Experimental (Prometheus Chained. Robert Potter, 1779.) — 144 focus
I ſee, I ſee; and o'er my eyes,
150
Surcharg'd with ſorrow's tearful rain,.
Dark'ning the miſty clouds ariſe;
I ſee thy adamantine chain;
In its ſtrong graſp thy limbs confin'd,
And withering in the parching wind:
155
Such the ſtern pow'r of heav'n's newſceptred lord,
And lawcontrolling Jove's irrevocable word.
Beneath the earth,
Beneath the gulfs of Tartarus, g
that ſpread
Interminable o'er the dead,
160
Had his ſtern fury fix'd this rigid chain,
Nor gods, nor men had triumph'd in my pain.
But pendent in th' ætherial air,
The pageant gratifies my ruthleſs foes,
That gaze, inſult, and glory in my woes. h
165
Eschilo, Prometeo legato: traduzione italiana di Ettore Romagnoli (OCR draft) Experimental (Eschilo, Prometeo legato: traduzione italiana di Ettore Romagnoli. Ettore Romagnoli, 1922.) — 144 focus
Ahimè, ahimè!
Prometeo, veggo. Ed una fosca nuvola
di lagrimose stille
mi preme le pupille,
te contemplando in lacci indissolubili
170
•
Aeschylus, Prometheus vinctus: versio Latina Ioannis Sanravii (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschylus, Prometheus vinctus: versio Latina Ioannis Sanravii. Ioannes Sanravius, 1555.) — 144 focus
Videó Prometheu, horrida meis oculis
Nebula incidit, plena
150
Lachrymis, tuum corpus uidens,
In lapidibus contabefactum
Adamantinis uinculis.
Nouì gubernatores imperant Olympo,
Nouis uerò legibus Iupiter nefarie imperat:
155
Saturnalia quæ antea erant, iam sunt exautorata.
Sì uerò me sub terram ad inferos
Mortiferos in immenſum
Tartarum misiſſet, uinculis in disſolutis
Ferociter appropinquans, ut neque Deus,
160
Prometheus Bound (OCR draft) Experimental (Prometheus Bound. Anna Swanwick, 1886.) — 137 focus
IO
Is there for him no refuge from this doom?
PROMETHEUS
No, none; unless I be from bonds released.
IO
Who shall release thee 'gainst the will of Zeus?

PROMETHEUS
One of thine own descendants it must be.
IO
How so? shall child of mine free thee from bale?
PROMETHEUS
Count ten descents, and after them a third.
IO
Not easy is this oracle to spell.
PROMETHEUS
So neither seek thy proper grief to learn.
IO
Nay, hold not forth a boon and straight withdraw it.
PROMETHEUS
Of two narrations I will grant thee one.
IO
Set forth the twain, the choice then leave to me.
PROMETHEUS
Granted: Shall I the remnant of thy woes
Plainly declare, or who shall set me free?

Chorus
Of these to her the former grace vouchsafe
To me the latter; spurn not my request.
To her the sequel of her course disclose,
To me thy rescuer; for this I crave.
PROMETHEUS
Since ye are eager I will thwart you not,
Nor will withhold what ye desire to know.
First, Io, thy vex'd course to thee I'll tell,
Which in thy mind's recording tablets grave.
When thou hast crossed the flood, limit betwixt
Two continents, fronting the burning East *

Trod by the sun, [then onward hold thy course.
Fierce northern blasts thou wilt encounter first;
1
Shun thou their downward rush, lest, unaware,
In wintry tempest thou be rudely caught.]
The sounding main then do thou skirt until
Kisthene's * Gorgoneian plains thou reach,
Where dwell the Phorkides, † maids grey with eld,
Three, swan-shaped, of one common eye possessed,
One common tooth, whom neither with his beams
The sun beholdeth, nor the nightly moon;
And near them dwell their wingèd sisters three,

Gorgons, with snaky locks, of men abhorred;
Whom never mortal may behold and breathe.
This for thy warning I relate to thee;
But list another spectacle of dread.
The unbarking hounds of Zeus, sharp-mouthed, beware,—
The Griffins; and the Arimaspian ‡ host,
2 3 4
Horse-mounted, single-eyed, around the stream
Who dwell of Pluto's gold-abounding flood. *
To these approach not; a far border-land
Thou next shalt reach, where dwells a swarthy race,
Near the sun's founts, whence is the Æthiop river. ‡
Along its banks proceed till thou attain
The mighty rapids, where from Bybline heights

Pure draughts of sacred water Neilos sends.
He to the land, three-cornered, thee shall guide,
Nile-girt, where, Io, 'tis ordained for thee
And for thy sons that far-off colony
To found ;-if aught of this seem dark to thee,
5 6
Or hard to spell, ask and be taught in full;
For leisure have I, more than I desire.
Chorus
If aught untold of her sore-wasting course
Remains by thee to be unfolded, speak.
But if thou hast told all, to us vouchsafe

The boon we craved; its scope full well thou knowest.
PROMETHEUS
She of her roaming hath the limit heard,
But yet that she may know that not in vain
She heard my tale, her woes ere coming here
I will relate, sure pledge my words are true.
Tedious array of words I shall omit,
And of thy roamings reach at once the goal;
For when Molossia's plains thy foot had trod,
Round lofty-ridged Dodona, where is found
The seat prophetic of Thesprotian Zeus,

And, portent past belief, the speaking oaks,
By which full clearly, in no riddling phrase,
Wast hailed as the illustrious spouse of Zeus,
Fate-destined,—doth this flatter thee at all?—
Thence, fiercely stung, along the sea-washed tract,
To Rhea's mighty gulf didst hurry,—whence
In courses retrograde wast rudely tossed.
But know thou this, that through all future time
That sea-gulf shall the name Ionian bear,
To all mankind memorial of thy way;

These then to thee be tokens of my mind,
That more discerneth than doth meet the sense.
English (E. D. A. Morshead, 1908) (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound — Morshead translation. Wikisource transcription; speech corresp and card milestones aligned to Smyth perseus-grc2.) — 144 focus
Yea, I behold, Prometheus! and my fears
160
Draw swiftly o'er mine eyes a mist fulfilled of tears,
When I behold thy frame
Bound, wasting on the rock, and put to shame
By adamantine chains!
The rudder and the rule of Heaven
165
Are to strange pilots given:
Zeus with new laws and strong caprice holds sway,
Unkings the ancient Powers, their might constrains,
And thrusts their pride away!
Had he but hurled me, far beneath
170
The vast and ghostly halls of Death,
Down to the limitless profound
Of Tartarus, in fetters bound,
Fixed by his unrelenting hand!
So had no man, nor God on high,
175
Exulted o'er mine agony—
But now, a sport to wind and sky,
Mocked by my foes, I stand!
German (J. J. C. Donner, 1854; OCR review) (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschylos. Deutsch in den Versmaßen der Urschrift. Stuttgart: Hoffmann, 1854. Native Donner line citations, Smyth card correspondence, selected textual readings and metrical facsimiles. Remaining OCR differences and unattributed reading notes are documented in the linked review inventory.) — 144 focus
Ich seh's, Prometheus; um das Auge lagert grauend
Vor Entseyen, schwer von Thränen,
Ein Gewölk, daß ich in Qualen also
145
Dich sehen muß schmachtend am Fels,
Duldend die Last diamant'ner Bande !
Denn neue Herrn walten am Steu=
er im Olymp, und der Kroni=
de herrscht, gemäß neuem Gesek, geseklos:
150
Das früher Gewaltige stürzt er nieder.
O hätt' er hinab in den Hades mich
Zu den Todten gestürzt, in der Tartarosnacht
Unermeßliche Kluft, mit unlösbarem Band
Zornvoll mich umstrickt, daß weder ein Gott
155
Noch ein Anderer sonst frohlockte darob!
Nun schweb' ich den Lüften ein Spielwerk hier,
Muß dulden zur Lust für die Feinde !
Zweite Strophe.

Notes on the current edition

Prometheus Bound

1. Two-source OCR draft: unmatched words are bracketed; readings, punctuation, possible marginalia and note boundaries remain unverified. Agreement between OCR sources is not proof of correctness.
2. Reference placement provisional: local window supported by running Greek. Source note 151; verify numbering and scope.

Commentary

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

151. mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-hermann1852-appcrit-lat1-149

δὲ:
γάρ
pro
δὲ
G.

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

128-192. mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-99

1
2
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.

151. mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-117

3
4
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.