N. Wecklein Prometheus Bound 46.comm-46

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.) — 1-127 focus
Προμηθεὺς δεσμώτης Perseus (Aeschylus, Volume 1. Smyth, Herbert Weir, editor. London; New York: William Heinemann; G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1922.) — 1-127 focus
Προμηθεὺς Δεσμώτης (OCR draft) Experimental (Προμηθεὺς Δεσμώτης. Guilielmus Dindorfius, 1882.) — 36 focus
Προμηθεὺς Δεσμώτης (OCR draft) Experimental (Προμηθεὺς Δεσμώτης. Gottfried Hermann, 1852.) — 36 focus
ΠΡΟΜΗθΕΥΣ ΔΕΣΜΩΤΗΣ (OCR draft) Experimental (ΠΡΟΜΗθΕΥΣ ΔΕΣΜΩΤΗΣ. Paul Mazon, 1920-1925.) — 36 focus
Προμηθεὺς Δεσμώτης (OCR draft) Experimental (Προμηθεὺς Δεσμώτης. N. Wecklein, 1885.) — 36 focus
εἶεν, τί μέλλεις καὶ κατοικτίζῃ μάτην;
τί τὸν θεοῖς ἔχθιστον οὐ στυγεῖς θεόν,
ὅστις τὸ σὸν θνητοῖσι προύδωκεν γέρας;
Aeschyli Prometheus Vinctus (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschyli Prometheus Vinctus. Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, 1914.) — 36 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.)) — 1-125 focus
Prometheus Bound. (OCR draft) Experimental (Prometheus Bound.. Theodore Alois Buckley, 1849.) — 36 focus
Well, well! Why art thou delaying and vainly commiserating? Why loathest thou not the god that is most hateful to the gods, who has betrayed thy prerogative to mortals?
PROMÉTHÉE ENCHAINÉ (OCR draft) Experimental (PROMÉTHÉE ENCHAINÉ. Paul Mazon, 1920-1925.) — 36 focus
Allons ! pourquoi tarder, te lamenter en vain ? N'as-tu pas en horreur le dieu maudit des dieux qui a osé livrer ton privilège aux hommes ?
Prometheus Chained (OCR draft) Experimental (Prometheus Chained. Robert Potter, 1779.) — 36 focus
No more: why theſe delays, this fooliſh pity?
Doſt thou not hate a god by gods abhor'd,
That proſtitutes thy radiant boaſt to man?
45
Eschilo, Prometeo legato: traduzione italiana di Ettore Romagnoli (OCR draft) Experimental (Eschilo, Prometeo legato: traduzione italiana di Ettore Romagnoli. Ettore Romagnoli, 1922.) — 36 focus
Dell'amor pei mortali è questo il frutto.
Poiché senza temer l'ira dei Numi,
Nume tu stesso, indebiti favori
40
agli umani largisti.
Ora, in compenso,
vegliar dovrai questa dogliosa rupe,
senza mai sonno, in piè, senza mai flettere
le tue ginocchia, e cento ululi e gemiti
45
invano leverai:
ché il cuor di Giove
nessuna prece lo commuove; ed aspro
è ciascun che di fresco ebbe il potere.
Aeschylus, Prometheus vinctus: versio Latina Ioannis Sanravii (OCR draft) Experimental (Aeschylus, Prometheus vinctus: versio Latina Ioannis Sanravii. Ioannes Sanravius, 1555.) — 36 focus
Eſto, quid cunctaris et imploras misericordiam
frustra?
Quid non odio proſequeris dijs inimiciſimum deum,
40
Qui tuum munus mortalibus præbuit?
Prometheus Bound (OCR draft) Experimental (Prometheus Bound. Anna Swanwick, 1886.) — 37 focus
CHORUS
ANTISTROPHE I.
I see, Prometheus, and through fear
Doth mist of many tears mine eyes bedew,
As, 'gainst this rock, parched up, in tortures drear
Of adamantine bonds, thy form I view.
For helmsmen new of sway
Olympos hold; by laws new-made
Zeus wieldeth empire, impulse-swayed;
While what was grand of old he sweeps away.
PROMETHEUS
Neath earth, 'neath Hades' shade-receiving plains,
Sheer down to Tartaros' unmeasured gloom
Would he had hurled me ruthless, bound with chains
That none may loose ;-So then at this my doom
Had no one mock'd,—nor god, nor other kind.
But now most wretched, sport of every wind,
The laughter of my foes, I bear these pains.
CHORUS
STROPHE II.
Who of the gods a heart doth own
So hard, to mock at thy despair?
Who at thy woes, save Zeus alone,
Doth not thine anguish share?
But ruthless still, with soul unbent,
The heavenly race he tames, nor will refrain
Till sated to his heart's content;
Or till another, by some cunning snare,
Wrest from his grasp the firmly guarded reign.
PROMETHEUS
Yet e'en of me although now wrung
In stubborn chains shall he have need,
This ruler of the blest-to read
The counsel new by which his sway
And honours shall be stript away.
But not persuasion's honied tongue
My stedfast soul shall charm;
Nor will I, crouching in alarm,
Divulge the secret, till these savage chains
He loose, and yield requital for my pains.
CHORUS
ANTISTROPHE II.
Daring thou art and yieldest nought
For bitter agony; with tongue
Unbridled thou art all too free.
But by keen fear my heart is stung;
I tremble for thy doom—ah, me!
Thy barque into what haven may'st thou steer,
Of these dire pangs the end to see?
For inaccessible, of mood severe
Is Kronos' son, inflexible his thought.
PROMETHEUS
That Zeus is stern full well I know,
And by his will doth measure right.
But, smitten by this destined blow,
Softened shall one day be his might.
Then curbing his harsh temper, he
Full eagerly will hither wend,
To join in league and amity with me,
Eager no less to welcome him as friend.
CHORUS
To us thy tale unfold; the whole speak out;
Upon what charge Zeus, seizing thee, doth thus
Outrage with harsh and ignominious pain?
Inform us if the telling breed no harm.
PROMETHEUS
Grievous to me it is these things to tell,
Grief to be silent: trouble every way.
When first the heavenly powers were moved to rage,
And in opposing factions ranged their might,
These wishing Kronos from his seat to hurl
That Zeus forsooth might reign; these, counter-wise,
Resolved that o'er the gods Zeus ne'er should rule;
Then I with sagest counsel strove to move
The Titans, progeny of heaven and earth,
But strove in vain; for they, in stubborn souls
Of crafty wiles disdainful, thought by force,
An easy task, the mastery to gain.
But me, not once but oft, my mother Themis,
And Earth (one shape with many names) had told
Prophetic, how the future should be wrought.
That not by strength of thew or hardiment
Should mastery be compassed, but by guile;
But when this lore I did expound in words,
They deigned me not a single look; whereon,
Of courses free to choose, the wisest seemed
Leagued with my mother, of my own free will
The will of Zeus to meet, siding with him,
And by my counsels black-roofed Tartaros'
Murky abyss primeval Kronos now
Engulfs with his allies; such benefits
From me the tyrant of the gods received,
And hath requited with these base returns.
For, someway, cleaveth aye to tyranny
This fell disease; to have no faith in friends.
But touching which ye ask me, on what charge
He thus maltreats me; this will I make clear.
When seated on his father's throne, forthwith,
He to the several gods was dealing out
Their several honours, marshalling his realm;
But he of toil-worn mortals took no count;
The race entire he ardently desired
To quench, and plant a new one in its stead.
And none but I opposed his purposes;
I dared alone;—I saved the mortal race
From sinking blasted down to Hades' gloom.
244
For this by these dire tortures I am bent,
Grievous to suffer, piteous to behold.
I who did mortals pity, of like grace
Am deem'd unworthy, but am grimly thus
Tuned to his will, a sight of shame to Zeus.
CHORUS
Iron of heart, ay, fashion'd out of rock
Is he, Prometheus, who for these thy pangs
Shareth not anguish; for myself, this sight
I fain had shunned; seeing, my heart is wrung.
PROMETHEUS
To friends, in sooth, a spectacle of woe.
CHORUS
But beyond this didst haply aught essay?
PROMETHEUS
Mortals I hindered from foreseeing death.
CHORUS
Finding what medicine for this disease?
PROMETHEUS
Within their hearts I caused blind hopes to dwell.
CHORUS
Vast boon was this thou gavest unto mortals.
PROMETHEUS
Yea, and besides 'twas I that gave them fire.
CHORUS
Have now these short-lived creatures flame-eyed fire?
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.) — 36 focus
Enough of useless ruth! why tarriest thou?
Why pitiest one whom all gods wholly hate,
One who to man gave o'er thy privilege?
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.) — 36 focus
Auf! Was verziehst du, hegst umsonst Mitleid mit ihm?
Was zürnest du dem gottverhaften Gotte nicht,
Ihm, der des Staubes Söhnen dein Kleinod verrieth?

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 46; verify numbering and scope.

Commentary

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

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

1
2
1-127: Prologue (πρόλογος).

1-87. mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-2

3
4
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.

46. mvp-aeschylus-tlg0085-tlg003-wecklein-allen1893-com-eng1-36

5
6
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.