Four Plays of Aeschylus Part 31

PROMETHEUS

Yea-seek not therefore to foreknow thy woes.

IO

As thou didst proffer hope, withdraw it not.

PROMETHEUS

Two tales I have-choose! for I grant thee one.

IO

And which be they? reveal, and leave me choice.

PROMETHEUS

I grant it: shall I in all clearness show Thy future woes, or my deliverance?

CHORUS

Nay! of the two, vouchsafe her wish to her And mine to me, deigning a truth to each- To her, reveal her future wanderings- To me, thy future saviour, as I crave!

PROMETHEUS

I will not set myself to thwart your will Withholding aught of what ye crave to know.

First to thee, Io, will I tell and trace Thy scared circuitous wandering mark it well, Deep in retentive tablets of the soul.

When thou hast overpast the ferry's flow That sunders continent from continent, Straight to the eastward and the flaming face Of dawn, and highways trodden by the sun, Pa.s.s, till thou come unto the windy land Of daughters born to Boreas: beware Lest the strong spirit of the stormy blast s.n.a.t.c.h thee aloft, and sweep thee to the void, On wings of raving wintry hurricane!

Wend by the noisy tumult of the wave, Until thou reach the Gorgon-haunted plains Beside Cisthene. In that solitude Dwell Phorcys' daughters, beldames worn with time, Three, each swan-shapen, single-toothed, and all Peering thro' shared endowment of one eye; Never on them doth the sun shed his rays, Never falls radiance of the midnight moon.

But, hard by these, their sisters, clad with wings, Serpentine-curled, dwell, loathed of mortal men,- The Gorgons!-he of men who looks on them Shall gasp away his life. Of such fell guard I bid thee to beware. Now, mark my words When I another sight of terror tell- Beware the Gryphon pack, the hounds of Zeus, As keen of fang as silent of their tongues!

Beware the one-eyed Arimaspian band That tramp on horse-hoofs, dwelling by the ford Of Pluto and the stream that flows with gold: Keep thou aloof from these. To the world's end Thou comest at the last, the dark-faced tribe That dwell beside the sources of the sun, Where springs the river, Aethiopian named.

Make thou thy way along his bank, until Thou come unto the mighty downward slope Where from the overland of Bybline hills Nile pours his hallowed earth-refres.h.i.+ng wave.

He by his course shall guide thee to the realm Named from himself, three-angled, water-girt; There, Io, at the last, hath Fate ordained, For thee and for thy race, the charge to found, Far from thy native sh.o.r.e, a new abode.

Lo, I have said: if aught hereof appear Hard to thy sense and inarticulate, Question me o'er again, and soothly learn- G.o.d wot, I have too much of leisure here!

CHORUS

If there be aught beyond, or aught pa.s.s'd o'er, Which thou canst utter, of her woe-worn maze, Speak on! if all is said, then grant to us That which we asked, as thou rememberest.

PROMETHEUS

She now hath learned, unto its utmost end, Her pilgrimage; but yet, that she may know That 'tis no futile fable she hath heard, I will recount her history of toil Ere she came hither; let it stand for proof Of what I told, my forecast of the end.

So, then-to sum in brief the weary tale- I turn me to thine earlier exile's close.

When to Molossia's lowland thou hadst come, Nigh to Dodona's cliff and ridge sublime, (Where is the shrine oracular and seat Of Zeus, Thesprotian styled, and that strange thing And marvel past belief, the prophet-oaks That syllable his speech), thou by their tongues, With clear acclaim and unequivocal, Wert thus saluted-Hail, O bride of Zeus That art to be-hast memory thereof?

Thence, stung anew with frenzy, thou didst hie Along the sh.o.r.eward track, to Rhea's lap, The mighty main; then, stormily distraught, Backward again and eastward. To all time, Be well a.s.sured, that inlet of the sea All mortal men shall call Ionian, In memory that Io fared thereby.

Take this for proof and witness that my mind Hath more in ken than ever sense hath shown.

(To the CHORUS) That which remains, to you and her alike I will relate, and, to my former words Reverting, add this final prophecy.

(To Io) There lieth, at the verge of land and sea, Where Nilus issues thro' the silted sand, A town, Canopus called: and there at length Shall Zeus renew the reason in thy brain With the mere touch and contact of his hand Fraught now with fear no more: and thou shalt bear A child, dark Epaphus-his very name Memorial of Zeus' touch that gave him life.

And his shall be the foison and the fruit Of all the land enriched by spreading Nile.

Thence the fifth generation of his seed Back unto Argos, yet unwillingly, Shall flee for refuge-fifty maidens they, Loathing a wedlock with their next in blood, More kin than kind, from their sire's brother sprung.

And on their track, astir with wild desire, Like falcons fierce closing on doves that flee, Shall speed the suitors, craving to achieve A prey forbidden, a reluctant bride.

Yet power divine shall foil them, and forbid Possession of the maids, whom Argive land Shall hold protected, when unsleeping hate, Horror, and watchful ambush of the night, Have laid the suitors dead, by female hands.

For every maid shall smite a man to death, Dyeing a dagger's edges in his throat- Such bed of love befall mine enemies!

Yet in one bride shall yearning conquer hate, Bidding her spare the bridegroom at her side, Blunting the keen edge of her set resolve.

Thus of two scorns the former shall she choose, The name of coward, not of murderess.

In Argos shall she bear, in after time, A royal offspring. Long it were to tell In clear succession all that thence shall be.

Take this for sooth-in lineage from her A hero shall arise, an archer great, And he shall be my saviour from these woes.

Such knowledge of the future Themis gave, The ancient t.i.taness, to me her son.

But how, and by what skill, 'twere long to say, And no whit will the knowledge profit thee.

IO

O woe, O rending and convulsive pain, Frenzy and agony, again, again Searing my heart and brain!

O dagger of the sting, unforged with fire Yet burning, burning ever! O my heart, Pulsing with horror, beating at my breast!

O rolling maddened eyes! away, apart, Raving with anguish dire, I spring, by frenzy-fiends possest.

O wild and whirling words, that sweep in gloom Down to dark waves of doom!

[Exit IO.

CHORUS

O well and sagely was it said- Yea, wise of heart was he who first Gave forth in speech the thought he nursed- In thine own order see thou wed!

Let not the humble heart aspire To the gross home of wealth and pride; Nor be it to a hearth allied That vaunts of many a n.o.ble sire.

O Fates, of awful empery!

Never may I by Zeus be wooed- Never give o'er my maidenhood To any G.o.d that dwells on high.

A shudder to my soul is sent, Beholding Io's doom forlorn- By Hera's malice put to scorn, Roaming in mateless banishment.

From wedlock's crown of fair desire I would not shrink-an idle fear!

But may no G.o.d to me draw near With shunless might and glance of fire!

That were a strife wherein no chance Of conquest lies: from Zeus most high And his resolve, no subtlety Could win me my deliverance.

PROMETHEUS

And yet shall Zeus, for all his stubborn pride, Be brought to low estate! aha, he schemes Such wedlock as shall bring his doom on him, Flung from his kings.h.i.+p to oblivion's lap!

Ay, then the curse his father Cronos spake As he fell helpless from his agelong throne, Shall be fulfilled unto the utterance!

No G.o.d but I can manifest to him A rescue from such ruin as impends- I know it, I, and how it may be foiled.

Go to, then, let him sit and blindly trust His skyey rumblings, for security, And wave his levin with its blast of flame!

All will avail him not, nor bar his fall Down to dishonour vile, intolerable So strong a wrestler is he moulding now To his own proper downfall-yea, a shape Portentous and unconquerably huge, Who truly shall reveal a flame more strong Than is the lightning, and a crash of sound More loud than thunder, and shall dash to nought Poseidon's trident-spear, the ocean-bane That makes the firm earth quiver. Let Zeus strike Once on this rock, he speedily shall learn How far the fall from power to slavery!

CHORUS

Beware! thy wish doth challenge Zeus himself.

PROMETHEUS

I voice my wish and its fulfilment too.

CHORUS

What, dare we look for one to conquer Zeus?

PROMETHEUS

Ay-Zeus shall wear more painful bonds than mine

CHORUS

Darest thou speak such taunts and tremble not?