Strength to Prometheus.
Hero taunt away, and the gods' honours filching,
Bestow on creatures of a day; from thee
How much can mortals of these woes drain off?
Thee falsely do the gods Prometheus[1] name,
For a Prometheus thou thyself dost need,
To plan releasement from this handiwork.
[Exeunt Hephæstos, Strength, and Force.
Prometheus.
Oh holy ether, swiftly-wingèd gales,
Fountains of rivers, and of ocean-waves
Innumerable laughter, general mother Earth, 90
And orb all-seeing of the sun, I call:
Behold what I, a god, from gods endure.
See, wasted by what pains
Wrestle I must while myriad time shall flow!
Such ignominious chains
Hath he who newly reigns,
Chief of the blest, devised against me.Woe!
Ah woe! the torture of the hour
I wail, ay, and of anguish'd throes
The future dower,
How, when, shall rise a limit to these woes? 100
And yet what say I? clearly I foreknow
All that must happen; nor can woe betide
Stranger to me; the Destined it behoves,
As best I may, to bear, for well I wot
- ↑ From πρό, μῆτις—forethought.
