Parodos
[Choral 1]
Do not fear! For our group has come in swift rivalry of wings to this crag
Chorus
as friend to you, having won our father’s consent as best we might. The swift-coursing breezes bore me on; for the reverberation of the clang of iron pierced the depths of our caves and drove my grave modesty away in fright;
130
unsandalled I have hastened in a winged car.
135
[Choral]
Alas! Alas! Offspring of fruitful Tethys and of him who with his sleepless current encircles the whole earth, children of your
Prometheus
father Oceanus, behold, see with what fetters, upon the summit crag of this ravine, I am to hold my unenviable watch.
140
[Choral 1]
I see, Prometheus;
Chorus
and over my eyes a mist of tears and fear spread as I saw your body withering ignominiously upon this rock in these bonds of adamant. For there are new rulers in heaven, and Zeus governs with
145
lawless customs; that which was mighty before he now brings to nothing.
150
[Choral]
Oh if only he had hurled me below the earth, yes beneath Hades, the entertainer of the dead, into impassable Tartarus,
Prometheus
and had ruthlessly fastened me in fetters no hand can loose, so that neither god nor any other might have gloated over this agony I feel! But, now, a miserable plaything of the winds, I suffer pains to delight my enemies.
155
[Choral 2]
Who of the gods is so hard of heart as to exult in this? Who does not sympathize with your woes—save only Zeus? But he in malice, has set his soul inflexibly
160
Chorus
and keeps in subjection the race sprung from Uranus; nor will he stop, until he has satiated his soul or another seizes his impregnable empire by some device of guile.
165
[Choral]
Truly the day shall come when, although I am tortured in stubborn fetters,
Prometheus
the prince of the blessed will need me to reveal the new design whereby he shall be stripped of his sceptre and his dignities. Not by persuasion’s honeyed enchantments will he charm me;
170
and I will never, cowering before his dire threats, divulge this secret, until he releases me from my cruel bonds and provides compensation for this outrage.
175
[Choral 2]
You are bold, and do not yield to your bitter pangs; you give too much license to your tongue. But my soul is agitated by piercing fear, and I am in dread about your fate,
180
Chorus
wondering to what haven you must steer your ship to see an end of your voyage of sorrow. For the heart of Cronus’ son is hardened against entreaty and his ways are inexorable.
185
[Choral]
I know that Zeus is harsh and
Prometheus
keeps justice in his own hands; but nevertheless one day his judgement will soften, when he has been crushed in the way that I know.A veiled allusion to the secret hinted at in l.171.Then, calming down his stubborn wrath, he shall at last bond with me in union and friendship,
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as eager as I am to welcome him.
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