PROMETHEUS CHAINED.

by Aeschylus

  Prometheus having, by his attention to the wants of men,
  provoked the anger of Jove, is bound down in a cleft of a
  rock in a distant desert of Scythia. Here he not only
  relates the wanderings, but foretells the future lot of
  Io, and likewise alludes to the fall of Jove's dynasty.
  Disdaining to explain his meaning to Mercury, he is swept
  into the abyss amid terrific hurricane and earthquake.


PERSONS REPRESENTED.


  STRENGTH.
  FORCE.
  VULCAN.
  PROMETHEUS.
  CHORUS OF NYMPHS, DAUGHTERS OF OCEAN.
  IO, DAUGHTER OF INACHUS.
  MERCURY.


STRENGTH, FORCE, VULCAN, PROMETHEUS.

STRENGTH. [1]We are come to a plain, the distant boundary of the earth,
to the Scythian track, to an untrodden[2] desert. Vulcan, it behooves
thee that the mandates, which thy Sire imposed, be thy concern--to bind
this daring wretch[3] to the lofty-cragged rocks, in fetters of
adamantine chains that can not be broken; for he stole and gave to
mortals thy honor, the brilliancy of fire [that aids] all arts.[4] Hence
for such a trespass he must needs give retribution to the gods, that he
may be taught to submit to the sovereignty of Jupiter, and to cease from
his philanthropic disposition.

VULCAN. Strength and Force, as far as you are concerned, the mandate of
Jupiter has now[5] its consummation, and there is no farther obstacle.
But I have not the courage to bind perforce a kindred god to this
weather-beaten ravine. Yet in every way it is necessary for me to take
courage for this task; for a dreadful thing it is to disregard[6] the
directions of the Sire.[7] Lofty-scheming son of right-counseling
Themis, unwilling shall I rivet thee unwilling in indissoluble shackles
to this solitary rock, where nor voice nor form of any one of mortals
shalt thou see;[8] but slowly scorched by the bright blaze of the sun
thou shalt lose the bloom of thy complexion; and to thee joyous shall
night in spangled robe[9] veil the light; and the sun again disperse the
hoar-frost of the morn; and evermore shall the pain of the present evil
waste thee; for no one yet born shall release thee. Such fruits hast
thou reaped from thy friendly disposition to mankind. For thou, a god,
not crouching beneath the wrath of the gods, hast imparted to mortals
honors beyond what was right. In requital whereof thou shalt keep
sentinel on this cheerless rock, standing erect, sleepless, not bending
a knee:[10] and many laments and unavailing groans shalt thou utter; for
the heart of Jupiter is hard to be entreated; and every one that has
newly-acquired power is stern.

ST. 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?

VUL. Relationship and intimacy are of great power.

ST. I grant it--but how is it possible to disobey the Sire's word?
Dreadest thou not this the rather?

VUL. Ay truly thou art ever pitiless and full of boldness.

ST. For to deplore this wretch is no cure [for him]. But concern not
thou thyself vainly with matters that are of no advantage.

VUL. O much detested handicraft!

ST. Wherefore loathest thou it! for with the ills now present thy craft
in good truth is not at all chargeable.

VUL. For all that, I would that some other had obtained this.

ST. Every thing has been achieved except for the gods to rule; for no
one is free save Jupiter.[11]

VUL. I know it--and I have nothing to say against it.[12]

ST. Wilt thou not then bestir thyself to cast fetters about this wretch,
that the Sire may not espy thee loitering?

VUL. Ay, and in truth you may see the manacles ready.

ST. Take them, and with mighty force clench them with the mallet about
his hands: rivet him close to the crags.

VUL. This work of ours is speeding to its consummation and loiters not.

ST. Smite harder, tighten, slacken at no point, for he hath cunning to
find outlets even from impracticable difficulties.

VUL. This arm at all events is fastened inextricably.

ST. And now clasp this securely, that he may perceive himself to be a
duller contriver than Jupiter.

VUL. Save this [sufferer], no one could with reason find fault with me.

ST. Now by main force rivet the ruthless fang of an adamantine wedge
right through his breast.[13]

VUL. Alas! alas! Prometheus, I sigh over thy sufferings.

ST. Again thou art hanging back, and sighest thou over the enemies of
Jupiter? Look to it, that thou hast not at some time to mourn for
thyself.

VUL. Thou beholdest a spectacle ill-sighted to the eye.

ST. I behold this wretch receiving his deserts. But fling thou these
girths round his sides.

VUL. I must needs do this; urge me not very much.

ST. Ay, but I will urge thee, and set thee on too. Move downward, and
strongly link his legs.

VUL. And in truth the task is done with no long toil.

ST. With main force now smite the galling fetters, since stern indeed is
the inspector of this work.

VUL. Thy tongue sounds in accordance with thy form.

ST. Yield thou to softness, but taunt not me with ruthlessness and
harshness of temper.

VUL. Let us go; since he hath the shackles about his limbs.

ST. There now be insolent; and after pillaging the prerogatives of the
gods, confer them on creatures of a day. In what will mortals be able to
alleviate these agonies of thine? By no true title do the divinities
call thee Prometheus; for thou thyself hast need of a Prometheus, by
means of which you will slip out of this fate.[14]

  [_Exeunt_ STRENGTH _and_ FORCE.

PROMETHEUS. O divine æther, and ye swift-winged breezes, and ye
fountains of rivers, and countless dimpling[15] of the waves of the
deep, and thou earth, mother of all--and to the all-seeing orb of the
Sun I appeal; look upon me, what treatment I, a god, am enduring at the
hand of the gods! Behold with what indignities mangled I shall have to
wrestle through time of years innumerable. Such an ignominious bondage
hath the new ruler of the immortals devised against me. Alas! alas! I
sigh over the present suffering, and that which is coming on. How, where
must a termination of these toils arise? And yet what is it I am saying?
I know beforehand all futurity exactly, and no suffering will come upon
me unlooked-for. But I needs must bear my doom as easily as may be,
knowing as I do, that the might of Necessity can not be resisted.

But yet it is not possible for me either to hold my peace, or not to
hold my peace touching these my fortunes. For having bestowed boons upon
mortals, I am enthralled unhappy in these hardships. And I am he that
searched out the source of fire, by stealth borne-off inclosed in a
fennel-rod,[16] which has shown itself a teacher of every art to
mortals, and a great resource. Such then as this is the vengeance that I
endure for my trespasses, being riveted in fetters beneath the naked
sky.

Hah! what sound, what ineffable odor[17] hath been wafted to me,
emanating from a god, or from mortal, or of some intermediate nature?
Has there come anyone to the remote rock as a spectator of my
sufferings, or with what intent![18] Behold me an ill-fated god in
durance, the foe of Jupiter, him that hath incurred the detestation of
all the gods who frequent the court of Jupiter, by reason of my
excessive friendliness to mortals. Alas! alas! what can this hasty
motion of birds be which I again hear hard by me? The air too is
whistling faintly with the whirrings of pinions. Every thing that
approaches is to me an object of dread.

CHORUS. Dread thou nothing; for this is a friendly band that has come
with the fleet rivalry of their pinions to this rock, after prevailing
with difficulty on the mind of our father. And the swiftly-wafting
breezes escorted me; for the echo of the clang of steel pierced to the
recess of our grots, and banished my demure-looking reserve; and I sped
without my sandals in my winged chariot.

PR. Alas! alas! ye offspring of prolific Thetys, and daughters of Ocean
your sire, who rolls around the whole earth in his unslumbering stream;
look upon me, see clasped in what bonds I shall keep an unenviable watch
on the topmost crags of this ravine.

CH. I see, Prometheus: and a fearful mist full of tears darts over mine
eyes, as I looked on thy frame withering on the rocks[19] 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.

PR. 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.

CH. Who of the gods is so hard-hearted as that these things should be
grateful to him? Who is there that sympathizes not with thy sufferings,
Jove excepted? He, indeed, in his wrath, assuming an inflexible temper,
is evermore oppressing the celestial race! nor will he cease before that
either he shall have sated his heart, or some one by some stratagem
shall have seized upon his sovereignity that will be no easy prize.

PR. In truth hereafter the president of the immortals[20] shall have
need of me, albeit that I am ignominiously suffering in stubborn
shackles, to discover to him the new plot by which he is to be despoiled
of his sceptre and his honors. But neither shall he win me by the
honey-tongued charms of persuasion; nor will I at any time, crouching
beneath his stern threats, divulge this matter, before he shall have
released me from my cruel bonds, and shall be willing to yield me
retribution for this outrage.

CH. Thou indeed both art bold, and yieldest nought to thy bitter
calamities, but art over free in thy language. But piercing terror is
worrying my soul; for I fear for thy fortunes. How, when will it be thy
destiny to make the haven and see the end of these thy sufferings? for
the son of Saturn has manners that supplication cannot reach, and an
inexorable heart.

PR. I know that Jupiter is harsh, and keeps justice to himself; but for
all that he shall hereafter be softened in purpose, when he shall be
crushed in this way; and, after calming his unyielding temper with
eagerness will he hereafter come into league and friendship with me that
will eagerly [welcome him].

CH. Unfold and speak out to us the whole story, from what accusation has
Jupiter seized thee, and is thus disgracefully and bitterly tormenting
thee. Inform us, if thou be in no respect hurt by the recital.

PR. Painful indeed are these things for me to tell, and painful too for
me to hold my peace, and in every way grievous. As soon as the
divinities began discord, and a feud was stirred up among them with one
another--one party[21] wishing to eject Saturn from his throne, in
order forsooth that Jupiter might be king, and others expediting the
reverse, that Jupiter might at no time rule over the gods: then I, when
I gave the best advice, was not able to prevail upon the Titans,
children of Uranus and Terra; but they, contemning in their stout
spirits wily schemes, fancied that without any trouble, and by dint of
main force, they were to win the sovereignty. But it was not once only
that my mother Themis, and Terra, a single person with many titles, had
forewarned me of the way in which the future would be accomplished; how
it was destined, that, not by main force, nor by the strong hand, but by
craft the victors should prevail. When, however, I explained such points
in discourse, they deigned not to pay me any regard at all. Of the plans
which then presented themselves to me, the best appeared that I should
take my mother and promptly side with Jupiter, who was right willing [to
receive us]. And 'tis by means of my counsels that the murky abyss of
Tartarus overwhelms the antique Saturn, allies and all. After thus being
assisted by me, the tyrant of the gods hath recompensed me with this
foul recompense. For somehow this malady attaches to tyranny, not to put
confidence in its friends. But for your inquiries upon what charge is it
that he outrages me, this I will make clear. As soon as he has
established himself on his father's throne, he assigns forthwith to the
different divinities each his honors, and he was marshaling in order his
empire; but of woe-begone mortals he made no account, but wished, after
having annihilated the entire race, to plant another new one. And these
schemes no one opposed except myself: But I dared: I ransomed mortals
from being utterly destroyed, and going down to Hades. 'Tis for this, in
truth, that I am bent by sufferings such as these, agonizing to endure,
and piteous to look upon. I that had compassion for mortals, have myself
been deemed unworthy to obtain this, but mercilessly am thus coerced to
order, a spectacle inglorious to Jupiter.

CH. Iron-hearted and formed of rock too, Prometheus, is he, who condoles
not with thy toils: for I could have wished never to have beheld them,
and now, when I behold them, I am pained in my heart.

PR. Ay, in very deed I am a piteous object for friends to behold.

CH. And didst thou chance to advance even beyond this?

PR. Yes! I prevented mortals from foreseeing their doom.

CH. By finding what remedy for this malady?

PR. I caused blind hopes to dwell within them.

CH. In this thou gavest a mighty benefit to mortals.

PR. Over and above these boons, however, I imparted fire to them.

CH. And do the creatures of a day now possess bright fire?

PR. Yes--from which they will moreover learn thoroughly many arts.

CH. Is it indeed on charges such as these that Jupiter is both visiting
thee with indignities, and in no wise grants thee a respite from thy
pains? And is no period to thy toils set before thee?

PR. None other assuredly, but when it may please him.

CH. And how shall it be his good pleasure? What hope is there? Seest
thou not that thou didst err? but how thou didst err, I can not relate
with pleasure, and it would be a pain to you. But let us leave these
points, and search thou for some escape from thine agony.

PR. 'Tis easy, for any one that hath his foot unentangled by sufferings,
both to exhort and to admonish him that is in evil plight. But I knew
all these things willingly, willingly I erred, I will not gainsay it;
and in doing service to mortals I brought upon myself sufferings. Yet
not at all did I imagine, that, in such a punishment as this, I was to
wither away upon lofty rocks, meeting with this desolate solitary crag.
And yet wail ye not over my present sorrows, but after alighting on the
ground, list ye to the fortune that is coming on, that ye may learn the
whole throughout. Yield to me, yield ye, take ye a share in the woes of
him that is now suffering. Hence in the same way doth calamity, roaming
to and fro, settle down on different individuals.

CH. Upon those who are nothing loth hast thou urged this, Prometheus:
and now having with light step quitted my rapidly-wafted chariot-seat,
and the pure æther, highway of the feathered race, I will draw near to
this rugged ground: and I long to hear the whole tale of thy sufferings.

  _Enter_ OCEAN.

I am arrived at the end of a long journey,[22] having passed over [it]
to thee, Prometheus, guiding this winged steed of mine, swift of pinion,
by my will, without a bit; and, rest assured, I sorrow with thy
misfortunes. For both the tie of kindred thus constrains me, and,
relationship apart, there is no one on whom I would bestow a larger
share [of my regard] than to thyself. And thou shalt know that these
words are sincere, and that it is not in me vainly to do lip-service;
for come, signify to me in what it is necessary for me to assist thee;
for at no time shalt thou say that thou hast a stancher friend than
Oceanus.

PR. Hah! what means this? and hast thou too come to be a witness of my
pangs? How hast thou ventured, after quitting both the stream that bears
thy name, and the rock-roofed self-wrought[23] grots, to come into the
iron teeming land? Is it that you may contemplate my misfortunes, and as
sympathizing with my woes that thou hast come? Behold a spectacle, me
here the friend of Jupiter, that helped to establish his sovereignty,
with what pains I am bent by him.

OC. I see, Prometheus, and to thee, subtle as thou art, I wish to give
the best counsel. Know thyself, and assume to thyself new manners; for
among the gods too there is a new monarch. But if thou wilt utter words
thus harsh and whetted, Jupiter mayhap, though seated far aloft, will
hear thee, so that the present bitterness of sufferings will seem to
thee to be child's play. But, O hapless one! dismiss the passion which
thou feelest, and search for a deliverance from these sufferings of
thine. Old-fashioned maxims these, it may be, I appear to thee to utter;
yet such becomes the wages of the tongue that talks too proudly. But not
even yet art thou humble, nor submittest to ills; and in addition to
those that already beset thee, thou art willing to bring others upon
thee. Yet not, if at least thou takest me for thy instructor, wilt thou
stretch out thy leg against the pricks; as thou seest that a harsh
monarch, and one that is not subject to control, is lording it. And now
I for my part will go, and will essay, if I be able, to disinthrall thee
from these thy pangs. But be thou still, nor be over impetuous in thy
language. What! knowest thou not exactly, extremely intelligent as thou
art, that punishment is inflicted on a froward tongue?

PR. I give thee joy, because that thou hast escaped censure, after
taking part in and venturing along with me in all things. And now leave
him alone, and let it not concern thee. For in no wise wilt thou
persuade him; for he is not open to persuasion. And look thou well to it
that thou take not harm thyself by the journey.

OC. Thou art far better calculated by nature to instruct thy neighbors
than thyself: I draw my conclusion from fact, and not from word. But
think not for a moment to divert me from the attempt. For I am
confident, yea, I am confident, that Jupiter will grant me this boon, so
as to release thee from these pangs of thine.

PR. In part I commend thee, and will by no means at any time cease to do
so. For in zeal to serve me thou lackest nothing. But trouble thyself
not; for in vain, without being of any service to me,[24] wilt thou
labor, if in any respect thou art willing to labor. But hold thou thy
peace, and keep thyself out of harm's way; for I, though I be in
misfortune, would not on this account be willing that sufferings should
befall as many as possible. No, indeed, since also the disasters of my
brother Atlas gall my heart, who is stationed in the western regions,
sustaining on his shoulders the pillar of heaven and of earth, a burden
not of easy grasp. I commiserated too when I beheld the earth-born
inmate of the Cilician caverns, a tremendous prodigy, the hundred-headed
impetuous Typhon, overpowered by force, who withstood all the gods,
hissing slaughter from his hungry jaws; and from his eyes there flashed
a hideous glare, as though he would perforce overthrow the sovereignty
of Jove. But the sleepless shaft of Jupiter came upon him, the
descending thunderbolt breathing forth flame, which scared him out of
his presumptuous bravadoes; for having been smitten to his very soul he
was crumbled to a cinder, and thunder-blasted in his prowess. And now, a
helpless and paralyzed form is he lying hard by a narrow frith, pressed
down beneath the roots of Ætna.[25] And, seated on the topmost peaks,
Vulcan forges the molten masses, whence there shall one day burst forth
floods devouring with fell jaws the level fields of fruitful Sicily:
with rage such as this shall Typhon boil over in hot artillery of a
never-glutted fire-breathing storm; albeit he hath been reduced to ashes
by the thunder-bolt of Jupiter. But thou art no novice, nor needest thou
me for thine instructor. Save thyself as best thou knowest how; but I
will exhaust my present fate until such time as the spirit of Jupiter
shall abate its wrath.

OC. Knowest thou not this then, Prometheus, that words are the
physicians of a distempered feeling?[26]

PR. True, if one seasonably soften down the heart, and do not with rude
violence reduce a swelling spirit.

OC. Ay, but in foresight along with boldness[27] what mischief is there
that thou seest to be inherent? inform me.

PR. Superfluous trouble and trifling folly.

OC. Suffer me to sicken in this said sickness, since 'tis of the highest
advantage for one that is wise not to seem to be wise.

PR. (Not so, for) this trespass will seem to be mine.

OC. Thy language is plainly sending me back to my home.

PR. Lest thy lamentation over me bring thee into ill-will.

OC. What with him who hath lately seated himself on the throne that
ruleth over all?

PR. Beware of him lest at any time his heart be moved to wrath.

OC. Thy disaster, Prometheus, is my monitor.

PR. Away! withdraw thee, keep thy present determination.

OC. On me, hastening to start, hast thou urged this injunction; for my
winged quadruped flaps with his pinions the smooth track of æther; and
blithely would he recline his limbs in his stalls at home.

  [_Exit_ OC.

CH. I bewail thee for thy lost fate, Prometheus. A flood of trickling
tears from my yielding eyes has bedewed my cheek with its humid
gushings; for Jupiter commanding this thine unenviable doom by laws of
his own, displays his spear appearing superior o'er the gods of old.[28]
And now the whole land echoes with wailing--they wail thy stately and
time-graced honors, and those of thy brethren; and all they of mortal
race that occupy a dwelling neighboring on hallowed Asia[29] mourn with
thy deeply-deplorable sufferings: the virgins that dwell in the land of
Colchis too, fearless of the fight, and the Scythian horde who possess
the most remote regions of earth around lake Mæotis; and the war-like
flower of Arabia,[30] who occupy a fortress on the craggy heights in
the neighborhood of Caucasus, a warrior-host, clamoring amid
sharply-barbed spears.

One other god only, indeed, have I heretofore beheld in miseries, the
Titan Atlas, subdued by the galling of adamantine[31] bonds, who
evermore in his back is groaning beneath[32] the excessive mighty mass
of the pole of heaven. And the billow of the deep roars as it falls in
cadence, the depth moans, and the murky vault of Hades rumbles beneath
the earth, and the fountains of the pure streaming rivers wail for his
piteous pains.

PR. Do not, I pray you, suppose that I am holding my peace from pride or
self-will; but by reflection am I gnawed to the heart, seeing myself
thus ignominiously entreated.[33] And yet who but myself defined
completely the prerogative for these same new gods? But on these matters
I say nothing, for I should speak to you already acquainted with these
things. But for the misfortunes that existed among mortals, hear how I
made them, that aforetime lived as infants, rational and possessed of
intellect.[34] And I will tell you, having no complaint against
mankind, as detailing the kindness of the boons which I bestowed upon
them: they who at first seeing saw in vain, hearing they heard not. But,
like to the forms of dreams, for a long time they used to huddle
together all things at random, and naught knew they about
brick-built[35] and sun-ward houses, nor carpentry; but they dwelt in
the excavated earth like tiny emmets in the sunless depths of caverns.
And they had no sure sign either of winter, or of flowery spring, or of
fruitful summer; but they used to do every thing without judgment, until
indeed I showed to them the risings of the stars and their settings,[36]
hard to be discerned.

And verily I discover for them Numbers, the surpassing all
inventions,[37] the combinations too of letters, and Memory, effective
mother-nurse of all arts. I also first bound with yokes beasts
submissive to the collars; and in order that with their bodies they
might become to mortals substitutes for their severest toils, I brought
steeds under cars obedient to the rein,[38] a glory to pompous luxury.
And none other than I invented the canvas-winged chariots of mariners
that roam over the ocean. After discovering for mortals such inventions,
wretch that I am, I myself have no device whereby I may escape from my
present misery.

CH. Thou hast suffered unseemly ills, baulked in thy discretion thou art
erring; and like a bad physician, having fallen into a distemper thou
art faint-hearted, and, in reference to thyself, thou canst not discover
by what manner of medicines thou mayest be cured.

PR. When thou hearest the rest of my tale, thou wilt wonder still more
what arts and resources I contrived. For the greatest--if that any one
fell into a distemper, there was no remedy, neither in the way of diet,
nor of liniment, nor of potion, but for lack of medicines they used to
pine away to skeletons, before that I pointed out to them the
composition[39] of mild remedies, wherewith they ward off all their
maladies. Many modes too of the divining art did I classify, and was the
first that discriminated among dreams those which are destined to be a
true vision; obscure vocal omens[40] too I made known to them; tokens
also incidental on the road, and the flight of birds of crooked talons I
clearly defined, both those that are in their nature auspicious, and the
ill-omened, and what the kind of life that each leads, and what are
their feuds and endearments[41] and intercourse one with another: the
smoothness too of the entrails, and what hue they must have to be
acceptable to the gods, the various happy formations of the gall and
liver, and the limbs enveloped in fat: and having roasted the long chine
I pointed out to mortals the way into an abstruse art; and I brought to
light the fiery symbols[42] that were aforetime wrapt in darkness. Such
indeed were these boons; and the gains to mankind that were hidden under
ground, brass, iron, silver, and gold--who could assert that he had
discovered before me? No one, I well know, who does not mean to idly
babble. And in one brief sentence learn the whole at once--All arts
among the human race are from Prometheus.

CH. Do not now serve the human race beyond what is profitable, nor
disregard thyself in thy distress: since I have good hopes that thou
shalt yet be liberated from these shackles, and be not one whit less
powerful than Jove.

PR. Not at all in this way is Fate, that brings events to their
consummation ordained to accomplish these things: but after having been
bent by countless sufferings and calamities, thus am I to escape from my
shackles. And art is far less powerful than necessity.

CH. Who then is the pilot of necessity?

PR. The triform Fates and the remembering Furies.

CH. Is Jupiter then less powerful than these?

PR. Most certainly he can not at any rate escape his doom.[43]

CH. Why, what is doomed for Jupiter but to reign for evermore?

PR. This thou mayest not yet learn, and do not press it.

CH. 'Tis surely some solemn mystery that thou veilest.

PR. Make mention of some other matter; it is by no means seasonable to
proclaim this; but it must be shrouded in deepest concealment; for it is
by keeping this secret that I am to escape from my ignominious shackles
and miseries.

CH. Never may Jupiter, who directs all things, set his might in
opposition to my purpose: nor may I be backward in attending upon the
gods at their hallowed banquets, at which oxen are sacrificed, beside
the restless stream of my sire Ocean; and may I not trespass in my
words; but may this feeling abide by me and never melt away. Sweet it is
to pass through a long life in confident hopes, making the spirits swell
with bright merriment; but I shudder as I behold thee harrowed by
agonies incalculable.... For not standing in awe of Jupiter, thou,
Prometheus, in thy self-will honorest mortals to excess. Come, my
friend, own how boonless was the boon; say where is any aid? What relief
can come from the creatures of a day? Sawest thou not the powerless
weakness, nought better than a dream, in which the blind race of men is
entangled? Never shall at any time the schemes of mortals evade the
harmonious system of Jupiter. This I learned by witnessing thy
destructive fate, Prometheus. And far different is this strain that now
flits toward me from the hymenæal chant which I raised around the baths
and thy couch with the consent[44] of nuptials, when, after having won
Hesione with thy love-tokens, thou didst conduct her our sister to be
thy bride, the sharer of thy bed.

  _Enter_ IO.[45]

What land is this? what race? whom shall I say I here behold
storm-tossed in rocky fetters? Of what trespass is the retribution
destroying thee? Declare to me into what part of earth I forlorn have
roamed. Ah me! alas! alas! again the hornet[46] stings me miserable: O
earth avert[47] the goblin of earth-born Argus:[48] I am terrified at
the sight of the neatherd of thousand eyes, for he is journeying on,
keeping a cunning glance, whom not even after death does earth conceal;
but issuing forth from among the departed he chases me miserable, and he
makes me to wander famished along the shingled strand, while the
sounding wax-compacted pipe drones on a sleepy strain. Oh! oh! ye
powers! Oh! powers! whither do my far-roaming wanderings convey me? In
what, in what, O son of Saturn, hast thou, having found me
transgressing, shackled me in these pangs? Ah! ah! and art thus wearing
out a timorous wretch frenzied with sting-driven fear. Burn me with
fire, or bury me in earth, or give me for food to the monsters of the
deep, and grudge me not these prayers, O king! Amply have my
much-traversed wanderings harassed me; nor can I discover how I may
avoid pain. Hearest thou the address of the ox-horned maiden?

PR. How can I fail to hear the damsel that is frenzy-driven by the
hornet, the daughter of Inachus, who warms the heart of Jupiter with
love, and now, abhorred of Juno, is driven perforce courses of exceeding
length?

IO. From whence utterest thou the name of my father? Tell me, the
woe-begone, who thou art, who, I say, O hapless one, that hast thus
correctly accosted me miserable, and hast named the heaven-inflicted
disorder which wastes me, fretting with its maddening stings? Ah! ah!
violently driven by the famishing tortures of my boundings have I come a
victim to the wrathful counsels of Juno. And of the ill-fated who are
there, ah me! that endure woes such as mine? But do thou clearly define
to me what remains for me to suffer, what salve:[49] what remedy there
is for my malady, discover to me, if at all thou knowest: speak, tell it
to the wretched roaming damsel.

PR. I will tell thee clearly every thing which thou desirest to learn,
not interweaving riddles, but in plain language, as it is right to open
the mouth to friends. Thou seest him that bestowed fire on mortals,
Prometheus.

IO. O thou that didst dawn a common benefit upon mortals, wretched
Prometheus, as penance for what offense art thou thus suffering?

PR. I have just ceased lamenting my own pangs.

IO. Wilt thou not then accord to me this boon?

PR. Say what it is that thou art asking, for thou mightest learn
everything from me.

IO. Say who it was that bound thee fast in this cleft?

PR. The decree of Jupiter, but the hand of Vulcan.

IO. And for what offenses art thou paying the penalty?

PR. Thus much alone is all that I can clearly explain to thee.

IO. At least, in addition to this, discover what time shall be to me
woe-worn the limit of my wanderings.

PR. Not to learn this is better for thee than to learn it.

IO. Yet conceal not from me what I am to endure.

PR. Nay, I grudge thee not this gift.

IO. Why then delayest thou to utter the whole?

PR. 'Tis not reluctance, but I am loth to shock thy feelings.

IO. Do not be more anxious on my account than is agreeable to me.[50]

PR. Since thou art eager, I must needs tell thee: attend thou.

CH. Not yet, however; but grant me also a share of the pleasure. Let us
first learn the malady of this maiden, from her own tale of her
destructive[51] fortunes; but, for the sequel of her afflictions let her
be informed by thee.

PR. It is thy part, Io, to minister to the gratification of these now
before thee, both for all other reasons, and that they are the sisters
of thy father. Since to weep and lament over misfortunes, when one is
sure to win a tear from the listeners, is well worth the while.

IO. I know not how I should disobey you; and in a plain tale ye shall
learn everything that ye desire; and yet I am pained even to speak of
the tempest that hath been sent upon me from heaven, and the utter
marring of my person, whence it suddenly came upon me, a wretched
creature! For nightly visions thronging to my maiden chamber, would
entice me with smooth words: "O damsel, greatly fortunate, why dost
thou live long time in maidenhood, when it is in thy power to achieve a
match the very noblest? for Jupiter is fired by thy charms with the
shaft of passion, and longs with thee to share in love. But do not, my
child, spurn away from thee the couch of Jupiter; but go forth to
Lerna's fertile mead, to the folds and ox-stalls of thy father, that the
eye of Jove may have respite from its longing." By dreams such as these
was I unhappy beset every night, until at length I made bold to tell my
sire of the dreams that haunted me by night. And he dispatched both to
Pytho and Dodona[52] many a messenger to consult the oracles, that he
might learn what it behooved him to do or say, so as to perform what was
well-pleasing to the divinities. And they came bringing a report back of
oracles ambiguously worded, indistinct, and obscurely delivered. But at
last a clear response came to Inachus, plainly charging and directing
him to thrust me forth both from my home and my country, to stray an
outcast to earth's remotest limits; and that, if he would not, a
fiery-visaged thunder-bolt would come from Jupiter, and utterly blot out
his whole race. Overcome by oracles of Loxias such as these, unwilling
did me expel and exclude me unwilling from his dwelling: but the bit of
Jupiter[53] perforce constrained him to do this. And straightway my
person and my mind were distorted, and horned, as ye see, stung by the
keenly-biting fly, I rushed with maniac boundings to the sweet stream of
Cerchneia, and the fountain[54] of Lerna; and the earth-born neatherd
Argus of untempered fierceness, kept dogging me, peering after my
footsteps with thick-set eyes. Him, however, an unlooked-for sudden fate
bereaved of life; but I hornet-stricken am driven by the scourge divine
from land to land. Thou hearest what has taken place, and if thou art
able to say what pangs there remain for me, declare them; and do not,
compassionating me, warm me with false tales, for I pronounce fabricated
statements to be a most foul malady.

CH. Ah! ah! forbear! Alas! Never, never did I expect that a tale [so]
strange would come to my ears, or that sufferings thus horrible to
witness and horrible to endure, outrages, terrors with their two-edged
goad, would chill my spirit. Alas! alas! O Fate! Fate! I shudder as I
behold the condition of Io.

PR. Prematurely, however, are thou sighing, and art full of terror.
Hold, until thou shalt also have heard the residue.

CH. Say on; inform me fully: to the sick indeed it is sweet to get a
clear knowledge beforehand of the sequel of their sorrows.

PR. Your former desire at any rate ye gained from me easily; for first
of all ye desired to be informed by her recital of the affliction[55]
that attaches to herself. Now give ear to the rest, what sort of
sufferings it is the fate of this young damsel before you to undergo at
the hand of Juno: thou too, seed of Inachus, lay to heart my words, that
thou mayest be fully informed of the termination of thy journey. In the
first place, after turning thyself from this spot toward the rising of
the sun, traverse unplowed fields; and thou wilt reach the wandering
Scythians, who, raised from off the around, inhabit wicker dwellings on
well-wheeled cars, equipped with distant-shooting bows; to whom thou
must not draw near, but pass on out of their land, bringing thy feet to
approach the rugged roaring shores. And on thy left hand dwell the
Chalybes, workers of iron, of whom thou must needs beware, for they are
barbarous, and not accessible to strangers. And thou wilt come to the
river Hybristes,[56] not falsely so called, which do not thou cross, for
it is not easy to ford, until thou shalt have come to Caucasus itself,
loftiest of mountains, where from its very brow the river spouts forth
its might. And surmounting its peaks that neighbor on the stars, thou
must go into a southward track, where thou wilt come to the
man-detesting host of Amazons, who hereafter shall make a settlement,
Themiscyra, on the banks of Thermodon, where lies the rugged
Salmydessian sea-gorge, a host by mariners hated, a step-dame to ships;
and they will conduct thee on thy way, and that right willingly. Thou
shalt come too to the Cimmerian isthmus, hard by the very portals of a
lake, with narrow passage, which thou undauntedly must leave, and cross
the Mæotic frith; and there shall exist for evermore among mortals a
famous legend concerning thy passage, and after thy name it shall be
called the Bosphorus; and after having quitted European ground, thou
shalt come to the Asiatic continent. Does not then the sovereign of the
gods seem to you to be violent alike toward all things? for he a god
lusting to enjoy the charms of this mortal fair one, hath cast upon her
these wanderings. And a bitter wooer, maiden, hast thou found for thy
hand; for think that the words which thou hast now heard are not even
for a prelude.

IO. Woe is me! ah! ah!

PR. Thou too in thy turn[57] art crying out and moaning: what wilt thou
do then, when thou learnest the residue of thy ills?

CH. What! hast thou aught of suffering left to tell to her?

PR. Ay, a tempestuous sea of baleful calamities.

IO. What gain then is it for me to live? but why did I not quickly fling
myself from this rough precipice, that dashing on the plain I had rid
myself of all my pangs? for better is it once to die, than all one's
days to suffer ill.

PR. Verily thou wouldst hardly bear the agonies of me to whom it is not
doomed to die. For this would be an escape from sufferings. But now
there is no limit set to my hardships, until Jove shall have been
deposed from his tyranny.

IO. What! is it possible that Jupiter should ever fall from his power?

PR. Glad wouldst thou be, I ween, to witness this event.

IO. And how not so, I, who through Jupiter am suffering ill?

PR. Well, then, thou mayest assure thyself of these things that they are
so.

IO. By whom is he to be despoiled of his sceptre of tyranny.

PR. Himself, by his own senseless counsels.

IO. In what manner? Specify it, if there be no harm.

PR. He will make such a match as he shall one day rue.[58]

IO. Celestial or mortal? If it may be spoken, tell me.

PR. But why ask its nature? for it is not a matter that I can
communicate to you.

IO. Is it by a consort that he is to be ejected from his throne?

PR. Yes, surely, one that shall give birth to a son mightier than the
father.[59]

IO. And has he no refuge from this misfortune?

PR. Not he, indeed, before at any rate I after being liberated from my
shackles--

IO. Who, then, is he that shall liberate thee in despite of Jupiter?

PR. It is ordained that it shall be one of thine own descendants.

IO. How sayest thou? Shall child of mine release thee from thy ills?

PR. Yes, the third of thy lineage in addition to ten other
generations.[60]

IO. This prophecy of thine is no longer easy for me to form a guess
upon.

PR. Nor seek thou to know over well thine own pangs.

IO. Do not, after proffering me a benefit, withhold it from me.

PR. I will freely grant thee one of two disclosures.

IO. Explain to me first of what sort they are, and allow me my choice.

PR. I allow it thee; for choose whether I shall clearly tell to thee the
residue of thy troubles, or who it is that is to be my deliverer.

CH. Of these twain do thou vouchsafe to bestow the one boon on this
damsel, and the other on me, and disdain thou not my request. To her
tell the rest of her wanderings, and to me him that is to deliver thee;
for this I long [to hear].

PR. Seeing that ye are eagerly bent upon it, I will not oppose your
wishes, so as not to utter every thing as much as ye desire. To thee in
the first place, Io, will I describe thy mazy wanderings, which do thou
engrave on the recording tablets of thy mind.

When thou shalt have crossed the stream that is the boundary of the
Continents, to the ruddy realms of morn where walks the sun[61] ...
having passed over the roaring swell of the sea, until thou shalt reach
the Gorgonian plains of Cisthene, where dwell the Phorcides, three
swan-like aged damsels, that possess one eye in common, that have but a
single tooth, on whom ne'er doth the sun glance with his rays, nor the
nightly moon. And hard by are three winged sisters of these, the
snake-tressed Gorgons, abhorred of mortals, whom none of human race can
look upon and retain the breath of life.[62] Such is this caution[63]
which I mention to thee. Now lend an ear to another hideous spectacle;
for be on thy guard against the keen-fanged hounds of Jupiter that never
bark, the gryphons, and the cavalry host of one-eyed Arimaspians, who
dwell on the banks of the gold-gushing fount, the stream of Pluto: go
not thou nigh to these. And thou wilt reach a far-distant land, a dark
tribe, who dwell close upon the fountains of the sun, where is the river
Æthiops. Along the banks of this wend thy way, until thou shalt have
reached the cataract where from the Bybline mountains the Nile pours
forth his hallowed, grateful stream. This will guide thee to the
triangular land of the Nile; where at length, Io, it is ordained for
thee and thy children after thee to found the distant colony. And if
aught of this is obscurely uttered, and hard to be understood, question
me anew, and learn it thoroughly and clearly: as for leisure, I have
more than I desire.

CH. If indeed thou hast aught to tell of her baleful wanderings, that
still remains or hath been omitted, say on; but if thou hast told the
whole, give to us in our turn the favor which we ask, and you,
perchance, remember.

PR. She hath heard the full term of her journeying. And that she may
know that she hath not been listening to me in vain, I will relate what
hardships she endured before she came hither, giving her this as a sure
proof of my statements. The very great multitude indeed of words I
shall omit, and I will proceed to the termination itself of thine
aberrations. For after that thou hadst come to the Molossian plains, and
about the lofty ridge of Dodona, where is the oracular seat of
Thesprotian Jove, and a portent passing belief, the speaking oaks, by
which thou wast clearly and without any ambiguity saluted illustrious
spouse of Jove that art to be; if aught of this hath any charms for
thee.[64] Thence madly rushing along the seaside track, thou didst dart
away to the vast bay of Rhea, from which thou art tempest-driven in
retrograde courses: and in time to come, know well that the gulf of the
deep shall be called IO-nian, a memorial of thy passage to all mortals.
These hast thou as tokens of my intelligence, how that it perceives
somewhat beyond what appears.

The rest I shall tell both to you and to her in common, after reaching
the very identical track of my former narrative. There is on the land's
utmost verge a city Canopus, hard by the Nile's very mouth and alluvial
dike; on this spot Jupiter at length makes thee sane by merely soothing
and touching thee with his unalarming hand. And named after the
progeniture of Jupiter[65] thou shalt give birth to swarthy Epaphus, who
shall reap the harvest of all the land which the wide-streaming Nile
waters. But fifth in descent from him a generation of fifty virgins
shall again come to Argos, not of their own accord, fleeing from
incestuous wedlock with their cousins; and these with fluttering hearts,
like falcons left not far behind by doves, shall come pursuing marriage
such as should not be pursued, but heaven shall be jealous over their
persons;[66] and Pelasgia shall receive them after being crushed by a
deed of night-fenced daring, wrought by woman's hand; for each bride
shall bereave her respective husband of life, having dyed in their
throats[67] a sword of twin sharp edge. Would that in guise like this
Venus might visit my foes! But tenderness shall soften one[68] of the
maidens, so that she shall not slay the partner of her couch, but shall
be blunt in her resolve; and of the two alternatives she shall choose
the former, to be called a coward rather than a murderess. She in Argos
shall give birth to a race of kings. There needs a long discourse to
detail these things distinctly; but from this seed be sure shall spring
a dauntless warrior renowned in archery, who shall set me free from
these toils. Such predictions did my aged mother the Titaness Themis
rehearse to me; but how and when--to tell this requires a long detail,
and thou in knowing it all wouldst be in nought a gainer.

IO. Eleleu! Eleleu! Once more the spasm[69] and maddening frenzies
inflame me--and the sting of the hornet, wrought by no fire,[70]
envenoms me; and with panic my heart throbs violently against my breast.
My eyes, too, are rolling in a mazy whirl, and I am carried out of my
course by the raging blast of madness, having no control of tongue, but
my troubled words dash idly against the surges of loathsome calamity.

  [_Exit_ IO.

CH. Wise was the man, ay, wise indeed, who first weighed well this
maxim, and with his tongue published it abroad, that to match in one's
own degree is best by far;[71] and that one who lives by labor should
woo the hand neither of any that have waxed wanton in opulence, nor of
such as pride themselves on nobility of birth. Never, O Destines,[72]
never ... may ye behold me approaching as a partner the couch of
Jupiter: nor may I be[73] brought to the arms of any bridegroom from
among the sons of heaven: for I am in dread when I behold the maiden Io,
contented with no mortal lover, greatly marred by wearisome wanderings
at the hand of Juno. For myself, indeed--inasmuch as wedlock on one's
own level is free from apprehension--I feel no alarm.[74] And oh! never
may the love of the mightier gods cast on me a glance that none can
elude. This at least is a war without a conflict, accomplishing things
impossible:[75] nor know I what might become of me, for I see not how I
could evade the counsel of Jove.

PR. Yet truly shall Jove, albeit he is self-willed in his temper, be
lowly, in such[76] wedlock is he prepared to wed, as shall hurl him out
of his sovereignty and off his throne a forgotten thing; and the curse
of his father Saturn shall then at length find entire consummation,
which he imprecated when he was deposed from his ancient throne. From
disasters such as these there is no one of the gods besides myself that
can clearly disclose to him a way of escape. I know this, and by what
means. Wherefore let him rest on in his presumption, putting confidence
in his thunders aloft, brandishing in his hand a fire-breathing bolt.
For not one jot shall these suffice to save him from falling dishonored
in a downfall beyond endurance; such an antagonist is he now with his
own hands preparing against himself, a portent that shall baffle all
resistance; who shall invent a flame more potent than the lightning, and
a mighty din that shall surpass the thunder; and shall shiver the ocean
trident, that earth-convulsing pest, the spear of Neptune. And when he
hath stumbled upon this mischief, he shall be taught how great is the
difference between sovereignty and slavery.

CH. Thou forsooth art boding against Jupiter the things thou wishest.

PR. Things that shall come to pass, and that I desire to boot.

CH. And are we to expect that any one will get the mastery of Jove?

PR. Ay, and pangs too yet harder to bear than these [of mine] shall he
sustain.

CH. And how is it that thou art not dismayed blurting out words such as
these?

PR. Why at what should I be terrified to whom it is not destined to die?

CH. Yet perchance he will provide for thee affliction more grievous than
even this.

PR. Let him do it then, all is foreseen by me.

CH. They that do homage to Adrasteia are wise.

PR. Do homage, make thy prayer, cringe to each ruler of the day. I care
for Jove less than nothing; let him do, let him lord it for this brief
span, e'en as he list, for not long shall he rule over the gods. But no
more, for I descry Jove's courier close at hand, the menial of the new
monarch: beyond all [doubt] he has come to announce to us some news.

  _Enter_ MERCURY.

Thee, the contriver, thee full of gall and bitterness, who sinned
against the gods by bestowing their honors on creatures of a day, the
thief of fire, I address. The Sire commands thee to divulge of what
nuptials it is that thou art vaunting, by means of which he is to be put
down from his power. And these things, moreover, without any kind of
mystery, but each exactly as it is, do thou tell out; and entail not
upon me, Prometheus, a double journey; and thou perceivest that by such
conduct Jove is not softened.

PR. High sounding, i'faith, and full of haughtiness is thy speech, as
beseems a lackey of the gods. Young in years, ye are young in power;[77]
and ye fancy forsooth that ye dwell in a citadel impregnable against
sorrow. Have I not known two monarchs[78] dethroned from it? And the
third that now is ruler I shall also see expelled most foully and most
quickly. Seem I to thee in aught to be dismayed at, and to crouch
beneath the new gods? Widely, ay altogether, do I come short [of such
feelings]. But do thou hie thee back the way by which thou camest: for
not one tittle shalt thou learn of the matter on which thou questionest
me.

MER. Yet truly 'twas by such self-will even before now that thou didst
bring thyself to such a calamitous mooring.

PR. Be well assured that I would not barter my wretched plight for thy
drudgery; for better do I deem it to be a lackey to this rock, than to
be born the confidential courier of father Jove. Thus is it meet to
repay insult in kind.

MER. Thou seemest to revel in thy present state.

PR. Revel! Would that I might see my foes thus reveling, and among these
I reckon thee.

MER. What dost thou impute to me also any blame for thy mischances?

PR. In plain truth, I detest all the gods, as many of them as, after
having received benefits at my hands, are iniquitously visiting me with
evils.

MER. I hear thee raving with no slight disorder.

PR. Disordered I would be, if disorder it be to loathe one's foes.

MER. Thou wouldst be beyond endurance, wert thou in prosperity.

PR. Woe's me!

MER. This word of thine Jove knows not.

PR. Ay, but Time as he grows old teaches all things.

MER. And yet verily thou knowest not yet how to be discreet.

PR. No i'faith, or I should not have held parley with thee, menial as
thou art.

MER. Thou seemest disposed to tell nought of the things which the Sire
desires.

PR. In sooth, being under obligation as I am to him, I am bound to
return his favor.

MER. Thou floutest me, forsooth, as if I were a boy.

PR. Why, art thou not a boy, and yet sillier than one, if thou lookest
to obtain any information from me? There is no outrage nor artifice by
which Jupiter shall bring me to utter this, before my torturing shackles
shall have been loosened. Wherefore let his glowing lightning be hurled,
and with the white feathered shower of snow, and thunderings beneath the
earth let him confound and embroil the universe; for nought of these
things shall bend me so much as even to say by whom it is doomed that he
shall be put down from his sovereignty.

MER. Consider now whether this determination seems availing.

PR. Long since has this been considered and resolved.

MER. Resolve, O vain one, resolve at length in consideration of thy
present sufferings to come to thy right senses.

PR. Thou troublest me with thine admonitions as vainly as
[thou mightest] a billow.[79] Never let it enter your thoughts that I,
affrighted by the purpose of Jupiter, shall become womanish, and shall
importune the object whom I greatly loathe, with effeminate upliftings
of my hands, to release me from these shackles: I want much of that.

MER. With all that I have said I seem to be speaking to no purpose; for
not one whit art thou melted or softened in thy heart by entreaties, but
art champing the bit like a colt fresh yoked, and struggling against the
reins. But on the strength of an impotent scheme art thou thus violent;
for obstinacy in one not soundly wise, itself by itself availeth less
than nothing. And mark, if thou art not persuaded by my words, what a
tempest and three-fold surge of ills, from which there is no escape,
will come upon thee. For in the first place the Sire will shiver this
craggy cleft with thunder and the blaze of his bolt, and will overwhelm
thy body, and a clasping arm of rock shall bear thee up. And after thou
shalt have passed through to its close, a long space of time, thou shalt
come back into the light; and a winged hound of Jupiter, a
blood-thirsting eagle, shall ravenously mangle thy huge lacerated frame,
stealing upon thee an unbidden guest, and [tarrying] all the live-long
day, and shall banquet his fill on the black viands[80] of thy liver. To
such labors look thou for no termination, until some god shall appear
as a substitute in thy pangs, and shall be willing to go both to gloomy
Hades, and to the murky depths around Tartarus. Wherefore advise thee,
since this is no fictitious vaunt, but uttered in great earnestness; for
the divine mouth knows not how to utter falsehood, but will bring every
word to pass. But do thou look around and reflect, and never for a
moment deem pertinacity better than discretion.

CH. To us, indeed, Mercury seems to propose no unseasonable counsel; for
he bids thee to abandon thy recklessness, and seek out wise
consideration. Be persuaded; for to a wise man 'tis disgraceful to err.

PR. To me already well aware of it hath this fellow urged his message;
but for a foe to suffer horribly at the hands of foes is no indignity.
Wherefore let the doubly-pointed wreath of his fire be hurled at me, and
ether be torn piecemeal by thunder, and spasm of savage blasts; and let
the wind rock earth from her base, roots and all, and with stormy surge
mingle in rough tide the billow of the deep and the paths of the stars;
and fling my body into black Tartarus, with a whirl, in the stern eddies
of necessity. Yet by no possible means shall he visit me with death.

MER. Resolutions and expressions, in truth, such as these of thine, one
may hear from maniacs. For in what point doth his fate fall short of
insanity?[81] What doth it abate from ravings? But do ye then at any
rate, that sympathize with him in his sufferings, withdraw hence
speedily some-whither from this spot, lest the harsh bellowing of the
thunder smite you with idiotcy.

CH. Utter and advise me to something else, in which too thou mayest
prevail upon me; for in this, be sure, thou hast intruded a proposal
not to be borne. How is it that thou urgest me to practice baseness?
Along with him here I am willing to endure what is destined, for I have
learned to abhor traitors; and there is no evil which I hold in greater
abomination.

MER. Well, then, bear in mind the things of which I forewarn you: and do
not, when ye have been caught in the snares of Atè, throw the blame on
fortune, nor ever at any time say that Jove cast you into unforeseen
calamity: no indeed, but ye your ownselves: for well aware, and not on a
sudden, nor in ignorance, will ye be entangled by your senselessness in
an impervious net of Atè.

  [_Exit_ MERCURY.

PR. And verily in deed and no longer in word doth the earth heave, and
the roaring echo of thunder rolls bellowing by us; and deep blazing
wreaths of lightning are glaring, and hurricanes whirl the dust; and
blasts of all the winds are leaping forth, showing one against the other
a strife of conflict gusts; and the firmament is embroiled with the
deep.[82] Such is this onslaught that is clearly coming upon me from
Jove, a cause for terror. O dread majesty of my mother Earth, O ether
that diffusest thy common light, thou beholdest the wrongs I suffer.