Of his sceptre and sway he shall be stripped bare.

And then I, unappeased by his charms honey-tongued

And unmoved by his merciless threats, will withhold

From him all that I know, till he grant me release

From the bonds that encompass my limbs and atone

For the shameful disgrace that I suffer.

CHORUS (Antistrophe 2)

Nay, thou art bold and dost not bow before thy keen adversities,

And too unbridled is thy tongue. I tremble, and my spirit is a-quiver with a piercing fear,

With terror for thy future state, when is it fated for thee rest from these thy labours

To behold? Unapproachable, hard to appease is the

Heart in the breast of the Son of Cronos.

PROMETHEUS

Full well do I know he is harsh and a law

To himself, but in time, notwithstanding, I ween,

Crushed by this danger, his heart shall be humbled,

And, becalming his irreconcilable rage,

He shall hasten to union and friendship with me

Eagerly, eagerly waited.

CHORUS

All things unveil, make manifest to us

Upon what pretext seizing thee doth Zeus

Outrage thee with such agony and shame?

Teach us, unless to speak should bring thee harm.

PROMETHEUS

Painful it is for me to speak of this,

Painful is silence — ’tis misery every way.

As soon as war among the gods began

And strife internal broke the peace of heaven,

Some eager to cast Cronos from his throne

That Zeus might reign, and others contrary

Intent that Zeus should never rule the gods,

Then I, though wise the counsel that I pressed

Upon the Titans, Sons of Heaven and Earth,

Could win no hearing. All my cunning wiles

Counting as nought, in arrogance of heart

They hoped by force for easy mastery.

But often I had heard my mother, Earth

And Themis, one form under many names,

Predict the future as it would come to pass,

How not by strength nor by the stouter hand,

By guile alone the reigning powers would fall.

Such was the tale they heard revealed by me

But deemed unworthy even of a glance.

And then, it seemed, my best remaining choice

Was, with my mother’s aid, to take my stand

Where help was welcome, at the side of Zeus;

And through my counsels in the nether gloom

Of Tartarus ancestral Cronos lies

With all his comrades. Such are the services

I rendered to the tyrant of the gods,

And these cruel penalties are my reward.

For tyranny, it seems, is never free

From this distemper — faithlessness to friends.

But to your question, on what pretext he

Outrages me thus, I will now reply.

No sooner was he on his father’s throne

Seated secure than he assigned the gods

Their several privileges, to each appointing

Powers, but held the hapless race of man

Of no account, resolving to destroy

All human kind and sow new seed on earth.

And none defied his will in this save me,

I dared to do it, I delivered man