§5Προμηθεύς
πρότερος οὖν, ὦ Ἑρμῆ, λέγε, καὶ ὅπως μου ὡς δεινότατα κατηγορήσῃς μηδὲ καθυφῇς τι τῶν δικαίων τοῦ πατρός.
Prometheus: Speak first, then, Hermes, and accuse me as severely as you can; do not spare any of your father's just claims.
σὲ δέ, ὦ Ἥφαιστε, δικαστὴν ποιοῦμαι ἔγωγε.
And as for you, Hephaestus, I make you my judge.
Ἥφαιστος
μὰ Δίʼ, ἀλλὰ κατήγορον ἀντὶ δικαστοῦ ἴσθι με ἕξων, ὃς τὸ πῦρ ὑφελόμενος ψυχράν μοι τὴν κάμινον ἀπολέλοιπας.
Hephaestus: By Zeus, no! Know that you will have me as an accuser instead of a judge, since by stealing the fire you have left my forge cold.
Προμηθεύς
οὐκοῦν διελόμενοι τὴν κατηγορίαν, σὺ μὲν περὶ τῆς κλοπῆς ἤδη σύνειρε, ὁ Ἑρμῆς δὲ τὴν κρεανομίαν καὶ τὴν ἀνθρωποποιίαν αἰτιάσεται·
Prometheus: Well then, divide the accusation between you. You, Hephaestus, proceed to weave your charge concerning the theft; and Hermes will accuse me of the distribution of meat and the creation of men.
ἄμφω δὲ τεχνῖται καὶ εἰπεῖν δεινοὶ ἐοίκατε εἶναι.
You both seem to be craftsmen and eloquent speakers.
Ἥφαιστος
ὁ Ἑρμῆς καὶ ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ ἐρεῖ· ἐγὼ γὰρ οὐ πρὸς λόγοις τοῖς δικανικοῖς εἰμι, ἀλλʼ ἀμφὶ τὴν κάμινον ἔχω τὰ πολλά· ὁ δὲ ῥήτωρ τέ ἐστι καὶ τῶν τοιούτων οὐ παρέργως μεμέληκεν αὐτῷ.
Hephaestus: Hermes will speak for me too; for I am not practiced in forensic speeches, but spend most of my time around the forge; whereas he is a rhetorician, and has made no casual study of such matters.
Προμηθεύς
ἐγὼ μὲν οὐκ ἄν ποτε ᾤμην καὶ περὶ τῆς κλοπῆς τὸν Ἑρμῆν ἐθελῆσαι ἂν εἰπεῖν οὐδὲ ὀνειδιεῖν μοι τὸ τοιοῦτον ὁμοτέχνῳ ὄντι.
Prometheus: I should never have thought that Hermes would be willing to speak about theft, or to reproach me with such a thing, seeing that he is of the same trade.
πλὴν ἀλλʼ εἰ καὶ τοῦτο, ὦ Μαίας παῖ, ὑφίστασαι, καιρὸς ἤδη περαίνειν τὴν κατηγορίαν.
However, if you undertake this too, son of Maia, it is now time to proceed with the accusation.
§6Ἑρμῆς
πάνυ γοῦν, ὦ Προμηθεῦ, μακρῶν δεῖ λόγων καὶ ἱκανῆς τινος παρασκευῆς ἐπὶ τὰ σοὶ πεπραγμένα, οὐχὶ δὲ ἀπόχρη μόνα τὰ κεφάλαια εἰπεῖν τῶν ἀδικημάτων, ὅτι ἐπιτραπέν σοι μοιρᾶσαι τὰ κρέα σαυτῷ μὲν τὰ κάλλιστα ἐφύλαττες, ἐξηπάτας δὲ τὸν βασιλέα, καὶ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἀνέπλασας, οὐδὲν δέον, καὶ τὸ πῦρ κλέψας παρʼ ἡμῶν ἐκόμισας ἐς αὐτούς·
Hermes: Indeed, Prometheus, there is need of long speeches and considerable preparation for your deeds, as if it were not enough merely to state the main points of your offenses: that when you were entrusted with dividing the meat, you kept the best for yourself and deceived the King, and fashioned men, when there was no need, and stole fire from us and brought it to them.
καί μοι δοκεῖς, ὦ βέλτιστε, μὴ συνιέναι ἐπὶ τοῖς τηλικούτοις πάνυ φιλανθρώπου τοῦ Διὸς πεπειραμένος.
And you seem to me, my good friend, not to understand, though you have experienced the great benevolence of Zeus in such matters.
εἰ μὲν οὖν ἔξαρνος εἶ μὴ εἰργάσθαι αὐτά, δεήσει καὶ διελέγχειν καὶ ῥῆσίν τινα μακρὰν ἀποτείνειν καὶ πειρᾶσθαι ὡς ἔνι μάλιστα ἐμφανίζειν τὴν ἀλήθειαν· εἰ δὲ φὴς τοιαύτην πεποιῆσθαι τὴν νομὴν τῶν κρεῶν καὶ τὰ περὶ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους καινουργῆσαι καὶ τὸ πῦρ κεκλοφέναι, ἱκανῶς κατηγόρηταί μοι, καὶ μακρότερα οὐκ ἂν εἴποιμι· λῆρος γὰρ ἄλλως τὸ τοιοῦτον.
If, then, you deny having done these things, it will be necessary to refute you, to spin out a long speech, and to try to make the truth as clear as possible; but if you say that you made such a distribution of meat, and innovated concerning men, and stole the fire, my accusation is sufficient, and I would not say more; for such a thing is otherwise mere nonsense.
§7Προμηθεύς
εἰ μὲν καὶ ταῦτα λῆρός ἐστιν ἃ εἴρηκας, εἰσόμεθα μικρὸν ὕστερον·
Prometheus: Whether what you have said is indeed nonsense, we shall know a little later.
ἐγὼ δέ, ἐπείπερ ἱκανὰ φὴς εἶναι τὰ κατηγορημένα, πειράσομαι ὡς ἂν οἷός τε ὦ διαλύσασθαι τὰ ἐγκλήματα.
But since you say the accusations are sufficient, I will try as best as I can to clear myself of the charges.
καὶ πρῶτόν γε ἄκουσον τὰ περὶ τῶν κρεῶν.
And first, hear about the meat.
καίτοι, νὴ τὸν Οὐρανόν, καὶ νῦν λέγων αὐτὰ αἰσχύνομαι ὑπὲρ τοῦ Διός, εἰ οὕτω μικρολόγος καὶ μεμψίμοιρός ἐστιν, ὡς διότι μικρὸν ὀστοῦν ἐν τῇ μερίδι εὗρε, ἀνασκολοπισθησόμενον πέμπειν παλαιὸν οὕτω θεόν, μήτε τῆς συμμαχίας μνημονεύσαντα μήτε αὖ τὸ τῆς ὀργῆς κεφάλαιον ἡλίκον ἐστὶν ἐννοήσαντα καὶ ὡς μειρακίου τὸ τοιοῦτον, ὀργίζεσθαι καὶ ἀγανακτεῖν εἰ μὴ τὸ μεῖζον αὐτὸς λήψεται.
And yet, by Heaven, even now as I speak of it, I feel ashamed on Zeus's behalf, if he is so petty and censorious that, because he found a small bone in his portion, he sends so ancient a god to be crucified, remembering neither our alliance nor reflecting how trivial the cause of his anger is, and how like a child it is to be angry and vexed because he did not get the larger share himself.
§8Προμηθεύς
καίτοι τάς γε ἀπάτας, ὦ Ἑρμῆ, τὰς τοιαύτας συμποτικὰς οὔσας οὐ χρή, οἶμαι, ἀπομνημονεύειν, ἀλλʼ εἰ καί τι ἡμάρτηται μεταξὺ εὐωχουμένων, παιδιὰν ἡγεῖσθαι καὶ αὐτοῦ ἐν τῷ συμποσίῳ καταλιπεῖν τὴν ὀργήν·
And yet, Hermes, such tricks, being of a convivial nature, ought not to be remembered, I think; but if any mistake is made in the midst of feasting, we should regard it as play and leave the anger behind in the banquet itself.
ἐς δὲ τὴν αὔριον ταμιεύεσθαι τὸ μῖσος καὶ μνησικακεῖν καὶ ἕωλόν τινα μῆνιν διαφυλάττειν, ἄπαγε, οὔτε θεοῖς πρέπον οὔτε ἄλλως βασιλικόν·
But to store up hatred for the morrow, to bear a grudge, and to keep a stale wrath alive—away with it! It is neither fitting for gods nor otherwise kingly.
ἢν γοῦν ἀφέλῃ τις τῶν συμποσίων τὰς κομψείας ταύτας, ἀπάτην καὶ σκώμματα καὶ τὸ διασιλλαίνειν καὶ ἐπιγελᾶν, τὸ καταλειπόμενόν ἐστι μέθη καὶ κόρος καὶ σιωπή, σκυθρωπὰ καὶ ἀτερπῆ πράγματα καὶ ἥκιστα συμποσίῳ πρέποντα.
At all events, if one takes away these refinements from banquets—deception, jokes, mocking, and laughing—what is left is drunkenness, surfeit, and silence, gloomy and unpleasant things, least of all fitting for a banquet.
ὥστε ἔγωγε οὐδὲ μνημονεύσειν εἰς τὴν ὑστεραίαν ἔτι ᾤμην τούτων τὸν Δία, οὐχ ὅπως τηλικαῦτα ἐπʼ αὐτοῖς ἀγανακτήσειν καὶ πάνδεινα ἡγήσεσθαι πεπονθέναι, εἰ διανέμων τις κρέα παιδιάν τινα ἔπαιζε πειρώμενος εἰ διαγνώσεται τὸ βέλτιον ὁ αἱρούμενος.
So that I, for my part, did not even think that Zeus would remember these things the next day, much less that he would be so vexed at them and think himself so terribly wronged, just because someone distributing meat played a joke, testing whether the chooser would distinguish the better part.