§1Οὐκοῦν Προμηθέα με εἶναι φής;
So, do you say that I am a Prometheus?
εἰ μὲν κατὰ τοῦτο, ὦ ἄριστε, ὡς πηλίνων κἀμοὶ τῶν ἔργων ὄντων, γνωρίζω τὴν εἰκόνα καί φημι ὅμοιος εἶναι αὐτῷ, οὐδ’ ἀναίνομαι πηλοπλάθος ἀκούειν, εἰ καὶ φαυλότερος ἐμοὶ ὁ πηλὸς οἷος ἐκ τριόδου, βόρβορός τις παρὰ μικρόν.
If indeed in this respect, my excellent friend, as my works also are made of clay, I recognize the likeness and admit that I am like him, nor do I refuse to be called a clay-modeler, even if the clay is rather poor to me, like that from a crossroad, almost mere mud.
εἰ δὲ ὑπερεπαινῶν τοὺς λόγους ὡς δῆθεν εὐμηχάνους ὄντας τὸν σοφώτατον τῶν Τιτάνων ἐπιφημίζεις αὐτοῖς, ὅρα μή τις εἰρωνείαν φῇ καὶ μυκτῆρα οἷον τὸν Ἀττικὸν προσεῖναι τῷ ἐπαίνῳ.
But if, overpraising my discourses as if they were forsooth ingenious, you apply the name of the wisest of the Titans to them, take care lest someone say that irony and a sort of Attic sneer are attached to the praise.
ἢ πόθεν γὰρ εὐμήχανον τοὐμόν;
For whence is my ingenuity?
τίς δὲ ἡ περιττὴ σοφία καὶ προμήθεια ἐν τοῖς γράμμασιν;
And what is this extraordinary wisdom and foresight in my writings?
ὡς ἔμοιγε ἱκανόν εἰ μὴ πάνυ σοι γήϊνα ἔδοξεν μηδὲ κομιδῇ ἄξια τοῦ Καυκάσου.
Since for my part it is enough if they did not seem to you entirely earthy, nor altogether worthy of Caucasus.
καίτοι πόσῳ δικαιότερον ὑμεῖς ἂν εἰκάζοισθε τῷ Προμηθεῖ, ὁπόσοι ἐν δίκαις εὐδοκιμεῖτε ξὺν ἀληθείᾳ ποιούμενοι τοὺς ἀγῶνας.
Yet how much more justly would you be compared to Prometheus, as many of you as win high repute in lawsuits, conducting your contests with truth.
ζῶα γοῦν ὡς ἀληθῶς καὶ ἔμψυχα ὑμῖν τὰ ἔργα, καὶ νὴ Δία καὶ τὸ θερμὸν αὐτῶν ἐστι διάπυρον· καὶ τοῦτο ἐκ τοῦ Προμηθέως ἂν εἴη, πλὴν εἰ μὴ ἑνὶ διαλλάττοιτε, ὅτι μὴ ἐκ πηλοῦ πλάττετε ἀλλὰ χρυσᾶ ὑμῖν τοῖς πολλοῖς τὰ πλάσματα.
Indeed, your works are truly alive and breathing, and by Zeus, their warmth is glowing; and this would be from Prometheus, except if you differ in one point, that you do not mold from clay, but the creations of most of you are golden.
§2Ἡμεῖς δὲ οἱ ἐς τὰ πλήθη παριόντες καὶ τὰς τοιαύτας τῶν ἀκροάσεων ἐπαγγέλλοντες εἴδωλα ἄττα ἐπιδεικνύμεθα, καὶ τὸ μὲν ὅλον ἐν πηλῷ, καθάπερ ἔφην μικρὸν ἔμπροσθεν, ἡ πλαστικὴ κατὰ ταὐτὰ τοῖς κοροπλάθοις· τὰ δ’ ἄλλα οὔτε κίνησις ὁμοία πρόσεστιν οὔτε ψυχῆς δεῖγμά τι, ἀλλὰ τέρψις ἄλλως καὶ παιδιὰ τὸ πρᾶγμα.
But we who come before the multitudes and announce such recitations exhibit certain phantoms, and on the whole, in clay, as I said a little while ago, our modeling is just like that of the doll-makers; as for the rest, there is neither similar motion present nor any trace of soul, but the matter is otherwise merely amusement and play.
ὥστε μοι ἐνθυμεῖσθαι ἔπεισι μὴ ἄρα οὕτω με Προμηθέα λέγεις εἶναι ὡς ὁ κωμικὸς τὸν Κλέωνα· φησὶν δέ, οἶσθα, περὶ αὐτοῦ· "
Κλέων Προμηθεύς ἐστι μετὰ τὰ πράγματα.
So that it occurs to me to wonder whether indeed you call me Prometheus in the same way as the comic poet spoke of Cleon; he says of him, as you know: "Cleon is a Prometheus after the event.
"
καὶ αὐτοὶ δὲ Ἀθηναῖοι τοὺς χυτρέας καὶ ἱπνοποιοὺς καὶ πάντας ὅσοι πηλουργοί Προμηθέας ἀπεκάλουν ἐπισκώπτοντες ἐς τὸν πηλὸν ἢ καὶ τὴν ἐν πυρὶ οἶμαι τῶν σκευῶν ὄπτησιν.
"And the Athenians themselves called the potters and stove-makers and all who worked with clay Prometheuses, jesting at the clay or, I suppose, at the baking of the vessels in the fire.
καὶ εἴ γε σοι τοῦτο βούλεται εἶναι ὁ Προμηθεύς, πάνυ εὐστόχως ἀποτετόξευται καὶ ἐς τὴν Ἀττικὴν δριμύτητα τῶν σκωμμάτων, ἐπεὶ καὶ εὔθρυπτα ἡμῖν τὰ ἔργα ὥσπερ ἐκείνοις τὰ χυτρίδια, καὶ μικρόν τις λίθον ἐμβαλὼν συντρίψειεν ἂν πάντα.
And if indeed your Prometheus wants to mean this, the arrow has been shot very accurately and with Attic sharpness of jesting, since our works too are easily broken like their little pots, and anyone throwing a small stone would crush them all.
§3Καίτοι, φαίη τις ἂν παραμυθούμενος, οὐ ταῦτα εἴκασέ σε τῷ Προμηθεῖ, ἀλλὰ τὸ καινουργὸν τοῦτο ἐπαινῶν καὶ μὴ πρός τι ἄλλο ἀρχέτυπον μεμιμημένον, ὥσπερ ἐκεῖνος οὐκ ὄντων ἀνθρώπων τέως ἐννοήσας αὐτοὺς ἀνέπλασεν, τοιαῦτα ζῷα μορφώσας καὶ διακοσμήσας ὡς εὐκίνητά τε εἴη καὶ ὀφθῆναι χαρίεντα. καὶ τὸ μὲν ὅλον ἀρχιτέκτων αὐτὸς ἦν, συνειργάζετο δέ τι καὶ ἡ Ἀθηνᾶ ἐμπνέουσα τὸν πηλὸν καὶ ἔμψυχα ποιοῦσα εἶναι τὰ πλάσματα.
And yet, someone might say by way of consolation: "He did not compare you to Prometheus in this way, but praising this novelty of your work and its not being modeled after any other archetype, just as he, when there were no humans yet, conceived and fashioned them, shaping and arranging such living beings so that they might be easily moved and pleasing to behold." And on the whole, he himself was the architect, but Athena also helped, breathing into the clay and making the creations alive.
ὁ μὲν ταῦτα ἂν εἴποι, πρός γε τὸ εὐφημότατον ἐξηγούμενος τὸ εἰρημένον, καὶ ἴσως οὗτος ὁ νοῦς ἦν τῷ λελεγμένῳ.
A person might say this, interpreting what was said in the most favorable way, and perhaps this was the meaning of the words.
ἐμοὶ δὲ οὐ πάνυ ἱκανόν, εἰ καινοποιεῖν δοκοίην, μηδὲ ἔχοι τις λέγειν ἀρχαιότερόν τι τοῦ πλάσματος οὗ τοῦτο ἀπόγονόν ἐστιν.
But to me it is not at all sufficient if I should seem to innovate, nor that one could not name some older creation of which this is the offspring.
ἀλλὰ εἰ μὴ καὶ χάριεν φαίνοιτο, αἰσχυνοίμην ἄν, εὖ ἴσθι, ἐπ' αὐτῷ καὶ ξυμπατήσας ἂν ἀφανίσαιμι.
But if it should not also appear graceful, know well that I would be ashamed of it and would obliterate it by treading it underfoot.
οὐδ’ ἂν ὠφελήσειεν αὐτό, παρὰ γοῦν ἐμοί, ἡ καινότης, μὴ οὐχὶ συντετρῖφθαι ἄμορφον ὄν.
Nor would novelty benefit it, at least in my judgment, so as not to be crushed if it is deformed.
καὶ εἴ γε μὴ οὕτω φρονοίην, ἄξιος ἄν εἶναι μοι δοκῶ ὑπὸ ἑκκαίδεκα γυπῶν κείρεσθαι, οὐ συνιεὶς ὡς πολὺ ἀμορφότερα τὰ μετὰ τοῦ ξένου αὐτὸ πεπονθότα.
And if indeed I did not think so, I think I would deserve to be devoured by sixteen vultures, not understanding how much more deformed are those things that have suffered this along with novelty.