§747τί δῆτ᾽ ἐμοὶ ζῆν κέρδος, ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ ἐν τάχει §748ἔρριψ᾽ ἐμαυτὴν τῆσδ᾽ ἀπὸ στύφλου πέτρας, §749ὅπως πέδοι σκήψασα τῶν πάντων πόνων
Io: Why then is it a gain for me to live, and why did I not quickly cast myself down from this rugged rock, so that, dashing to the ground, from all my troubles I might have been freed?
For it is better to die once for all than to suffer miserably all one's days.
Prometheus: Indeed, you would bear my struggles with difficulty, for whom even to die is not destined.
§754αὕτη γὰρ ἦν ἂν πημάτων ἀπαλλαγή: §755νῦν δ᾽ οὐδέν ἐστι τέρμα μοι προκείμενον §756μόχθων, πρὶν ἂν Ζεὺς ἐκπέσῃ τυραννίδος.
For this would have been a release from troubles; but now no limit is set before me for my labors, until Zeus falls from his tyranny.
§757ἦ γάρ ποτ᾽ ἔστιν ἐκπεσεῖν ἀρχῆς Δία;
Io: What, is it possible that Zeus will one day fall from power?
§758ἥδοι᾽ ἄν, οἶμαι, τήνδ᾽ ἰδοῦσα συμφοράν.
Prometheus: You would rejoice, I think, to see this disaster.
§759πῶς δ᾽ οὐκ ἄν, ἥτις ἐκ Διὸς πάσχω κακῶς;
Io: How could I not, I who suffer cruelly at the hands of Zeus?
§760ὡς τοίνυν ὄντων τῶνδέ σοι μαθεῖν πάρα.
Prometheus: That these things are so, then, you may learn.
§761πρὸς τοῦ τύραννα σκῆπτρα συληθήσεται;
Io: By whom will his tyrannical sceptre be despoiled?
§762πρὸς αὐτὸς αὑτοῦ κενοφρόνων βουλευμάτων.
Prometheus: By himself, through his own empty-minded counsels.
§763ποίῳ τρόπῳ;
Io: In what way?
σήμηνον, εἰ μή τις βλάβη.
Tell me, if there is no harm.
§764γαμεῖ γάμον τοιοῦτον ᾧ ποτ᾽ ἀσχαλεῖ.
Prometheus: He will make such a marriage as he will one day grieve at.
§765θέορτον, ἢ βρότειον;
Io: Divine or mortal?
εἰ ῥητόν, φράσον.
If it may be spoken, tell me.
§766τί δ᾽ ὅντιν᾽;
Prometheus: Why ask what kind?
οὐ γὰρ ῥητὸν αὐδᾶσθαι τόδε.
For this is not permitted to be spoken.
§767ἦ πρὸς δάμαρτος ἐξανίσταται θρόνων;
Io: Is he to be driven from his throne by his wife?
§768ἣ τέξεταί γε παῖδα φέρτερον πατρός.
Prometheus: She will indeed bear a son stronger than his father.
§769οὐδ᾽ ἔστιν αὐτῷ τῆσδ᾽ ἀποστροφὴ τύχης;
Io: And is there no turning away from this fortune for him?
§770οὐ δῆτα, πλὴν ἔγωγ᾽ ἂν ἐκ δεσμῶν λυθείς.
Prometheus: No indeed, except perhaps myself, if I were released from my bonds.
§771τίς οὖν ὁ λύσων σ᾽ ἐστὶν ἄκοντος Διός;
Io: Who then is he who will release you against the will of Zeus?
§772τῶν σῶν τιν᾽ αὐτὸν ἐκγόνων εἶναι χρεών.
Prometheus: It must be one of your descendants.
§773πῶς εἶπας;
Io: How did you say?
ἦ ᾽μὸς παῖς σ᾽ ἀπαλλάξει κακῶν;
Will a child of mine deliver you from evils?
§774τρίτος γε γένναν πρὸς δέκ᾽ ἄλλαισιν γοναῖς.
Prometheus: Yes, the tenth generation after three others.
§775ἥδ᾽ οὐκέτ᾽ εὐξύμβλητος ἡ χρησμῳδία.
Io: This prophecy is no longer easy to understand.
§776καὶ μηδὲ σαυτῆς γ᾽ ἐκμαθεῖν ζήτει πόνους.
Prometheus: Then do not seek to learn your own troubles either.
§777μή μοι προτείνων κέρδος εἶτ᾽ ἀποστέρει.
Io: Do not offer me a benefit and then deprive me of it.
§778δυοῖν λόγοιν σε θατέρῳ δωρήσομαι.
Prometheus: I will present you with one of two stories.
§779ποίοιν;
Io: Which two?
πρόδειξον, αἵρεσίν τ᾽ ἐμοὶ δίδου.
Show them beforehand, and give me the choice.
Prometheus: I give it; choose indeed whether I shall declare to you the rest of your labors clearly, or him who will release me.
§782τούτων σὺ τὴν μὲν τῇδε, τὴν δ᾽ ἐμοὶ χάριν §783θέσθαι θέλησον, μηδ᾽ ἀτιμάσῃς λόγου: §784καὶ τῇδε μὲν γέγωνε τὴν λοιπὴν πλάνην, §785ἐμοὶ δὲ τὸν λύσοντα: τοῦτο γὰρ ποθῶ.
Chorus: Of these, grant one favor to her, and the other to me, and do not refuse us the story; to her indeed tell the rest of her wandering, and to me, him who will release you; for this is what I desire.
Prometheus: Since you are eager, I will not oppose declaring everything as much as you desire.
To you first, Io, I will tell your much-tossed wandering, which write down in the mindful tablets of your mind.
§790ὅταν περάσῃς ῥεῖθρον ἠπείροιν ὅρον, §791πρὸς ἀντολὰς φλογῶπας ἡλιοστιβεῖς §793πόντου περῶσα φλοῖσβον, ἔστ᾽ ἂν ἐξίκῃ §794πρὸς Γοργόνεια πεδία Κισθήνης, ἵνα §795αἱ Φορκίδες ναίουσι δηναιαὶ κόραι §795aτρεῖς κυκνόμορφοι, κοινὸν ὄμμ᾽ ἐκτημέναι, §796μονόδοντες, ἃς οὔθ᾽ ἥλιος προσδέρκεται §797ἀκτῖσιν οὔθ᾽ ἡ νύκτερος μήνη ποτέ.
When you cross the stream that is the boundary of the two continents, toward the flaming sun-trodden east, crossing the roaring sea, until you arrive at the Gorgonean plains of Cisthene, where the Phorcides dwell, ancient maidens, three swan-shaped, possessing one common eye, single-toothed, whom neither the sun beholds with his rays nor the nightly moon ever.
§798πέλας δ᾽ ἀδελφαὶ τῶνδε τρεῖς κατάπτεροι, §799δρακοντόμαλλοι Γοργόνες βροτοστυγεῖς, §800ἃς θνητὸς οὐδεὶς εἰσιδὼν ἕξει πνοάς: §801τοιοῦτο μέν σοι τοῦτο φρούριον λέγω.
And near them, their three winged sisters, snake-haired Gorgons, detested by mortals, whom no mortal beholding will retain breath: such indeed is the caution I tell you of.
§802ἄλλην δ᾽ ἄκουσον δυσχερῆ θεωρίαν: §803ὀξυστόμους γὰρ Ζηνὸς ἀκραγεῖς κύνας §804γρῦπας φύλαξαι, τόν τε μουνῶπα στρατὸν §805Ἀριμασπὸν ἱπποβάμον᾽, οἳ χρυσόρρυτον §806οἰκοῦσιν ἀμφὶ νᾶμα Πλούτωνος πόρου: §807τούτοις σὺ μὴ πέλαζε.
And hear another difficult spectacle: for the sharp-beaked, unbarking hounds of Zeus, the griffins, guard against, and the one-eyed host of Arimaspians on horseback, who dwell around the gold-flowing stream of Pluto's channel; do not approach them.
And to a far-off land you will come, a dark race, who dwell near the springs of the sun, where is the river Aethiops.
§810τούτου παρ᾽ ὄχθας ἕρφ᾽, ἕως ἂν ἐξίκῃ §811καταβασμόν, ἔνθα Βιβλίνων ὀρῶν ἄπο §812ἵησι σεπτὸν Νεῖλος εὔποτον ῥέος.
Along its banks go, until you arrive at the cataract, where from the Bybline mountains the Nile sends forth its sacred and sweet-flowing stream.
§813οὗτός σ᾽ ὁδώσει τὴν τρίγωνον ἐς χθόνα §814Νειλῶτιν, οὗ δὴ τὴν μακρὰν ἀποικίαν, §815Ἰοῖ, πέπρωται σοί τε καὶ τέκνοις κτίσαι.
This will guide you to the triangular land of the Nile, where indeed the long colony, Io, is destined for you and your children to found.
§816τῶν δ᾽ εἴ τί σοι ψελλόν τε καὶ δυσεύρετον, §817ἐπανδίπλαζε καὶ σαφῶς ἐκμάνθανε: §818σχολὴ δὲ πλείων ἢ θέλω πάρεστί μοι.
And of these, if anything is obscure and hard to trace, repeat it and learn it clearly; for I have more leisure than I wish.
§819εἰ μέν τι τῇδε λοιπὸν ἢ παρειμένον §820ἔχεις γεγωνεῖν τῆς πολυφθόρου πλάνης, §821λέγ᾽: εἰ δὲ πάντ᾽ εἴρηκας, ἡμῖν αὖ χάριν §822δὸς ἥνπερ αἰτούμεσθα, μέμνησαι δέ που.
Chorus: If indeed you have anything remaining or passed over to tell of her much-destroying wandering, speak; but if you have said all, to us in turn the favor grant which we ask, and you surely remember it.
§823τὸ πᾶν πορείας ἥδε τέρμ᾽ ἀκήκοεν.
Prometheus: She has heard the whole limit of her journey.