Prometheus: Therefore, I will leave out the greatest mass of words, and will go to the very limit of your wanderings.
§829ἐπεὶ γὰρ ἦλθες πρὸς Μολοσσὰ γάπεδα, §830τὴν αἰπύνωτόν τ᾽ ἀμφὶ Δωδώνην, ἵνα §831μαντεῖα θᾶκός τ᾽ ἐστὶ Θεσπρωτοῦ Διός, §832τέρας τ᾽ ἄπιστον, αἱ προσήγοροι δρύες, §833ὑφ᾽ ὧν σὺ λαμπρῶς κοὐδὲν αἰνικτηρίως §834προσηγορεύθης ἡ Διὸς κλεινὴ δάμαρ §835μέλλουσ᾽ ἔσεσθαι: τῶνδε προσσαίνει σέ τι;
For when you came to the Molossian plains, and around the steep-backed Dodona, where are the oracle and seat of Thesprotian Zeus, and that unbelievable wonder, the talking oaks, by which you clearly and in no riddles were addressed as she who was about to be the famous wife of Zeus—does any of these things touch your heart?
§836ἐντεῦθεν οἰστρήσασα τὴν παρακτίαν §837κέλευθον ᾖξας πρὸς μέγαν κόλπον Ῥέας, §838ἀφ᾽ οὗ παλιμπλάγκτοισι χειμάζει δρόμοις:
From there, driven by the gadfly, along the coastal path you rushed to the great gulf of Rhea, from which you are tossed in storm with backward-turning journeys.
§839χρόνον δὲ τὸν μέλλοντα πόντιος μυχός, §840σαφῶς ἐπίστασ᾽, Ἰόνιος κεκλήσεται, §841τῆς σῆς πορείας μνῆμα τοῖς πᾶσιν βροτοῖς.
And for the time to come, the gulf of the sea, know clearly, shall be called Ionian, as a memorial of your journey to all mortals.
These are proofs to you of my mind, that it sees something more than what has been revealed.
And the rest I will declare to you and to her in common, returning to the same track of my former words.
§846ἔστιν πόλις Κάνωβος ἐσχάτη χθονός, §847Νείλου πρὸς αὐτῷ στόματι καὶ προσχώματι: §848ἐνταῦθα δή σε Ζεὺς τίθησιν ἔμφρονα §849ἐπαφῶν ἀταρβεῖ χειρὶ καὶ θιγὼν μόνον.
There is a city, Canobus, at the edge of the land, at the very mouth and silt-deposit of the Nile; there indeed Zeus restores you to your senses, touching you with his fearless hand, merely by his touch.
§850ἐπώνυμον δὲ τῶν Διὸς γεννημάτων §851τέξεις κελαινὸν Ἔπαφον, ὃς καρπώσεται §852ὅσην πλατύρρους Νεῖλος ἀρδεύει χθόνα:
And named after the begetting of Zeus, you will bear dark Epaphus, who will harvest as much land as the broad-flowing Nile irrigates.
§853πέμπτη δ᾽ ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ γέννα πεντηκοντάπαις §854πάλιν πρὸς Ἄργος οὐχ ἑκοῦσ᾽ ἐλεύσεται §855θηλύσπορος, φεύγουσα συγγενῆ γάμον
And the fifth generation from him, consisting of fifty children, a female lineage, will return again to Argos unwillingly, fleeing kindred marriage with their cousins.
§856ἀνεψιῶν: οἱ δ᾽ ἐπτοημένοι φρένας, §857κίρκοι πελειῶν οὐ μακρὰν λελειμμένοι, §858ἥξουσι θηρεύοντες οὐ θηρασίμους §859γάμους, φθόνον δὲ σωμάτων ἕξει θεός:
And they, excited in their minds, like hawks not left far behind by joys, will come hunting marriages that should not be hunted, but god will begrudge them their bodies.
And the Pelasgian land will receive them, when by a bold nighttime deed the men are vanquished in a slaughter-struggle waged by women's hands.
For each wife deprives her husband of life, dipping a two-edged sword in his throat.
§864τοιάδ᾽ ἐπ᾽ ἐχθροὺς τοὺς ἐμοὺς ἔλθοι Κύπρις.
May such Love come upon my enemies.
§865μίαν δὲ παίδων ἵμερος θέλξει τὸ μὴ §866κτεῖναι σύνευνον, ἀλλ᾽ ἀπαμβλυνθήσεται §867γνώμην: δυοῖν δὲ θάτερον βουλήσεται, §868κλύειν ἄναλκις μᾶλλον ἢ μιαιφόνος:
But desire will charm one of the daughters not to slay her partner, but her purpose will be blunted; and of the two she will choose the former, to be called a coward rather than a murderer.
§869αὕτη κατ᾽ Ἄργος βασιλικὸν τέξει γένος.
She will bear a royal race in Argos.
§870μακροῦ λόγου δεῖ ταῦτ᾽ ἐπεξελθεῖν τορῶς.
It needs a long story to go through these things clearly.
§871σπορᾶς γε μὴν ἐκ τῆσδε φύσεται θρασὺς §872τόξοισι κλεινὸς <ἶνισ>, ὃς πόνων [ἐκ τῶνδ᾽] ἐμὲ §873λύσει.
From this seed indeed shall be born a bold youth, famous with the bow, who will release me from these labors.
τοιόνδε χρησμὸν ἡ παλαιγενὴς §874μήτηρ ἐμοὶ διῆλθε Τιτανὶς Θέμις:
Such an oracle my ancient-born mother, the Titaness Themis, declared to me.
But how and in what way, these things require a long time to tell, and you will gain nothing by learning them fully.
§877ἐλελεῦ, ἐλελεῦ,
Io: Eleleu, eleleu!
Again spasm and brain-striking madness inflame me, and the gadfly's sting, unheated by fire, pierces me.
§881κραδία δὲ φόβῳ φρένα λακτίζει.
My heart kicks my chest with fear.
§882τροχοδινεῖται δ᾽ ὄμμαθ᾽ ἑλίγδην, §883ἔξω δὲ δρόμου φέρομαι λύσσης §884πνεύματι μάργῳ, γλώσσης ἀκρατής:
My eyes whirl round and round, and I am carried out of my course by the wild gust of madness, powerless over my tongue.
And muddy words strike at random against the waves of hateful ruin.
§887ἦ σοφὸς ἦ σοφὸς [ἦν] ὃς §888πρῶτος ἐν γνώμᾳ τόδ᾽ ἐβάστασε καὶ γλώσ- §889σᾳ διεμυθολόγησεν, §890ὡς τὸ κηδεῦσαι καθ᾽ ἑαυτὸν ἀριστεύει μακρῷ, §891καὶ μήτε τῶν πλούτῳ διαθρυπτομένων §892μήτε τῶν γέννᾳ μεγαλυνομένων §893ὄντα χερνήταν ἐραστεῦσαι γάμων.
Chorus: Wise indeed, wise indeed was he who first weighed this in his mind and with his tongue expressed it in speech, that to marry within one's own station is by far the best, and that one who is a laborer should not desire marriage either with those pampered by wealth or with those magnified by birth.
§894μήποτε μήποτέ μ᾽, ὦ §895<πότνιαι> Μοῖραι, λεχέων Διὸς εὐνά- §896τειραν ἴδοισθε πέλουσαν: §897μηδὲ πλαθείην γαμέτᾳ τινὶ τῶν ἐξ οὐρανοῦ.
Never, never, O revered Fates, may you behold me becoming a partner of Zeus's bed, nor may I be joined to any bridegroom from among those in heaven.
§898ταρβῶ γὰρ ἀστεργάνορα παρθενίαν §899εἰσορῶσ᾽ Ἰοῦς ἀμαλαπτομέναν §900δυσπλάνοις Ἥρας ἀλατείαις πόνων.
For I fear when I look upon the husband-shunning virinity of Io, wasted away by the hard-wandering journeys of labors sent by Hera.
But for me, when marriage is on my own level, it is without fear; I do not dread it.
§903[ἔρως] ἄφυκτον ὄμμα προσδράκοι με.
And may no escape-proof eye of the greater gods look upon me.
§904ἀπόλεμος ὅδε γ᾽ ὁ πόλεμος, ἄπορα πόριμος: §905οὐδ᾽ ἔχω τίς ἂν γενοίμαν: τὰν Διὸς γὰρ οὐχ ὁρῶ §906μῆτιν ὅπα φύγοιμ᾽ ἄν.
This is a war indeed not to be fought, finding a way through the pathless; nor do I know what would become of me, for I do not see how I could escape the counsel of Zeus.
§907ἦ μὴν ἔτι Ζεύς, καίπερ αὐθάδη φρονῶν, §908ἔσται ταπεινός, οἷον ἐξαρτύεται §909γάμον γαμεῖν, ὃς αὐτὸν ἐκ τυραννίδος
Prometheus: Yet indeed Zeus, though proud in mind, shall be humbled, seeing that he prepares to make such a marriage as shall cast him out from his tyranny and throne into obscurity.
§910θρόνων τ᾽ ἄιστον ἐκβαλεῖ: πατρὸς δ᾽ ἀρὰ §911Κρόνου τότ᾽ ἤδη παντελῶς κρανθήσεται, §912ἣν ἐκπίτνων ἠρᾶτο δηναιῶν θρόνων.
And the curse of his father Cronus shall then indeed be fully accomplished, which he invoked when falling from his ancient throne.
An escape from such troubles no one of the gods could show him clearly except me.
§915ἐγὼ τάδ᾽ οἶδα χᾦ τρόπῳ.
I know these things, and in what way.
πρὸς ταῦτά νυν §916θαρσῶν καθήσθω τοῖς πεδαρσίοις κτύποις
Therefore now let him sit confident, trusting in his aloft noises