Prometheus Bound
Now listen to what I did for the mortals to save them from their many miseries.
In the beginning they were without a working mind so I gave them sense and reason. I am not saying this to disparage mankind but to show that the gifts I have given them were due to my love for them.
Firstly, in those days their eyes were of no use and the same was true of their ears which, though they could hear sounds, they made no sense of them. For their whole lives mortals lived as if in a dream, confused about everything and making sense of nothing. They didn’t know if a building was made of brick or wood nor knew anything about houses that were warmed by the sun but they lived beneath the ground in sunless caves, as do the ants.
They knew nothing of the signs of Winter or of Spring, full of blossoms, or of Summer, full of fruit and upon which they could depend for their survival but they just wandered about and acted aimlessly, until I came about. I explained to them the risings and settings of stars, a difficult art to explain.
And yes, I invented for them numbers, too, the most important science; and the stringing up of letters, the art of Memory, the mother of the Muses. I have also brought the wild beasts into the sway of men, placing them under the yoke, the collar and the saddle so they can carry the heavy burdens of men.
I have harnessed horses to the chariots and made them obey men’s reins as a show of wealth and luxury.
And it was I and no one else who had discovered the seafarer’s flax-winged craft that now roam about all the seas.
....
And that’s not all the crafts and arts I have invented for the race of mortals.
Now listen to the rest of them.
Firstly, and most importantly, I have showen them how to mix soothing remedies with which they can stay clear of any malady because, before that, if they fell ill they could do nothing about it.
There was no medicinal food or ointment or any other mixture, so they just wasted away till they died. Then I showed them how to read the future and which of their dreams would come true. I have explained to them the meanings of incomprehensible voices and the meanings of cross roads. Then I distinguished clearly for them those of the birds with hooked talons that are sinister from those whose nature is auspicious; how they lived, their mutual loves, hatreds and how they pair with one another.
I showed them the entrails of these birds and pointed out the smoothness of their entrails and what colour the gall must be to please the gods. I have pointed out to them the speckled beauty of the liver-lobe and showed them how to burn the limbs wrapped in fat and their long back bone. I showed the mortals the ways and art of this difficult cult.
Then I cleared their vision so that they could see signs emerging out of flames, an art of which, until then, they knew nothing.
So much about these arts and as for the gains mankind received from below the Earth, brass, iron, silver and gold who could say that he had discovered them before me? No one, and he who claims to have done so, merely babbles on idly. To sum up, let me tell you this, that every art and craft possessed by the mortals comes from me, me, Prometheus!
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https://bacchicstage.wordpress.com/aeschylus-2/prometheus-bound/
No comment.
In the beginning they were without a working mind so I gave them sense and reason. I am not saying this to disparage mankind but to show that the gifts I have given them were due to my love for them.
Firstly, in those days their eyes were of no use and the same was true of their ears which, though they could hear sounds, they made no sense of them. For their whole lives mortals lived as if in a dream, confused about everything and making sense of nothing. They didn’t know if a building was made of brick or wood nor knew anything about houses that were warmed by the sun but they lived beneath the ground in sunless caves, as do the ants.
They knew nothing of the signs of Winter or of Spring, full of blossoms, or of Summer, full of fruit and upon which they could depend for their survival but they just wandered about and acted aimlessly, until I came about. I explained to them the risings and settings of stars, a difficult art to explain.
And yes, I invented for them numbers, too, the most important science; and the stringing up of letters, the art of Memory, the mother of the Muses. I have also brought the wild beasts into the sway of men, placing them under the yoke, the collar and the saddle so they can carry the heavy burdens of men.
I have harnessed horses to the chariots and made them obey men’s reins as a show of wealth and luxury.
And it was I and no one else who had discovered the seafarer’s flax-winged craft that now roam about all the seas.
....
And that’s not all the crafts and arts I have invented for the race of mortals.
Now listen to the rest of them.
Firstly, and most importantly, I have showen them how to mix soothing remedies with which they can stay clear of any malady because, before that, if they fell ill they could do nothing about it.
There was no medicinal food or ointment or any other mixture, so they just wasted away till they died. Then I showed them how to read the future and which of their dreams would come true. I have explained to them the meanings of incomprehensible voices and the meanings of cross roads. Then I distinguished clearly for them those of the birds with hooked talons that are sinister from those whose nature is auspicious; how they lived, their mutual loves, hatreds and how they pair with one another.
I showed them the entrails of these birds and pointed out the smoothness of their entrails and what colour the gall must be to please the gods. I have pointed out to them the speckled beauty of the liver-lobe and showed them how to burn the limbs wrapped in fat and their long back bone. I showed the mortals the ways and art of this difficult cult.
Then I cleared their vision so that they could see signs emerging out of flames, an art of which, until then, they knew nothing.
So much about these arts and as for the gains mankind received from below the Earth, brass, iron, silver and gold who could say that he had discovered them before me? No one, and he who claims to have done so, merely babbles on idly. To sum up, let me tell you this, that every art and craft possessed by the mortals comes from me, me, Prometheus!
---
https://bacchicstage.wordpress.com/aeschylus-2/prometheus-bound/
No comment.