Aeschylus, Prometheus; Dodona, Molossians, Thesprotia, Ionian Sea

Προμηθεύς


τὸ πᾶν πορείας ἥδε τέρμ᾽ ἀκήκοεν.

ὅπως δ᾽ ἂν εἰδῇ μὴ μάτην κλύουσά μου,

ἃ πρὶν μολεῖν δεῦρ᾽ ἐκμεμόχθηκεν φράσω,

τεκμήριον τοῦτ᾽ αὐτὸ δοὺς μύθων ἐμῶν.


ὄχλον μὲν οὖν τὸν πλεῖστον ἐκλείψω λόγων,

πρὸς αὐτὸ δ᾽ εἶμι τέρμα σῶν πλανημάτων.


ἐπεὶ γὰρ ἦλθες πρὸς Μολοσσὰ γάπεδα,

τὴν αἰπύνωτόν τ᾽ ἀμφὶ Δωδώνην, ἵνα

μαντεῖα θᾶκός τ᾽ ἐστὶ Θεσπρωτοῦ Διός,

τέρας τ᾽ ἄπιστον, αἱ προσήγοροι δρύες,

ὑφ᾽ ὧν σὺ λαμπρῶς κοὐδὲν αἰνικτηρίως

προσηγορεύθης ἡ Διὸς κλεινὴ δάμαρ

μέλλουσ᾽ ἔσεσθαι. τῶνδε προσσαίνει σέ τι ;

ἐντεῦθεν οἰστρήσασα τὴν παρακτίαν

κέλευθον ᾖξας πρὸς μέγαν κόλπον Ῥέας,

ἀφ᾽ οὗ παλιμπλάγκτοισι χειμάζῃ δρόμοις:

χρόνον δὲ τὸν μέλλοντα πόντιος μυχός,

σαφῶς ἐπίστασ᾽, Ἰόνιος κεκλήσεται,.

τῆς σῆς πορείας μνῆμα τοῖς πᾶσιν βροτοῖς.

σημεῖά σοι τάδ᾽ ἐστὶ τῆς ἐμῆς φρενός,

ὡς δέρκεται πλέον τι τοῦ πεφασμένου.

τὰ λοιπὰ δ᾽ ὑμῖν τῇδέ τ᾽ ἐς κοινὸν φράσω,

ἐς ταὐτὸν ἐλθὼν τῶν πάλαι λόγων ἴχνος



English translation by Philip Vellacott (Penguin Classics)

Scroll down from "On reaching the Molossian plains..."


Translation by Herbert Weir Smyth:

Prometheus

She has now heard the full end of her travels; yet so she may know that she has heard no vain tale from me, [825] I will describe the toils she has endured before she came here, giving this as a sure proof of my account.

Most of the weary tale I shall leave out and come to the very close of your wanderings.

For when you reached the Molossian plains [830] and the sheer ridge that encircles Dodona, where lies the prophetic seat of Thesprotian Zeus and that marvel, passing all belief, the talking oaks, by which you clearly, and in no riddling terms, were saluted as the renowned [835] bride-to-be of Zeus （is any of this pleasing to you?）, then, stung by the gadfly, you rushed along the pathway by the shore to the great gulf of Rhea, from where you are tossed in backward-wandering course; and for all time to come a recess of the sea, [840] be well assured, shall bear the name Ionian, as a memorial of your crossing for all mankind.

These, then, are the tokens to you of my understanding, to show that it discerns more than has been made manifest. The rest I shall declare both to you and her, [845] returning to the track of my former tale".