Chorus
Do not benefit mortals beyond reason and disregard your own distress; although, I am confident that you will be freed
[510]
from these bonds and will have power in no way inferior to Zeus.
Prometheus
Not in this way is Fate, who brings all to fulfillment, destined to complete this course. Only when I have been bent by pangs and tortures infinite am I to escape my bondage. Skill is weaker by far than Necessity.
Chorus
[515]
Who then is the helmsman of Necessity?
Prometheus
The three-shaped Fates and mindful Furies.
Chorus
Can it be that Zeus has less power than they do?
Prometheus
Yes, in that even he cannot escape what is foretold.
Chorus
Why, what is fated for Zeus except to hold eternal sway?
Prometheus
[520]
This you must not learn yet; do not be over-eager.
Chorus
It is some solemn secret, surely, that you enshroud in mystery.
Prometheus
Think of some other subject, for it is not the proper time to speak of this. No matter what, this must be kept concealed; for it is by safeguarding it that
[525]
I am to escape my dishonorable bonds and outrage.
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Aeschylus. Aeschylus, with an English translation by Herbert Weir Smyth, Ph. D. in two volumes. 1. Prometheus Bound. Herbert Weir Smyth, Ph. D. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press. 1926.
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