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THE THEOGONY.
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upon Prometheus as well as his clients. On the latter he inflicted the evil of winsome womankind, represented by Pandora, and placed them in the dilemma of either not marrying, and dying heirless, or of finding in marriage the lottery which it is still accounted. As to Prometheus and his punishment, Hesiod's account is as follows:—
"Prometheus, versed
In various wiles, he bound with fettering chains
Indissoluble, chains of galling weight,
Midway a column. Down he sent from high
The broad-winged eagle: she his liver gorged
Immortal. For it sprang with life, and grew
In the night season, and the waste repaired
Of what by day the bird of spreading wing
Devoured."
—E. 696-701.
In various wiles, he bound with fettering chains
Indissoluble, chains of galling weight,
Midway a column. Down he sent from high
The broad-winged eagle: she his liver gorged
Immortal. For it sprang with life, and grew
In the night season, and the waste repaired
Of what by day the bird of spreading wing
Devoured."
—E. 696-701.
This durance was eventually terminated by Hercules slaying the vulture or eagle, and reconciling Zeus and the Titan. Hesiod's moral will sum up the tale:—
"Nathless it is not given thee to deceive
The god, nor yet elude the omniscient mind;
For not Prometheus, void of blame to man,
Could 'scape the burden of oppressive wrath;
And vain his various wisdom; vain to free
From pangs, or burst the inextricable chain."
—E. 816-821.
The god, nor yet elude the omniscient mind;
For not Prometheus, void of blame to man,
Could 'scape the burden of oppressive wrath;
And vain his various wisdom; vain to free
From pangs, or burst the inextricable chain."
—E. 816-821.
The foregoing sketch will, it is hoped, have enabled English readers to discover in Hesiod's 'Theogony' not a mere prosy catalogue, but a systematised account of the generation of the gods of Hellas, relieved of excessive
