{"id":285,"date":"2022-09-02T15:48:35","date_gmt":"2022-09-02T19:48:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/myths\/?post_type=chapter&p=285"},"modified":"2022-09-02T15:50:46","modified_gmt":"2022-09-02T19:50:46","slug":"l6-hypothesis-prometheus-bound-688-1101-io","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/myths\/chapter\/l6-hypothesis-prometheus-bound-688-1101-io\/","title":{"raw":"L6 Hypothesis-Prometheus Bound (688-1101): Prometheus & Io","rendered":"L6 Hypothesis-Prometheus Bound (688-1101): Prometheus & Io"},"content":{"raw":"IO\r\n\r\nWhat land is this? What race of living beings?\r\nWho shall I say I see here bound in chains,\r\nexposed and suffering on these cold rocks?690<\/span>\r\nWhat crime has led to such a punishment\r\nand your destruction? Tell me where I am.\r\nWhere has my wretched wandering brought me?\r\nTo what part of the world?\r\n\r\n[Io is suddenly in great pain.]<\/em>\r\n\r\nAaaaiiii! The pain!!!\r\nThat gadfly stings me once again, the ghost\r\nof earth-born Argus! Get him away from me,\r\nO Earth, that herdsman with a thousand eyes\u2014\r\nthe very sight of him fills me with terror!\r\nThose crafty eyes of his keep following me.\r\nThough dead, he is not hidden underground,700\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0[570]<\/span>\r\nbut moves out from the shades beneath the earth\r\nand hunts me down and, in my wretched state,\r\ndrives me to wander without nourishment\r\nalong the sandy shore beside the sea.\r\nA pipe made out of reeds and wax sings out\r\na clear relaxing strain. Alas for me!\r\nWhere is this path of roaming far and wide\r\nnow leading me? What did I ever do,\r\nO son of Cronos, how did I go wrong,\r\nthat you should yoke me to such agonies . . .710\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0[580]<\/span>\r\n\r\n[Io reacts to another attack.]<\/em>\r\n\r\nAaaaiii!! . . . and by oppressing me like this,\r\nsetting a fearful stinging fly to chase\r\na helpless girl, drive me to this madness?\r\nBurn me with fire, or bury me in earth,\r\nor feed me to the monsters of the sea.\r\nDo not refuse these prayers of mine, my lord!\r\nI have had my fill of all this wandering,\r\nthis roaming far and wide\u2014and all this pain!\r\nI do not know how to escape the pain!\r\nDo you not hear the ox-horned maiden call?720<\/span>\r\n\r\nPROMETHEUS\r\n\r\nHow could I not hear that young girl\u2019s voice,\r\nthe child of Inachus, in a frantic state\r\nfrom the gadfly\u2019s sting? She fires Zeus\u2019s heart[590]<\/span>\r\nwith sexual lust, and now, worn down\r\nby Hera\u2019s hate, is forced to roam around\r\non paths that never end.\r\n\r\nIO\r\n\r\nWhy do you shout\r\nmy father\u2019s name? Tell this unhappy girl\r\njust who you are, you wretched sufferer,\r\nand how, in my distress, you call to me,\r\nknowing who I am and naming my disease,730<\/span>\r\nthe heaven-sent sickness which consumes me\r\nas it whips my skin with maddening stings . . .\r\n\r\n[Io is attacked again by the gadfly. She moves spasmodically as she wrestles with the pain.]<\/em>\r\n\r\n. . . Aaaiii! . . . I have come rushing here, wracked\r\nwith driving pangs of hunger, overwhelmed[600]<\/span>\r\nby Hera\u2019s plans for her revenge. Of those\r\nwho are in misery . . . Aaaiiii! . . . which ones\r\ngo through the sufferings I face? Give me\r\nsome clear sign how much more agony\r\nI have to bear! Is there no remedy?\r\nTell me the medicines for this disease,740<\/span>\r\nif you know any. Say something to me!\r\nSpeak to a wretched wandering young girl!\r\n\r\nPROMETHEUS\r\n\r\nI will clarify for you all those things\r\nyou wish to know\u2014not by weaving riddles,[610]<\/span>\r\nbut by using simple speech. For with friends\r\nour mouths should tell the truth quite openly.\r\nYou are looking at the one who offered men\r\nthe gift of fire. I am Prometheus.\r\n\r\nIO\r\n\r\nO you who have shown to mortal beings\r\nso many benefits they all can share,750<\/span>\r\npoor suffering Prometheus! What act\r\nhas led you to be punished in this way?\r\n\r\nPROMETHEUS\r\n\r\nI have just finished mourning my own pain.\r\n\r\nIO\r\n\r\nWill you not grant this favour to me, then?\r\n\r\nPROMETHEUS\r\n\r\nAsk what you wish to know. For you will learn\r\nthe details of it all from me.\r\n\r\nIO\r\n\r\nTell me\r\nwho chained you here against this rocky cleft.\r\n\r\nPROMETHEUS\r\n\r\nThe will of Zeus and Hephaestus\u2019s hands.\r\n\r\nIO\r\n\r\nFor what offence are you being punished?[620]<\/span>\r\n\r\nPROMETHEUS\r\n\r\nI have said enough. I will not tell you760<\/span>\r\nany more than that.\r\n\r\nIO\r\n\r\nBut I need more.\r\nAt least inform me when my wandering ends.\r\nHow long will I be in this wretched state?\r\n\r\nPROMETHEUS\r\n\r\nFor you it would be better not to know\r\nthan to have me answer.\r\n\r\nIO\r\n\r\nI\u2019m begging you\u2014\r\ndo not conceal from me what I must bear.\r\n\r\nPROMETHEUS\r\n\r\nIt is not that I begrudge that gift to you.\r\n\r\nIO\r\n\r\nThen why do you appear so hesitant\r\nto tell me everything?\r\n\r\nPROMETHEUS\r\n\r\nI am not unwilling,\r\nbut I do not wish to break your spirit.770<\/span>\r\n\r\nIO\r\n\r\nDo not be more concerned for how I feel\r\nthan I wish you to be.\r\n\r\nPROMETHEUS\r\n\r\nSince you insist,[630]<\/span>\r\nI am obliged to speak. So listen to me.\r\n\r\nCHORUS\r\n\r\nNo, not yet. Give us a share in this, as well,\r\nso we may be content with what you say.\r\nWe should first learn how she became diseased.\r\nSo let the girl herself explain to us\r\nthe things that led to her destructive fate.\r\nThen you can teach her what still lies in store.\r\n\r\nPROMETHEUS\r\n\r\nWell then, Io, it is now up to you780<\/span>\r\nto grace them with this favour\u2014above all,\r\nbecause they are your father\u2019s sisters.\r\nAnd whenever one is likely to draw tears\r\nfrom those who listen, it is well worthwhile\r\nto weep aloud, lamenting one\u2019s own fate.\r\n\r\nIO\r\n\r\nI do not know how I could now refuse you.[640]<\/span>\r\nFrom the plain tale I tell you will find out\r\nall things you wish to know, although to talk\r\nabout the brutal storm sent by the gods,\r\nthe cruel transformation of my shape,790<\/span>\r\nand where the trouble came from, as it swept\r\ndown on a miserable wretch like me\u2014\r\nthat makes me feel ashamed.\r\n\r\nDuring the night\r\nvisions were always strolling through my rooms\r\ncalling me with smooth, seductive words:\r\n\r\n\u201cYou are a very fortunate young girl,\r\nso why remain a virgin all this time,\r\nwhen you could have the finest match of all?\r\nFor Zeus, smitten by the shaft of passion,\r\nnow burns for you and wishes to make love.800\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0[650]<\/span>\r\nMy child, do not reject the bed of Zeus,\r\nbut go to Lerna\u2019s fertile meadowlands,\r\nto your father\u2019s flocks and stalls of oxen,\r\nso Zeus\u2019s eyes can ease his fierce desire.\u201d\r\n\r\nVisions like that upset me every night,\r\ntill I got brave enough to tell my father\r\nabout what I was seeing in my dreams.\r\nHe sent many messengers to Delphi\r\nand Dodona, to see if he could learn\r\nwhat he might do or say to please the gods.810\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0[660]<\/span>\r\nBut his men all came back bringing reports\r\nof cryptic and confusing oracles,\r\nwith wording difficult to comprehend.\r\nInachus at last received a clear response,\r\na simple order which he must obey\u2014\r\nto drive me from my home and native land,\r\nto turn me out and force me into exile,\r\nroaming the remotest regions of the earth\u2014\r\nand if he was unwilling, Zeus would send\r\na flaming thunderbolt which would destroy820<\/span>\r\nhis entire race, not leaving one alive.\r\nSo he obeyed Apollo\u2019s oracles\r\nby forcing me away against my will[670]<\/span>\r\nand denying me entry to his home.\r\nHe did not want to do it but was forced\r\nby the controlling majesty of Zeus.\r\nImmediately my mind and shape were changed.\r\nMy head acquired these horns, as you can see,\r\nand a vicious fly began tormenting me\r\nwith such ferocious stings I ran away,830<\/span>\r\nmadly bounding off to the flowing stream\r\nof sweet Cherchneia and then to Lerna\u2019s springs.\r\nBut the herdsman Argus, a child of Earth,\r\nwhose rage is violent, came after me,\r\nwith all those close-packed eyes of his, searching\r\nfor my tracks. But an unexpected fate[680]<\/span>\r\nwhich no one could foresee robbed him of his life.\r\nAnd now, tormented by this stinging gadfly,\r\na scourge from god, I am being driven\r\nfrom place to place.\r\n\r\nSo now you understand840<\/span>\r\nthe story of what I have had to suffer.\r\nIf you can talk about my future troubles,\r\nthen let me know. But do not pity me\r\nand speak false words of reassurance,\r\nfor, in my view, to use deceitful speech\r\nis the most shameful sickness of them all.\r\n\r\nCHORUS\r\n\r\nAlas, alas! Tell me no more! Alas!\r\nI never, never thought my ears\r\nwould hear a story strange as this\r\nor suffering so hard to contemplate850\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0[690]<\/span>\r\nand terrible to bear, the outrage\r\nand the horror of that two-edged goad\r\nwould pierce me to my soul. Alas!\r\nO Fate, Fate, how I shake with fear\r\nto see what has been done to Io.\r\n\r\nPROMETHEUS\r\n\r\nThese cries and fears of yours are premature.\r\nWait until you learn what lies in store for her.\r\n\r\nCHORUS\r\n\r\nThen speak, and tell us everything. The sick\r\nfind solace when they clearly understand\r\nthe pain they have to face before it comes.860<\/span>\r\n\r\nPROMETHEUS\r\n\r\nWhat you desired to learn about before[700]<\/span>\r\nyou now have readily obtained from me,\r\nfor you were eager first of all to hear\r\nIo herself tell you what she suffered.\r\nNow listen to what she has yet to face,\r\nthe ordeals this girl must still experience\r\nat Hera\u2019s hands. You, too, child of Inachus,\r\nset what I have to say inside your heart,\r\nso you will find out how your roaming ends.\r\n\r\nFirst, turn from here towards the rising sun,870<\/span>\r\nthen move across those lands as yet unploughed,\r\nand you will reach the Scythian nomads,\r\nwho live in wicker dwellings which they raise[710]<\/span>\r\non strong-wheeled wagons. These men possess\r\nfar-shooting bows, so stay away from them.\r\nKeep moving on along the rocky shoreline\r\nbeside the roaring sea, and pass their lands.\r\nThe Chalybes, men who work with iron,\r\nlive to your left.\u00a0You must beware of them,\r\nfor they are wild and are not kind to strangers.880<\/span>\r\nThen you will reach the river Hubristes,\r\ncorrectly named for its great turbulence.\r\nDo not cross it, for that is dangerous,\r\nuntil you reach the Caucasus itself,\r\nthe very highest of the mountains there,[720]<\/span>\r\nwhere the power of that flowing river\r\ncomes gushing from the slopes. Then cross those peaks,\r\nwhich stretch up to the stars, and take the path\r\ngoing south, until you reach the Amazons,\r\na tribe which hates all men. In days to come,890<\/span>\r\nthey will found settlements in Themiscyra,\r\nbeside the Thermodon, where the jagged rocks\r\nof Salmydessus face the sea and offer\r\nsailors and their ships a savage welcome.\r\nThey will be pleased to guide you on your way.\r\nNext, you will reach the Cimmerian isthmus,\r\nbeside the narrow entrance to a lake.\r\nYou must be resolute and leave this place[730]<\/span>\r\nand at Maeotis move across the stream,\r\na trip that will win you eternal fame900<\/span>\r\namong all mortal men, for they will name\r\nthat place the Bosporus in praise of you.\r\nOnce you leave behind the plains of Europe\r\nyou will arrive in Asian lands.\r\n\r\nAnd now,\r\ndoes it not strike you that this tyrant god\r\nis violent in everything he does?\r\nBecause this maiden was a mortal being\r\nand he was eager to have sex with her,\r\nhe threw her out to wander the whole world.\r\nYoung girl, the one you found to seek your hand910<\/span>\r\nis vicious. As for the story you just heard,\r\nyou should know this\u2014I am not even past[740]<\/span>\r\nthe opening prelude.\r\n\r\nIO\r\n\r\nO no, no, no! Alas!\r\n\r\nPROMETHEUS\r\n\r\nAre you crying and moaning once again?\r\nHow will you act once you have learned from me\r\nthe agonies that still remain?\r\n\r\nCHORUS\r\n\r\nYou mean\r\nyou have still more to say about her woes?\r\n\r\nPROMETHEUS\r\n\r\nI do\u2014a wintry sea of dreadful pain.\r\n\r\nIO\r\n\r\nWhat point is there for me in living then?\r\nWhy do I not hurl myself this instant920<\/span>\r\nfrom these rough rocks, fall to the plain below,\r\nand put an end to all my misery?\r\nI would prefer to die once and for all,[750]<\/span>\r\nthan suffer such afflictions every day.\r\n\r\nPROMETHEUS\r\n\r\nThen you would find it difficult to face\r\nthe torments I endure, for I am one\r\nwho cannot die, and death would offer me\r\nrelief from pain. But now no end is set\r\nto tortures I must bear, until the day\r\nwhen Zeus is toppled from his tyrant\u2019s throne.930<\/span>\r\n\r\nIO\r\n\r\nWhat\u2019s that? Will Zeus\u2019s power be overthrown?\r\n\r\nPROMETHEUS\r\n\r\nIt seems to me that if that came about\r\nyou would be pleased.\r\n\r\nIO\r\n\r\nWhy not? Because of him\r\nI suffer horribly.\r\n\r\nPROMETHEUS\r\n\r\nThen rest assured\u2014[760]<\/span>\r\nthese things are true.\r\n\r\nIO\r\n\r\nBut who will strip away\r\nhis tyrant\u2019s sceptre?\r\n\r\nPROMETHEUS\r\n\r\nHe will do that himself\r\nwith all those brainless purposes of his.\r\n\r\nIO\r\n\r\nBut how? If it will do no harm, tell me.\r\n\r\nPROMETHEUS\r\n\r\nHe will get married\u2014a match he will regret.\r\n\r\nIO\r\n\r\nTo someone mortal or divine? Tell me\u2014940<\/span>\r\nif that is something you may talk about.\r\n\r\nPROMETHEUS\r\n\r\nWhy ask me that? I cannot speak of it.\r\n\r\nIO\r\n\r\nHis wife will force him from his throne?\r\n\r\nPROMETHEUS\r\n\r\nShe will.\r\nFor she will bear a child whose power\r\nis greater than his father\u2019s.\r\n\r\nIO\r\n\r\nIs there some way\r\nZeus can avert this fate?\r\n\r\nPROMETHEUS\r\n\r\nNo, none at all\u2014[770]<\/span>\r\nexcept through me, once I lose these chains.\r\n\r\nIO\r\n\r\nWho will free you if Zeus does not consent?\r\n\r\nPROMETHEUS\r\n\r\nOne of your grandchildren. So Fate decrees.\r\n\r\nIO\r\n\r\nWhat are you saying? Will a child of mine950<\/span>\r\nbring your afflictions to an end?\r\n\r\nPROMETHEUS\r\n\r\nHe will\u2014\r\nwhen thirteen generations have gone by.\r\n\r\nIO\r\n\r\nI find it difficult to understand\r\nwhat you foresee.\r\n\r\nPROMETHEUS\r\n\r\nYou should not seek to know\r\nthe details of the pain you still must bear.\r\n\r\nIO\r\n\r\nDo not say you will do me a favour\r\nand then withdraw it.\r\n\r\nPROMETHEUS\r\n\r\nI will offer you\r\ntwo possibilities, and you may choose.\r\n\r\nIO\r\n\r\nWhat are they? Tell me what the choices are.\r\nThen let me pick which one.\r\n\r\nPROMETHEUS\r\n\r\nAll right, I will.960<\/span>\r\nChoose whether I should clarify for you[780]<\/span>\r\nthe ordeals you still must face in days to come,\r\nor else reveal the one who will release me.\r\n\r\nCHORUS\r\n\r\nDo her a favour by disclosing one\r\nand me by telling us about the other.\r\nDo not refuse to tell us all the story.\r\nDescribe her future wanderings to her,\r\nand speak to me of who will set you free.\r\nI long to hear that.\r\n\r\nPROMETHEUS\r\n\r\nWell, since you insist,\r\nI will not refuse to tell you everything970<\/span>\r\nyou wish to know. First, Io, I will speak\r\nabout the grievous wandering you face.\r\nInscribe this on the tablets of your mind,[790]<\/span>\r\ndeep in your memory.\r\n\r\nOnce you have crossed\r\nthe stream that separates two continents,\r\n[select the route that] leads towards the east,\r\nthe flaming pathway of the rising son,\r\n[and you will come, at first, to northern lands\r\nwhere cold winds blow, and here you must beware\r\nof gusting storms, in case a winter\u00a0blast980<\/span>\r\nsurprises you and snatches you away.]\r\nThen cross the roaring sea until you reach\r\nthe Gorgons\u2019 plains of Cisthene, the home\r\nof Phorcys\u2019 daughters, three ancient women\r\nshaped like swans, who possess a single eye\r\nand just one tooth to share among themselves.\r\nRays from the sun do not look down on them,\r\nnor does the moon at night. Beside them live\r\ntheir sisters, three snake-haired, winged Gorgons,\r\nwhom human beings despise. No mortal\u00a0man990<\/span>\r\ncan gaze at them and still continue breathing.[800]<\/span>\r\nI tell you this to warn you to take care.\r\nNow hear about another fearful sight.\r\nKeep watching out for gryphons, hounds of Zeus,\r\nwho have sharp beaks and never bark out loud,\r\nand for that one-eyed Arimaspian horde\r\non horseback, who live\u00a0beside the flow\r\nof Pluto\u2019s gold-rich stream.\u00a0Do not go near them.\r\nAnd later you will reach a distant land\r\nof people with dark skins who live beside1000<\/span>\r\nthe fountains of the\u00a0sun, where you will find\r\nthe river Aethiop.\u00a0Follow its banks,[810]<\/span>\r\nuntil you move down to the cataract\r\nwhere from the Bybline mountains the sweet Nile\r\nsends out his sacred flow. He will guide you\r\non your journey to the three-cornered land\r\nof Nilotis, where destiny proclaims\r\nyou, Io, and your children will set up\r\na distant settlement.\r\n\r\nIf any of this\r\nremains obscure and hard to understand,1010<\/span>\r\nquestion me again, and I will tell you.\r\nFor I have more leisure time than I desire.\r\n\r\nCHORUS\r\n\r\nIf you have left out any incidents\r\nor can say more about what lies ahead[820]<\/span>\r\nin Io\u2019s cruel journeying, go on.\r\nBut if that story has now reached an end,\r\nthen favour us, in turn, with what we asked,\r\nif you by chance remember our request.\r\n\r\nPROMETHEUS\r\n\r\nIo has now heard about her travels,\r\na full account up to the very end.1020<\/span>\r\nBut so she learns that what she heard from me\r\nwas no mere empty tale, I will go through\r\nthe troubles she endured before she came here,\r\nand thus provide a certain guarantee\r\nof what I have just said. I will omit\r\nmost of the details and describe for you\r\nthe final stages of your journey here.\r\n\r\nOnce you came to the Molossian plains\r\nand the steep mountain ridge beside Dodona,[830]<\/span>\r\nthe home of the prophetic oracle1030<\/span>\r\nof Thesprotian Zeus, that miracle\r\nwhich defies belief, the talking oak trees,\r\nclearly and quite unambiguously\r\nsaluted you as one who\u00a0would become\r\na celebrated bride of Zeus.\u00a0Is this\r\na memory that gives you some delight?\r\nFrom there, chased by the gadfly\u2019s sting, you rushed\r\nalong the path beside the sea and reached\r\nthe mighty gulf of Rhea and from there\r\nwere driven back by storms. And you should know1040<\/span>\r\nan inner region of that sea will now,\r\nin days to come, be called Ionian,[840]<\/span>\r\na name to make all mortal\u00a0men recall\r\nhow Io moved across it.\r\n\r\nThese details\r\nare tokens of how much I understand\u2014\r\nthey show how my intelligence can see\r\nmore things than what has been revealed.\r\n\r\nThe rest\r\nI will describe for you and her to share,\r\npursuing the same track I traced before.\r\nOn the very edges of the mainland,1050<\/span>\r\nwhere at its mouth the Nile deposits soil,\r\nthere is a city\u2014Canopus. There Zeus\r\nwill finally restore you to your senses\r\nby merely stroking and caressing you\r\nwith his non-threatening hand. After that,\r\nyou will give birth to dark-skinned Epaphus,\r\nnamed from the way he was conceived by Zeus,[850]<\/span>\r\nand he will harvest all the fruit that\u00a0grows\r\nin regions watered by the flowing Nile.\r\nFive generations after Epaphus,1060<\/span>\r\nfifty young girls will return to Argos,\r\nnot of their own free will, but to escape\r\na marriage with their cousins, while the men,\r\nwith passionate hearts, race after them,\r\nlike hawks in close pursuit of doves, seeking\r\nmarriages they should not rightfully pursue.\r\nBut the gods will not allow them to enjoy\r\nthe young girls\u2019 bodies. They will be buried\r\nin Pelasgian earth, for their new brides[860]<\/span>\r\nkeeping watch at night, will overpower1070<\/span>\r\nand kill them all, in a daring murder,\r\nand each young bride will take her husband\u2019s life,\r\nbathing a two-edged sword in her man\u2019s blood.\r\nI hope my enemies find love like that!\r\nBut passion will bewitch one of those wives\r\nto spare her husband\u2019s life, and her resolve\r\nwill fade. She will prefer to hear herself\r\nproclaimed a coward than the alternative,\r\na murderess. And she will then give birth\r\nin Argos to a royal line.\r\n\r\nTo describe1080<\/span>\r\nall these events in detail would require[870]<\/span>\r\na lengthy story. However, from her seed\r\na bold man will be born, who will become\r\na famous archer, and he is the one\r\nwho will deliver me from these afflictions.\r\nMy primeval Titan mother, Themis,\r\nrevealed this prophecy to me in full,\r\nbut to describe how and when it happens\r\nwould take up too much time. And learning that\r\nwould bring no benefit to you at all.1090<\/span>\r\n\r\nIO\r\n\r\nAlas, alas for me! These spasms of pain,\r\nthese agonizing fits which drive me mad\r\nare turning me to fire. That gadfly\u2019s string\u2014\r\nnot forged in any flame\u2014is piercing me.[880]<\/span>\r\nMy fearful heart is beating in my chest,\r\nmy eyes are rolling in a frantic whirl,\r\nand raging blasts of sheer insanity\r\nare sweeping me away. This tongue of mine\r\nis now beyond control\u2014delirious words\r\nbeat aimlessly against the surging flood1100<\/span>\r\nof my abhorred destruction.","rendered":"

IO<\/p>\n

What land is this? What race of living beings?
\nWho shall I say I see here bound in chains,
\nexposed and suffering on these cold rocks?690<\/span>
\nWhat crime has led to such a punishment
\nand your destruction? Tell me where I am.
\nWhere has my wretched wandering brought me?
\nTo what part of the world?<\/p>\n

[Io is suddenly in great pain.]<\/em><\/p>\n

Aaaaiiii! The pain!!!
\nThat gadfly stings me once again, the ghost
\nof earth-born Argus! Get him away from me,
\nO Earth, that herdsman with a thousand eyes\u2014
\nthe very sight of him fills me with terror!
\nThose crafty eyes of his keep following me.
\nThough dead, he is not hidden underground,700\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0[570]<\/span>
\nbut moves out from the shades beneath the earth
\nand hunts me down and, in my wretched state,
\ndrives me to wander without nourishment
\nalong the sandy shore beside the sea.
\nA pipe made out of reeds and wax sings out
\na clear relaxing strain. Alas for me!
\nWhere is this path of roaming far and wide
\nnow leading me? What did I ever do,
\nO son of Cronos, how did I go wrong,
\nthat you should yoke me to such agonies . . .710\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0[580]<\/span><\/p>\n

[Io reacts to another attack.]<\/em><\/p>\n

Aaaaiii!! . . . and by oppressing me like this,
\nsetting a fearful stinging fly to chase
\na helpless girl, drive me to this madness?
\nBurn me with fire, or bury me in earth,
\nor feed me to the monsters of the sea.
\nDo not refuse these prayers of mine, my lord!
\nI have had my fill of all this wandering,
\nthis roaming far and wide\u2014and all this pain!
\nI do not know how to escape the pain!
\nDo you not hear the ox-horned maiden call?720<\/span><\/p>\n

PROMETHEUS<\/p>\n

How could I not hear that young girl\u2019s voice,
\nthe child of Inachus, in a frantic state
\nfrom the gadfly\u2019s sting? She fires Zeus\u2019s heart[590]<\/span>
\nwith sexual lust, and now, worn down
\nby Hera\u2019s hate, is forced to roam around
\non paths that never end.<\/p>\n

IO<\/p>\n

Why do you shout
\nmy father\u2019s name? Tell this unhappy girl
\njust who you are, you wretched sufferer,
\nand how, in my distress, you call to me,
\nknowing who I am and naming my disease,730<\/span>
\nthe heaven-sent sickness which consumes me
\nas it whips my skin with maddening stings . . .<\/p>\n

[Io is attacked again by the gadfly. She moves spasmodically as she wrestles with the pain.]<\/em><\/p>\n

. . . Aaaiii! . . . I have come rushing here, wracked
\nwith driving pangs of hunger, overwhelmed[600]<\/span>
\nby Hera\u2019s plans for her revenge. Of those
\nwho are in misery . . . Aaaiiii! . . . which ones
\ngo through the sufferings I face? Give me
\nsome clear sign how much more agony
\nI have to bear! Is there no remedy?
\nTell me the medicines for this disease,740<\/span>
\nif you know any. Say something to me!
\nSpeak to a wretched wandering young girl!<\/p>\n

PROMETHEUS<\/p>\n

I will clarify for you all those things
\nyou wish to know\u2014not by weaving riddles,[610]<\/span>
\nbut by using simple speech. For with friends
\nour mouths should tell the truth quite openly.
\nYou are looking at the one who offered men
\nthe gift of fire. I am Prometheus.<\/p>\n

IO<\/p>\n

O you who have shown to mortal beings
\nso many benefits they all can share,750<\/span>
\npoor suffering Prometheus! What act
\nhas led you to be punished in this way?<\/p>\n

PROMETHEUS<\/p>\n

I have just finished mourning my own pain.<\/p>\n

IO<\/p>\n

Will you not grant this favour to me, then?<\/p>\n

PROMETHEUS<\/p>\n

Ask what you wish to know. For you will learn
\nthe details of it all from me.<\/p>\n

IO<\/p>\n

Tell me
\nwho chained you here against this rocky cleft.<\/p>\n

PROMETHEUS<\/p>\n

The will of Zeus and Hephaestus\u2019s hands.<\/p>\n

IO<\/p>\n

For what offence are you being punished?[620]<\/span><\/p>\n

PROMETHEUS<\/p>\n

I have said enough. I will not tell you760<\/span>
\nany more than that.<\/p>\n

IO<\/p>\n

But I need more.
\nAt least inform me when my wandering ends.
\nHow long will I be in this wretched state?<\/p>\n

PROMETHEUS<\/p>\n

For you it would be better not to know
\nthan to have me answer.<\/p>\n

IO<\/p>\n

I\u2019m begging you\u2014
\ndo not conceal from me what I must bear.<\/p>\n

PROMETHEUS<\/p>\n

It is not that I begrudge that gift to you.<\/p>\n

IO<\/p>\n

Then why do you appear so hesitant
\nto tell me everything?<\/p>\n

PROMETHEUS<\/p>\n

I am not unwilling,
\nbut I do not wish to break your spirit.770<\/span><\/p>\n

IO<\/p>\n

Do not be more concerned for how I feel
\nthan I wish you to be.<\/p>\n

PROMETHEUS<\/p>\n

Since you insist,[630]<\/span>
\nI am obliged to speak. So listen to me.<\/p>\n

CHORUS<\/p>\n

No, not yet. Give us a share in this, as well,
\nso we may be content with what you say.
\nWe should first learn how she became diseased.
\nSo let the girl herself explain to us
\nthe things that led to her destructive fate.
\nThen you can teach her what still lies in store.<\/p>\n

PROMETHEUS<\/p>\n

Well then, Io, it is now up to you780<\/span>
\nto grace them with this favour\u2014above all,
\nbecause they are your father\u2019s sisters.
\nAnd whenever one is likely to draw tears
\nfrom those who listen, it is well worthwhile
\nto weep aloud, lamenting one\u2019s own fate.<\/p>\n

IO<\/p>\n

I do not know how I could now refuse you.[640]<\/span>
\nFrom the plain tale I tell you will find out
\nall things you wish to know, although to talk
\nabout the brutal storm sent by the gods,
\nthe cruel transformation of my shape,790<\/span>
\nand where the trouble came from, as it swept
\ndown on a miserable wretch like me\u2014
\nthat makes me feel ashamed.<\/p>\n

During the night
\nvisions were always strolling through my rooms
\ncalling me with smooth, seductive words:<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are a very fortunate young girl,
\nso why remain a virgin all this time,
\nwhen you could have the finest match of all?
\nFor Zeus, smitten by the shaft of passion,
\nnow burns for you and wishes to make love.800\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0[650]<\/span>
\nMy child, do not reject the bed of Zeus,
\nbut go to Lerna\u2019s fertile meadowlands,
\nto your father\u2019s flocks and stalls of oxen,
\nso Zeus\u2019s eyes can ease his fierce desire.\u201d<\/p>\n

Visions like that upset me every night,
\ntill I got brave enough to tell my father
\nabout what I was seeing in my dreams.
\nHe sent many messengers to Delphi
\nand Dodona, to see if he could learn
\nwhat he might do or say to please the gods.810\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0[660]<\/span>
\nBut his men all came back bringing reports
\nof cryptic and confusing oracles,
\nwith wording difficult to comprehend.
\nInachus at last received a clear response,
\na simple order which he must obey\u2014
\nto drive me from my home and native land,
\nto turn me out and force me into exile,
\nroaming the remotest regions of the earth\u2014
\nand if he was unwilling, Zeus would send
\na flaming thunderbolt which would destroy820<\/span>
\nhis entire race, not leaving one alive.
\nSo he obeyed Apollo\u2019s oracles
\nby forcing me away against my will[670]<\/span>
\nand denying me entry to his home.
\nHe did not want to do it but was forced
\nby the controlling majesty of Zeus.
\nImmediately my mind and shape were changed.
\nMy head acquired these horns, as you can see,
\nand a vicious fly began tormenting me
\nwith such ferocious stings I ran away,830<\/span>
\nmadly bounding off to the flowing stream
\nof sweet Cherchneia and then to Lerna\u2019s springs.
\nBut the herdsman Argus, a child of Earth,
\nwhose rage is violent, came after me,
\nwith all those close-packed eyes of his, searching
\nfor my tracks. But an unexpected fate[680]<\/span>
\nwhich no one could foresee robbed him of his life.
\nAnd now, tormented by this stinging gadfly,
\na scourge from god, I am being driven
\nfrom place to place.<\/p>\n

So now you understand840<\/span>
\nthe story of what I have had to suffer.
\nIf you can talk about my future troubles,
\nthen let me know. But do not pity me
\nand speak false words of reassurance,
\nfor, in my view, to use deceitful speech
\nis the most shameful sickness of them all.<\/p>\n

CHORUS<\/p>\n

Alas, alas! Tell me no more! Alas!
\nI never, never thought my ears
\nwould hear a story strange as this
\nor suffering so hard to contemplate850\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0[690]<\/span>
\nand terrible to bear, the outrage
\nand the horror of that two-edged goad
\nwould pierce me to my soul. Alas!
\nO Fate, Fate, how I shake with fear
\nto see what has been done to Io.<\/p>\n

PROMETHEUS<\/p>\n

These cries and fears of yours are premature.
\nWait until you learn what lies in store for her.<\/p>\n

CHORUS<\/p>\n

Then speak, and tell us everything. The sick
\nfind solace when they clearly understand
\nthe pain they have to face before it comes.860<\/span><\/p>\n

PROMETHEUS<\/p>\n

What you desired to learn about before[700]<\/span>
\nyou now have readily obtained from me,
\nfor you were eager first of all to hear
\nIo herself tell you what she suffered.
\nNow listen to what she has yet to face,
\nthe ordeals this girl must still experience
\nat Hera\u2019s hands. You, too, child of Inachus,
\nset what I have to say inside your heart,
\nso you will find out how your roaming ends.<\/p>\n

First, turn from here towards the rising sun,870<\/span>
\nthen move across those lands as yet unploughed,
\nand you will reach the Scythian nomads,
\nwho live in wicker dwellings which they raise[710]<\/span>
\non strong-wheeled wagons. These men possess
\nfar-shooting bows, so stay away from them.
\nKeep moving on along the rocky shoreline
\nbeside the roaring sea, and pass their lands.
\nThe Chalybes, men who work with iron,
\nlive to your left.\u00a0You must beware of them,
\nfor they are wild and are not kind to strangers.880<\/span>
\nThen you will reach the river Hubristes,
\ncorrectly named for its great turbulence.
\nDo not cross it, for that is dangerous,
\nuntil you reach the Caucasus itself,
\nthe very highest of the mountains there,[720]<\/span>
\nwhere the power of that flowing river
\ncomes gushing from the slopes. Then cross those peaks,
\nwhich stretch up to the stars, and take the path
\ngoing south, until you reach the Amazons,
\na tribe which hates all men. In days to come,890<\/span>
\nthey will found settlements in Themiscyra,
\nbeside the Thermodon, where the jagged rocks
\nof Salmydessus face the sea and offer
\nsailors and their ships a savage welcome.
\nThey will be pleased to guide you on your way.
\nNext, you will reach the Cimmerian isthmus,
\nbeside the narrow entrance to a lake.
\nYou must be resolute and leave this place[730]<\/span>
\nand at Maeotis move across the stream,
\na trip that will win you eternal fame900<\/span>
\namong all mortal men, for they will name
\nthat place the Bosporus in praise of you.
\nOnce you leave behind the plains of Europe
\nyou will arrive in Asian lands.<\/p>\n

And now,
\ndoes it not strike you that this tyrant god
\nis violent in everything he does?
\nBecause this maiden was a mortal being
\nand he was eager to have sex with her,
\nhe threw her out to wander the whole world.
\nYoung girl, the one you found to seek your hand910<\/span>
\nis vicious. As for the story you just heard,
\nyou should know this\u2014I am not even past[740]<\/span>
\nthe opening prelude.<\/p>\n

IO<\/p>\n

O no, no, no! Alas!<\/p>\n

PROMETHEUS<\/p>\n

Are you crying and moaning once again?
\nHow will you act once you have learned from me
\nthe agonies that still remain?<\/p>\n

CHORUS<\/p>\n

You mean
\nyou have still more to say about her woes?<\/p>\n

PROMETHEUS<\/p>\n

I do\u2014a wintry sea of dreadful pain.<\/p>\n

IO<\/p>\n

What point is there for me in living then?
\nWhy do I not hurl myself this instant920<\/span>
\nfrom these rough rocks, fall to the plain below,
\nand put an end to all my misery?
\nI would prefer to die once and for all,[750]<\/span>
\nthan suffer such afflictions every day.<\/p>\n

PROMETHEUS<\/p>\n

Then you would find it difficult to face
\nthe torments I endure, for I am one
\nwho cannot die, and death would offer me
\nrelief from pain. But now no end is set
\nto tortures I must bear, until the day
\nwhen Zeus is toppled from his tyrant\u2019s throne.930<\/span><\/p>\n

IO<\/p>\n

What\u2019s that? Will Zeus\u2019s power be overthrown?<\/p>\n

PROMETHEUS<\/p>\n

It seems to me that if that came about
\nyou would be pleased.<\/p>\n

IO<\/p>\n

Why not? Because of him
\nI suffer horribly.<\/p>\n

PROMETHEUS<\/p>\n

Then rest assured\u2014[760]<\/span>
\nthese things are true.<\/p>\n

IO<\/p>\n

But who will strip away
\nhis tyrant\u2019s sceptre?<\/p>\n

PROMETHEUS<\/p>\n

He will do that himself
\nwith all those brainless purposes of his.<\/p>\n

IO<\/p>\n

But how? If it will do no harm, tell me.<\/p>\n

PROMETHEUS<\/p>\n

He will get married\u2014a match he will regret.<\/p>\n

IO<\/p>\n

To someone mortal or divine? Tell me\u2014940<\/span>
\nif that is something you may talk about.<\/p>\n

PROMETHEUS<\/p>\n

Why ask me that? I cannot speak of it.<\/p>\n

IO<\/p>\n

His wife will force him from his throne?<\/p>\n

PROMETHEUS<\/p>\n

She will.
\nFor she will bear a child whose power
\nis greater than his father\u2019s.<\/p>\n

IO<\/p>\n

Is there some way
\nZeus can avert this fate?<\/p>\n

PROMETHEUS<\/p>\n

No, none at all\u2014[770]<\/span>
\nexcept through me, once I lose these chains.<\/p>\n

IO<\/p>\n

Who will free you if Zeus does not consent?<\/p>\n

PROMETHEUS<\/p>\n

One of your grandchildren. So Fate decrees.<\/p>\n

IO<\/p>\n

What are you saying? Will a child of mine950<\/span>
\nbring your afflictions to an end?<\/p>\n

PROMETHEUS<\/p>\n

He will\u2014
\nwhen thirteen generations have gone by.<\/p>\n

IO<\/p>\n

I find it difficult to understand
\nwhat you foresee.<\/p>\n

PROMETHEUS<\/p>\n

You should not seek to know
\nthe details of the pain you still must bear.<\/p>\n

IO<\/p>\n

Do not say you will do me a favour
\nand then withdraw it.<\/p>\n

PROMETHEUS<\/p>\n

I will offer you
\ntwo possibilities, and you may choose.<\/p>\n

IO<\/p>\n

What are they? Tell me what the choices are.
\nThen let me pick which one.<\/p>\n

PROMETHEUS<\/p>\n

All right, I will.960<\/span>
\nChoose whether I should clarify for you[780]<\/span>
\nthe ordeals you still must face in days to come,
\nor else reveal the one who will release me.<\/p>\n

CHORUS<\/p>\n

Do her a favour by disclosing one
\nand me by telling us about the other.
\nDo not refuse to tell us all the story.
\nDescribe her future wanderings to her,
\nand speak to me of who will set you free.
\nI long to hear that.<\/p>\n

PROMETHEUS<\/p>\n

Well, since you insist,
\nI will not refuse to tell you everything970<\/span>
\nyou wish to know. First, Io, I will speak
\nabout the grievous wandering you face.
\nInscribe this on the tablets of your mind,[790]<\/span>
\ndeep in your memory.<\/p>\n

Once you have crossed
\nthe stream that separates two continents,
\n[select the route that] leads towards the east,
\nthe flaming pathway of the rising son,
\n[and you will come, at first, to northern lands
\nwhere cold winds blow, and here you must beware
\nof gusting storms, in case a winter\u00a0blast980<\/span>
\nsurprises you and snatches you away.]
\nThen cross the roaring sea until you reach
\nthe Gorgons\u2019 plains of Cisthene, the home
\nof Phorcys\u2019 daughters, three ancient women
\nshaped like swans, who possess a single eye
\nand just one tooth to share among themselves.
\nRays from the sun do not look down on them,
\nnor does the moon at night. Beside them live
\ntheir sisters, three snake-haired, winged Gorgons,
\nwhom human beings despise. No mortal\u00a0man990<\/span>
\ncan gaze at them and still continue breathing.[800]<\/span>
\nI tell you this to warn you to take care.
\nNow hear about another fearful sight.
\nKeep watching out for gryphons, hounds of Zeus,
\nwho have sharp beaks and never bark out loud,
\nand for that one-eyed Arimaspian horde
\non horseback, who live\u00a0beside the flow
\nof Pluto\u2019s gold-rich stream.\u00a0Do not go near them.
\nAnd later you will reach a distant land
\nof people with dark skins who live beside1000<\/span>
\nthe fountains of the\u00a0sun, where you will find
\nthe river Aethiop.\u00a0Follow its banks,[810]<\/span>
\nuntil you move down to the cataract
\nwhere from the Bybline mountains the sweet Nile
\nsends out his sacred flow. He will guide you
\non your journey to the three-cornered land
\nof Nilotis, where destiny proclaims
\nyou, Io, and your children will set up
\na distant settlement.<\/p>\n

If any of this
\nremains obscure and hard to understand,1010<\/span>
\nquestion me again, and I will tell you.
\nFor I have more leisure time than I desire.<\/p>\n

CHORUS<\/p>\n

If you have left out any incidents
\nor can say more about what lies ahead[820]<\/span>
\nin Io\u2019s cruel journeying, go on.
\nBut if that story has now reached an end,
\nthen favour us, in turn, with what we asked,
\nif you by chance remember our request.<\/p>\n

PROMETHEUS<\/p>\n

Io has now heard about her travels,
\na full account up to the very end.1020<\/span>
\nBut so she learns that what she heard from me
\nwas no mere empty tale, I will go through
\nthe troubles she endured before she came here,
\nand thus provide a certain guarantee
\nof what I have just said. I will omit
\nmost of the details and describe for you
\nthe final stages of your journey here.<\/p>\n

Once you came to the Molossian plains
\nand the steep mountain ridge beside Dodona,[830]<\/span>
\nthe home of the prophetic oracle1030<\/span>
\nof Thesprotian Zeus, that miracle
\nwhich defies belief, the talking oak trees,
\nclearly and quite unambiguously
\nsaluted you as one who\u00a0would become
\na celebrated bride of Zeus.\u00a0Is this
\na memory that gives you some delight?
\nFrom there, chased by the gadfly\u2019s sting, you rushed
\nalong the path beside the sea and reached
\nthe mighty gulf of Rhea and from there
\nwere driven back by storms. And you should know1040<\/span>
\nan inner region of that sea will now,
\nin days to come, be called Ionian,[840]<\/span>
\na name to make all mortal\u00a0men recall
\nhow Io moved across it.<\/p>\n

These details
\nare tokens of how much I understand\u2014
\nthey show how my intelligence can see
\nmore things than what has been revealed.<\/p>\n

The rest
\nI will describe for you and her to share,
\npursuing the same track I traced before.
\nOn the very edges of the mainland,1050<\/span>
\nwhere at its mouth the Nile deposits soil,
\nthere is a city\u2014Canopus. There Zeus
\nwill finally restore you to your senses
\nby merely stroking and caressing you
\nwith his non-threatening hand. After that,
\nyou will give birth to dark-skinned Epaphus,
\nnamed from the way he was conceived by Zeus,[850]<\/span>
\nand he will harvest all the fruit that\u00a0grows
\nin regions watered by the flowing Nile.
\nFive generations after Epaphus,1060<\/span>
\nfifty young girls will return to Argos,
\nnot of their own free will, but to escape
\na marriage with their cousins, while the men,
\nwith passionate hearts, race after them,
\nlike hawks in close pursuit of doves, seeking
\nmarriages they should not rightfully pursue.
\nBut the gods will not allow them to enjoy
\nthe young girls\u2019 bodies. They will be buried
\nin Pelasgian earth, for their new brides[860]<\/span>
\nkeeping watch at night, will overpower1070<\/span>
\nand kill them all, in a daring murder,
\nand each young bride will take her husband\u2019s life,
\nbathing a two-edged sword in her man\u2019s blood.
\nI hope my enemies find love like that!
\nBut passion will bewitch one of those wives
\nto spare her husband\u2019s life, and her resolve
\nwill fade. She will prefer to hear herself
\nproclaimed a coward than the alternative,
\na murderess. And she will then give birth
\nin Argos to a royal line.<\/p>\n

To describe1080<\/span>
\nall these events in detail would require[870]<\/span>
\na lengthy story. However, from her seed
\na bold man will be born, who will become
\na famous archer, and he is the one
\nwho will deliver me from these afflictions.
\nMy primeval Titan mother, Themis,
\nrevealed this prophecy to me in full,
\nbut to describe how and when it happens
\nwould take up too much time. And learning that
\nwould bring no benefit to you at all.1090<\/span><\/p>\n

IO<\/p>\n

Alas, alas for me! These spasms of pain,
\nthese agonizing fits which drive me mad
\nare turning me to fire. That gadfly\u2019s string\u2014
\nnot forged in any flame\u2014is piercing me.[880]<\/span>
\nMy fearful heart is beating in my chest,
\nmy eyes are rolling in a frantic whirl,
\nand raging blasts of sheer insanity
\nare sweeping me away. This tongue of mine
\nis now beyond control\u2014delirious words
\nbeat aimlessly against the surging flood1100<\/span>
\nof my abhorred destruction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":312,"menu_order":11,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-285","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":3,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/myths\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/myths\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/myths\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/myths\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/312"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/myths\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/285\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":288,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/myths\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/285\/revisions\/288"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/myths\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/3"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/myths\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/285\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/myths\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/myths\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=285"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/myths\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=285"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/myths\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}