ΖΕϒΣΤϒΡΑΝΝΟΣ. A Note on the Prometheus VinctusAuthor(s): George ThomsonSource: The Classical Review, Vol. 43, No. 1 (Feb., 1929), pp. 3-5Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Classical AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/700500 .

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THE CLASSICAL REVIEW 3 I

KEY V C XPY -~ ,bVXavE KITT(t KaTCKXka,$a, ev S' 9,/aXov KX'OpL' apyvpeav 83a'Xavov ?

at C' 4/,v a rKa v••v wtva Ooa.v

a'ovo'vcTVa

a6e~8' a'7rot•ro/Xvav a% p Eo e

%o• yaCaL KaXv/a,ta, TrvJLL3V E4(Ep~rv'o& 6JXkv~ VrEpOE W'a.

On or about February i8th, 1916, the students who had attempted the above Unseen had the fair copy read out to them in a shy, sad, north-country voice. It was 0 waly, waly, up the bank ;1 for their Professor was no ordinary Greek scholar and no common teacher. Such contacts, and also the boyish warmth of

his friendships, explain the strange and subtle power of Alexander William Mair, of Keith, over many generations of Edinburgh students, from 1903 to his sudden death in November last. As a scholar he has left the impress of his sensitive touch on the text and interpre- tation of Hesiod, Callimachus, Oppian. To him, as he himself might have said, the Greek poets O-vvTero' UvvET~r #•Ol- pt'ov, for he was, more nearly perhaps than any modern scholar, one of them.

W. M. C.

1 F. T. Palgrave's Golden Treasury of Songs

and Lyrics, CXXXIII.; The Oxford Book of English Verse, No. 388; etc. Mair's version will be included in a forthcoming volume.

ZETI TTPANNOW.

A NOTE ON THE PROMETHEUS VINCTUS.

THE character of Zeus in this play impresses us by its vindictiveness and brutality-an impression which, it is now fairly generally agreed, was the poet's deliberate intention. He has portrayed the new President of the Immortals as a cruel and violent despot for the sake of the sequel, which will show how in the course of ages Zeus learnt to use his power with moderation and justice. Thus the law of 7r?TOe a,'Oo9, which in the Oresteia was applied

to the evolution of man, is applied in this trilogy to the evolution of God himself.' This view of the character of Zeus is confirmed by certain details in the characterisation.

Prometheus is escorted to the place of his confinement by Kratos and Bia, the constant ministers of Zeus (Hes. Th. 383-8), the one a symbol of his power, the other of the methods by which he exercises it. In his opening words Kratos bids Hephaestus enchain the prisoner, and so teach him to respect ' the tyranny of Zeus' (io, -4v Atbv Tvpavvt8a).2 Thus his own ser-

vant, who is proud of it, describes the supremacy of Zeus as a rvpavv9c. This idea, thus clearly stated at the outset, is insisted on throughout the play: the rule of Zeus is described as a rvpavvtc and Zeus himself as a vrpavvoi not once but many times by his own ser- vants as well as by the victims of his power (cf. 238, 321, 326, 373, 762, 782, 787, 941, 974, 989-90, 1028). Clearly it is important.

The Greeks of the fifth century had behind theri4 a long and on the whole unfavourable experience of 7vpavvot, and found that, despite differences of time and place, these autocrats tended to conform to a certain type. That is the impression we receive from Hero- dotus, and Thucydides confirms it. Out of this historical background there grew up in the minds of the Greeks a traditional rz"pavvo4 type; and this tradition, already established in the time of Herodotus, may be traced right down to Imperial times. The tragedians availed themselves of it, as they availed themselves of other popular ideas, for dramatic purposes; and, since they could rely on the familiarity of their audience with such ideas, it was often sufficient merely to hint at them, allusively and implicitly, in order to produce the desired effect. Thus,

1 J. Case, C.R., 1904, pp. 99-•oo; and Prom.

Bound, 1905, pp. 10-12; J. T. Sheppard, Greek Tragedy, pp. 62-64.

2 1 refer to Aeschylus in Wecklein's edition, to Sophocles in Pearson's, to Euripides in Murray's.

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4 THE CLASSICAL REVIEW

Mr. Sheppard has shown that Sophocles has added to his portrait of Oedipus the King many subtle touches of char- acterisation which cannot be appre- ciated without reference to the popular view of the vTpavvoq.' I wish to show that Aeschylus had already used the same method to delineate the character of Zeus in the Prometheus, only that in his hands, as we should expect, the allusions to current tradition are clearer and more explicit.

i. The characteristic of tyranny which was perhaps most offensive to the Greek, at any rate to the democratic Athenian, was the principle of auto- cracy which lay behind it. The tyrant was an irresponsible ruler, a law to himself: cf. Arist. Rhet. I, 8, ' 'v tKarha "dWv rTtva iovapxla, 8aatXela, •4 '

adpto-Tro, -rvpavviv. Herodotus makes his Persian nobles, disputing the rela- tive merits of monarchy, democracy, and oligarchy, object to monarchy on this ground (III. 8o. 3): KEcv 8' a' e4d XPl7)la KcaTrlPT1tLEvoV .LourvapXl'q, 7 1 eTt ve vE V v 7rOLEtV 7T8 povXe7TaL; Eu- ripides puts the same argument into the mouth of Theseus in his dispute with the Argive herald (Supp. 429-32): OV6V TVpavvov (3V07.4EOEpV 7roXet, ob84v .ypdwvov 6vwyLeviehrepov wdl, O7rov TOb 1E 7rp&ootTTV OvUK Et7ily CVOUO tOLVOL,

1CpaT'e 8' TOei VO OV KEKTcrl-

pevo, aVbbI 7frap' aVTC. So, in the Prometheus, even the moderate Oceanus describes Zeus as Tpaxbuv uovapxoo o0 b 8' S7rie 0 v v o l (340), while Prometheus points the parallel still further (202-3) oZ8' OrTt TpaXvi Kal 7rap' 6 av-r C^ T 8 1c atov e X wv. Cf. 419, t1otl? vIosIO /cpa7-wv ; 159, Zelba ' 04; KparvVe.

2. The tyrant distrusts his friends, and is suspicious of the best of his subjects. Athenians remembered the character of Hippias in his later years. Lucian describes the cares of kingship (Gallus, 25): 0 6b ' &y7rov, obopacOat SeF

•1Xtora "rov 4,? 'Xrarov K a K; eelvoev

aet 1L t SLV?w dXwi'eto

v few. Hiero thought the same (Xen. Hiero IV. 2): cat orovrOv

ovoyTv 7ro tarmI w7rph r;va;

eXEL) dXEoXLOtV /TeTe' TypdaVV•).

Cf. Eur. Ion 625-8, 8

6~7rT aE VbTvX?7 'yV

av Ge'oLbue gtaXov I4 ripavvos cv, J 70oV

Trov0pobv 0ov) 'lJXov7 eXetv, eaoXobv &S ttore KaT"a7Eavetv ~opo'eVoI; Plat. Rep. VIII. (567), 'vco lipa Set opav airovy (sc. Tov Tvpavvov) '71 av8peto% '0r, I4eLyaXo Pp(I, 7 LS (pPO'YoI,T1 7t rXOto/09 Kat OVTi7S eEVal/oLv dTrWv (T E roverotV

a7rao tv avaryfc aT, EarT e P3ouXETat eTre

tz4, roXe\eel.,•,

aL povxe, w F1,qq 7ro~i0XE Evc teKat e7rt/3OvXEvetv, swl; &v KaOr•jp7

r~v r6rXtv. No wonder his friends regarded him as treacherous. Prometheus exclaims (237-41): 70odt' E1

/.lOV^ 0 rwv 0eCPo 70vpavvo9

(elXfl/6EvPo caKato'

7rotvatS Erata'•a Eta6o

aveo-rt Cydp 7rwa roi ro q70 rvpavvit

v6ota, oV 70 btXot't

p7 \7rEot06 vat. Do we not recognise the symptom ?

3. The tyrant tends to be proud, overbearing-a i4pptcr71. This is one of the epithets collected by Pollux as applicable to a bad king (Pollux I. 42), and his choice is confirmed by Hero- dotus (loc. cit. dryrylverat ydp oi Oppev u~-o 7Tcv 7rapeov7wv Jyaaw^v),

and by Sophocles (O.T. 873 /3ptg VTreVet rvpavvov). This heightens the signifi- cance of Prometheus' great speech of defiance (939-59) and of his retort to Hermes, the emissary of Zeus (loo2): obe"rl Tpit O\v ToVS V8ppLov7Ta Xpe"v.

4. The tyrant was unyielding, inexor- able, hard to appease or persuade-- c-apatvr'roI (Lucian, Tyrann. 16 earro- Tr74 a7rapaTqlrTO), (

8vorpOrotT'o, 38vaorp6-

ao-o8s (Pollux, loc. cit.). This is how Zeus is described by Hephaestus, by the Oceanids, and by Prometheus him- self: 34 AtL\ YNP (v'rrapal7r7lot Op46ve, 199-201o a

• x • a 7ya&p '8Oea

Kat KEeap a7r ap d v o v 'Xet KpOvov 7rat1, 349 raVT0 7yap ob 7rTeteL9 vwtV ob0 yap ebvrt7OS.

5. If wealth made the tyrant proud, fear made him violent. Blatov, W/. are epithets applied to him by Pollux (loc. cit.) : cf. Solon fr. ap. Plut. Sol. 14 Tvpavvit8o 68 at c

1l• a L XlXOU obv

scalp•dyqip ; Lucian, Tyrann. I6 i aXXov 8e rdpavvo, XaXe•rW'epo.

.. ical IcoXao- T 771? 6repo9 cKaL ib/pw-rT\ /8taot- r epo 0; A bdicatus 23 r19 rpavvol oi'rw

/31pao ; Hdt. V. 92 (0) O Tolvvv Ilepi- av~pov ica' K

pXT I-hv 'y drtcorepo "roD

7rarpo,

E e/erE e 6 blhre Se'

'r yE'Xow

Opavpo;oX 7X(,• ' Mt -rov 7UpdYvvp, 7roXXc 6Lt EEyVeTo Kvye'Xov ,Icaufovure- poe; Herodian VII. I, I dic rpaela9 Kca

wravu ilepov /ao-xketa

ets; •vpavvt~o9

1 J. T. Sheppard, Oedipus Tyrannus, pp. xli- lviii.

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THE CLASSICAL REVIEW 5

6op r o7 a /LereTaE edvrraa deretparo; Plut. Mor. p. 551 F ic Xp' roo^ 8aort- Xco9 aiyptov icat Spa~ovP(7r8l eVOe~/eVOV

rvpavvov. So Plato, Polit. 276 E iatT r7V iV y7

6•r ov VTv pLtatv (sc.

rtrtPXt1/CL\V) VPa)pticjp Tn' 86

"KOV- ueXurc)v) TvpavvtIcrIv, rLlv

& ecoi- oa-o Ieal ticovaolotw &Trro6oV ayeXatoIcoplt- ?7Vy 5)Wv rPOCeTroeeurre q 7OXtTtr/cv.

Athenians again would remember Hip- pias: cf. Thuc. VI. 59 Trot 8' 'A9r1vatotq

XaXe~rTrepa Tera ro iro 77 rvpavvtC tcaT6rErl, icat o "Ibrrirtas Sth 80ov 7j'r7 ,auiXXov wv vov rroXt 7rov oX'oo ccretve. They would remember, too, the advice given to Periander by Thrasybulus- the symbolical lopping of the tallest ears of corn (Hdt. V. 92 '): cf. Eur. Supp. 444-9

avrip 8\ pao-tXevt e'Xpov

lytras adtoe, 'cat rOv ap-"ov Ov ' Ta y7p-at povEitv I TEroeL, E•8ouCto(r 7 T

7V~aY&rr)p 9 rrG o r' CT v'o r' Tvpavt8o0 qip- t "AoV ' A6a7EV'T av ioXvpa 7roXtLo, •av

VS 0q XEteUMAovo 2o-

vroX/zaq lptvoV oraxvv aTOXha aatpy c aTroXw- i'Py veouv; Sometimes his violence

assumed an even worse form-he was lustful, licentious- e8ovv fIrr77Ov, 2a•pa- reqy, delrtOVtLatC v&Wots (Pollux, loc. cit.): cf. Hdt. III. 80 vy'a Te ICretveE t 7rairpa (sc. d 'zolvapXoq) Icat 8 t ra t 7 cvTYpatKa.. Athenians would remember the story of Harmodius (Thuc. VI. 54): cf. Eur. Sufp. 450-3 K a-o-Oal te 'T7rXoiTov a cal lov rt L&t TreCVOLtv an v TVpayvw rrXeio' d XcYoX9 pl8ovp, i rrapOevetew rrwa8a' d'v S~6potev calXC, rep7rvbh rvpdvvots 78ovdts,

rav OBy ; Is not this precisely how Zeus treated Io in the Prometheus ? He tried first persuasion, then threats, to bend her to his will (690-709). That is the method Prometheus expected of him (185-7), and it is characteristic of

the tyrant. The Sophoclean Oedipus adopts the same course in his endeavour to make the prophet Teiresias reveal his secret (O.T. 320-79), and again with the Servant (cf. especially 1152 a-V 7rphs Xptv /.e oi'c- dpet, -ckalOwo ' dpe a ). So Thuc. VI. 54 Icac eiv o•ro

' "I7rTrapXo4

ce aBLOt' reLpdaas' ocB0v /haXXov E7r~e•e rqv 'Apltt&ov, ,la ov 6•v o 7Bv 'podXero 8pav . .. (implying that 8l3a was the natural course for him to take). Thus, Zeus is a tyrant in the incontinence of his desires, and a tyrant in the way he forces his subjects to satisfy his lust. With these popular traditions in mind, do we not feel as keenly as Prometheus when, breaking off his prediction of the agonies to be inflicted upon Io, he cries (761-3): ap' /Lu~v 8olci rdv i ew ov rvpavvoq dC h rrV 0'o0'/t'

aUO p t a t o Elvat ;

Lastly, the tyrant's son is liable to prove worse than his father. That is why Lucian's Tyrannicide claims even greater credit for the murder of the son than for the murder of the father (Tyrann. 4, 5, 16). Athenians would contrast Hippias with Peisistratus, and Periander with Cypselus (cf. Hdt. V. 92 ', quoted above). Thus, when Hephaestus says (35) i7ra &s rTpaXbe eo-rts v veovp cpa r (marked as a

y•cVw/i• by the Scholiast), he implies that it is natural for a young king like Zeus to be worse than his father, and further that in time the same king will learn to use his power more wisely: 203-8 &XX' epLras, oco, p paXalytcorLPPv 7at Trol'

orav ravry paoy y iv- 0, T7 ' P tr papYov

oeT oTas 0p7y2v acs acpOioYv E ot cKai SLXOrV7Ta -re68wY o rel*oVr1 7roO' •eEt. GEORGE THOMSON.

NOTES ON SOPHOCLES, PHILOCTETES.

187-90. Papea- -a 5' dOvp6ao-Topo aXco rqXEqpavs 7rtKpa^ oitwyRas brT6KETraL.

Two words in this passage are admit- tedly corrupt, pape^a, which has a short final syllable where a long is required by metre, and btrdicecrat, which must be rejected on grounds both of construction and of meaning. Some dozen emenda- tions of the latter have been proposed, which with singular unanimity assume

that the iro is sound and totally dis- regard the evidence of the scholia to the contrary. The scholia contain three several renderings of some verb in the passage other than Vro-K6cetat' and apparently not compounded with i7ro. These are (i) a' ' 8' ovpoie'vov avroD gIyw \rp 8 rb ovpuoyv a,'t00'eaa, i7XW 7ipO9 T7O Vp 0 TI) ai6(10 yTaL,

(2) p,4yoOe v cat 'votvPr (?IXA) ,8th r l C7avaP avrE OLP40u L, Kai (3) T\'\ P

pwoev aVEyelpet, the two last having been copied in L as if forming one sen-

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