PROMETHEUS BOUND 109
Chorus. Is Zeus less absolute than these are ?
Promethexis. Yea,
And therefore cannot fly what is ordained. ssa
Chonis. What is ordained for Zeus, except to be A king forever ?
Prometheus. 'T is too early yet For thee to learn it : ask no more.
Chonis. Perhaps
Thy secret may be something holy ?
Prometheus. Turn
To another matter : this, it is not time sm
To speak abroad, but utterly to veil In silence. For by that same secret kept, I 'scape this chain's dishonor, and its woe.
Chorus. First strophe.
Never, oh never.
May Zeus, the all-giver, sss
Wrestle down from his throne
In that might of his own
To antagonize mine !
Nor let me delay
As I bend on my way 600
Toward the gods of the shrine
Where the altar is full
Of the blood of the bull,
Near the tossing brine
Of Ocean my father. 605
May no sin be sped in the word that is said,
But ray vow be rather Consummated, Nor evermore fail, nor evermore pine.^
^ The prayer is suggested by the Titan's snfFerings : — "May I never offend in thought, word, or deed."
