Or calculate within their narrow soul
When or how much the half exceeds the whole;[1]
Yet triumph o'er the foolish and the blind,
And fatten on the follies of mankind,
Whose wealth, which years have added to their store,
Is spent at law in half as many more.
The gods, no doubt, would golden plans devise
For man, did not he grow too wondrous wise.
The thirst for knowledge was in fact the bane
That filled his cup of future bliss with pain.
Ere knowledge came, he dwelt in peaceful rest,
Free from the cares that now distract the breast;
But when Prometheus stole the fire of heaven,[2]
Unnumbered woes were by the Thunderer given,
To teach that mortals, to be happy here.
Should not aspire beyond their proper sphere.
The means employed is since a common case:
He chose a woman to afflict the race.
The fable runs that, by divine command,
Vulcan, the prince of artists, formed to hand
A female figure, kneaded from the earth,
When all the gods smiled on the lovely birth.
Minerva gave her knowledge, and a mind
Graced with artistic skill of every kind;
The Queen of Beauty and the Graces shed
A shower of golden lustre round her head;
Upon her brows the blooming Seasons hung,
And sweet Persuasion dwelt upon her tongue.
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WORKS AND DAYS OF HESIOD.
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