40
CHORUS.
Strophe I.
May he who all doth guide,
Even Zeus, ne'er pit his strength against our will.
May we ne'er fail, with righteous sacrifice 545 (537)
Of slaughtered oxen, to approach the deities
By our father Ocean's never ceasing tide.
And may our words be sinless still.
Be these thoughts firmly fixed in us, for ever to abide.
Antistrophe I.
Sweet is it to pursue 550 (545)
One's long life in glad hopes and feed one's heart
Mid sunny joys, but shuddering we behold
How thou art agonized by tortures manifold
Because, not keeping Zeus's will in view,
But by thine own will taking part 555 (552)
Thou gavest, Prometheus, to mankind an honour not their due.
Strophe II.
See now, oh friend, how thankless was the grace.
Say where is aid? How helps the ephemeral race?
