Hermagoras Wherefore thus brooding, Zeus? wherefore apart,
And palely pacing, as Earth’s sages use? Let me thy counsel know, thy cares partake;
And find thy comfort in a faithful fool. Athene Cronides, lord of lords, and all our sire, I clasp thy knees; grant thou what I require;
A boon the lightning-eyed Tritonia asks:
Speak, rend the veil thy secret thought that masks;
Reveal what care thy mind within thee gnaws,
Blanches thy cheek, and this deep moaning draws, Zeus Speech hath no utterance of surpassing fear,
Tragedy holds no misery or woe,
But our divinest essence soon shall taste. Athene Alas, how dire a prelude to thy tale! Zeus O brood maleficent, teemed from Earth’s dark womb! And thou, Prometheus, how hast thou wrought me woe! Athene Possess us; are not we thine own familiars? Zeus With a whirr and a crash Let the levin-bolt dash—Ah, whither? Heracles A truce to your passion, Zeus. We have not these good people’s gift for farce or recitation; we have not swallowed Euripides whole, and cannot play up to you. Do you suppose we do not know how to account for your annoyance? Zeus Thou knowst not; else thy wailings had been loud. Heracles Don’t tell me; it’s a love affair; that’s what’s the matter with you. However, you won’t have any ‘wailings’
from me; I am too much hardened to neglect, I suppose you have discovered some new Danae or Semele or Europa whose charms are troubling you; and so you are meditating a transformation into a bull or satyr, or a descent through the roof into your beloved’s bosom as a shower of gold; all the symptoms—your groans and your tears and your white face—point to love and nothing else. Zeus Happy ignorance, that sees not what perils now forbid love and such toys! Heracles Is your name Zeus, or not? and, if so, what else can possibly annoy you but love?

 Zeus Hera, our condition is most precarious; it is touchand-go, as they call it, whether we are still to enjoy reverence and honour from the earth, or be utterly neglected and become of no account. Heracles Has Earth produced a new brood of giants? Have the Titans broken their chains, overpowered their guards, and taken up arms against us once more? Zeus Nay, fear not that; Hell threatens not the Gods. Heracles What can the matter be, then? To hear you, one

 

might think it was Polus or Aristodemus, not Zeus; and why, pray, if something of that sort is not bothering you?

 Zeus My dear, a discussion somehow arose yesterday between Timocles the Stoic and Damis the Epicurean; there was a numerous and respectable audience (which particularly annoyed me), and they had an argument on the subject of Providence. Damis questioned the existence of the Gods, and utterly denied their interest in or government of events, while Timocles, good man, did his best to champion our cause. A great crowd gathered round; but no conclusion was reached. They broke up with an understanding that the inquiry should be completed another day; and now they are all agog to see which will win and prove his case. You all see how parlous and precarious is our position, depending on a single mortal. These are the alternatives for us: to be dismissed as mere empty names, or
(if Timocles prevails) to enjoy our customary honours.

 Heracles This is really a serious matter; your ranting was not so uncalled-for, Zeus. Zeus You fancied me thinking of some Danaé or Antiope; and this was the dread reality. Now, Hermes, Hera, Athene, what is our course? We await your contribution to our plans. Hermagoras My opinion is that an assembly be summoned and the community taken into counsel. Heracles And I concur. Athene Sire, I dissent entirely; you should not fill Heaven with apprehensions, nor let your own uneasiness be visible, but take private measures to assure Timocles’s victory and Damis’s being laughed out of court. Hermagoras It cannot bekept quiet, Zeus; the philosophers’ debate is public, and you will be accused of despotic methods, if you maintain reserve on a matter of so great and general interest.