Hermes O Zeus, why wand'rest, self-communing, lone, And sicklied o'er with this pale student's hue? Make me the partner of thy sorrow's load, Nor scorn the prattle of a lowly friend. Athene Yea, sire, great Kronides, our father and highest of rulers, I, the clear-eyed and divine, the Trito-born, clasp thee imploring. Hide not thy grief in thine heart. Tell it forth that thy children may know it. What biting care dost thou hold in thy brain and thy bosom? What anguish Wrings that deep groan from thy soul and yellows thy fair, ruddy color? Zeus There no woe that happens, sooth to tell, No pain, no chance-born theme of tragedy, Of which the godhead beareth not the load. Athene Great heav'n! What prologue doth begin his tale. Zeus O earthy offspring of the earth, fell race,
 And thou, Prometheus, what woe hast thou wrought! 
 Athene What is 't? We are the band of thine own kin. Zeus Thunderbolt, sounding afar, how shall thy hurtling crash save me? Hera Keep your temper, Zeus, since I cannot
answer you in comedy metre as the others do,
nor have I swallowed Euripides whole so as to
take my part in the drama when you give me the
cue. Do you imagine that I don't know the
cause of your distress? Zeus "Thou dost not know, els hadst thou
shrieked aloud." Hera I know that the sum and substance of
your trouble comes from love-making. Of course,
I do not shriek, for I am used to this insulting
treatment at your hands. Undoubtedly you have
come upon some Danae or Semele or Europa
again, and are attacked with love, and so you are
scheming to become a bull or a satyr, or to pour
down as a shower of golden rain through the roof
into your lady-love's lap. These groans, these
tears, this pallor are symptoms of the lover and
nobody else. Zeus Poor, simple thing, do you think, then,
that my present affairs have to do with love-making and such-like child's play?


 
 Hera Being Zeus, you are disturbed by nothing else, I know. Zeus O Hera, things divine are in extremity.
As the saying is, it is touch and go with us
whether we are still to be honored and to receive
the gifts that are offered up on earth, or whether
we are to be disregarded altogether and held utterly insignificant. Hera Surely the earth has not produced another race of giants? Or have the Titans broken
their bonds and overpowered their guard, and
taken up arms against us again? Zeus Take heart. Beneath the earth all things
are well. Hera Then what could happen to frighten us?
If you have no anxiety of that kind I do not
see why you have favored us with this little dramatic exhibition. Zeus Hera, Timokles the Stoic and Damis the
Epicurean held a discussion yesterday on the
doctrine of providence. I do not know how the
question arose, but the audience was large and
respectable, and that, to my mind, was the most
annoying feature of the affair. Damis denied that
the gods exist or have any hand whatever in the
ordering and administration of the world. But
the worthy Timokles strove to defend our side,
and just then a crowd of people streamed in, so
that the meeting came to no decision, but dissolved,



 



 agreeing to consider the rest of the question later. And now they are all on tiptoe with
eagerness to hear which of the orators will prevail
and be adjudged to set forth the truer cause.
Do you see the danger and the strait we are in,
since our cause stands or falls with a single man?
One of two things will happen: either we shall
be deemed mere names, and so of course disregarded, or else, if Timokles prove the better
speaker, we shall be honored as heretofore. Hera Really this is very dreadful, and you
were not so far wrong, Zeus, in addressing us in
tragic vein. Zeus And yet you thought it was some Danae
or Antiope that I was thinking about in such distress. Well, Hermes and Hera and Athene, what
would be best? Take your turns in helping me
to discover. Hermes I for my part say that an assembly
ought to be called for open discussion. Hera I think precisely as he does. Athene But it strikes me just the other way,
father. I do not think you ought to involve all
heaven in your embarrassment, or show your own
alarm at the affair; but make your arrangements
privately so that Timokles may triumph and
Damis be laughed out of court. Hermes But, Zeus, this course will not be unperceived, for the philosophers will hold their


 

tournament in public, and you will be accused of
Caesarism if you do not let all have a voice in
matters so weighty and common to all.