PROMETHEUS. I hear the trumpet of Alectryon Proclaim the dawn. The stars begin to fade, And all the heavens are full of prophecies And evil auguries. Blood-red last night I saw great Kronos rise; the crescent moon Sank through the mist, as if it were the scythe His parricidal hand had flung far down The western steeps. O ye Immortal Gods, What evil are ye plotting and contriving?
(HERMES and PANDORA at the threshold.)
PANDORA. I cannot cross the threshold. An unseen And icy hand repels me. These blank walls Oppress me with their weight!
PROMETHEUS. Powerful ye are, But not omnipotent. Ye cannot fight Against Necessity. The Fates control you, As they do us, and so far we are equals!
PANDORA. Motionless, passionless, companionless, He sits there muttering in his beard. His voice Is like a river flowing underground!
HERMES. Prometheus, hail!
PROMETHEUS. Who calls me?
HERMES. It is I. Dost thou not know me?
PROMETHEUS. By thy winged cap And winged heels I know thee. Thou art Hermes, Captain of thieves! Hast thou again been stealing The heifers of Admetus in the sweet Meadows of asphodel? or Hera's girdle? Or the earth-shaking trident of Poseidon?
HERMES. And thou, Prometheus; say, hast thou again Been stealing fire from Helios' chariot-wheels To light thy furnaces?