Tusculan Disputations 2 ¶24 — Cicero (on the Stoics)

Cicero (on the Stoics), Tusculan Disputations 2 ¶24

Let us see what Aeschylus says, who was not only a poet but a Pythagorean philosopher also, for that is the account which you have received of him. How does he make Prometheus bear the pain he suffered for the Lemnian theft, when he clandestinely stole away the celestial fire and bestowed it on men, and was severely punished by Jupiter for the theft? Fastened to Mount Caucasus, he speaks thus: Thou heav’n-born race of Titans here fast bound, Behold thy brother! As the sailors sound With care the bottom, and their ships confine To some safe shore, with anchor and with line; So, by Jove’s dread decree, the God of fire Confines me here the victim of Jove’s ire. With baneful art his dire machine he shapes; From such a God what mortal e’er escapes? When each third day shall triumph o’er the night, Then doth the vulture, with his talons light, Seize on my entrails; which, in rav’nous guise, He preys on! then with wing extended flies Aloft, and brushes with his plumes the gore: But when dire Jove my liver doth restore, Back he returns impetuous to his prey, Clapping his wings, he cuts th’ ethereal way. Thus do I nourish with my blood this pest, Confined my arms, unable to contest; Entreating only that in pity Jove Would take my life, and this cursed plague remove. But endless ages past unheard my moan, Sooner shall drops dissolve this very stone. And therefore it scarcely seems possible to avoid calling a man who is suffering, miserable; and if he is miserable, then pain is an evil.