_Hermes. Hera. Colossus. Heracles. Athene. Posidon. Momus.
Hermagoras. Zeus. Aphrodite. Apollo, Timocles. Damis_

_Herm_. 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.

_Ath_. 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.

_Ath_. 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!

_Ath_. Possess us; are not we thine own familiars?

_Zeus_. With a whirr and a crash
Let the levin-bolt dash--