5
Speak first, then, Hermes, and see that you accuse me as eloquently as you can and that you don’t neglect any of your father’s claims. Hephaestus, I make you judge.
5
No, by Heaven; you will find me an accuser instead of a judge, I promise you, for you abstracted my fire and left my forge cold.
5
Well, then, divide the accusation; you can accuse me of the theft now, and then Hermes will criticize the serving of the meat and the making of men. You both belong to trades-unions and are likely to be good at speaking.
5
Hermes shall speak for me too, for I am no hand at court specches but stick by my forge for the most part, while he is an orator and has taken uncommon interest in such matters.
5
I should never have thought that Hermes would care to speak about the theft or to reproach me with anything like that, when I follow his own trade! However, if you agree to this, son of Maea, it is high time you were getting on with your accusation.
6
Just as if long speeches and adequate preparation were necessary, Prometheus, and it were not enough simply to summarize your wrong-doings and say that when you were commissioned to divide the meat you tried to keep the best for yourself “and cheat the king, and that you made men when you should not, and that you stole fire from us and took it to them! You do not seem to realize, my excellent friend, that you have found Zeus very humane in view of such actions. Now if you deny that you have committed them, I shall have to have it out with you and make a long speech and try my best to bring out the truth; but if you admit that you served the meat in that way and made the innovations in regard to men and stole fire, my accusation is sufficient and I don’t care to say any more; to do so would be a mere waste of words.
