One of the most captivating myths I have come across, and one of the most artistically well-knit, Prometheus Bound remains anonymous to most people. In this myth, one is presented with the case of Prometheus, Mankind’s most generous patron, as he is punished by Zeus for having stolen the fire from the god Hephaestus and given it to Man.

The conflict between the “old regime” and the “old gods”, and Zeus’s newly established dominance over the rest of the new generation, is so obvious in this myth one could almost touch it. Zeus overthrew his father, with Prometheus’ aid, but when Prometheus gave Mankind special gifts and abilities and therefore sabotaged Zeus’s plans to destroy them, the latter grew outraged. He decided to punish Prometheus, and so had him chained to a mighty rock by Hephaestus, the God of fire. Later on in the myth, Zeus split the chasm and entombed Prometheus underground, and when ages have passed on this punishment, he returned into the light and a savage eagle ripped his flesh and picked on his liver all day long.

Prometheus came to be known as a Satanic Hero, due to his defiance to Zeus, and to his exquisite knowledge. In addition to those traits, he was quite proud, even in his torture and time of punishment. One of the most memorable lines that he says in this play, and one of my favorties, is : ” I willed to be wrong”.

From Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound and Other Plays, translated with an introduction by Philip Vellacott, a Penguin Classics book, inclusive of Prometheus Bound, The Suppliants, Seven Against Thebes, and The Persians, I bring you the sixth episode of Share a myth.

After sustaining that, in Prometheus, we are taken to a period which, historically, is that of the first appearance in Greece of the “Olympian” gods, but which Greeks thought of as belonging to the most primitive stage of the history of man, Vellacott says:

” The transition from the primitive to the civilized world, from the life of nomadic tribes and village settlements to that of walled cities and organized states, was doubtless a gradual and barely perceptible process spread confusedly over several centuries and large expanses of land. Individuals who noted such change, however, must generally have associated it with some sudden or memorable event - an invasion, a siege, a massacre, a migration. So this stage in the development of Greek social order had its mythical counterpart in the story of a violent dynastic change among the gods.”

This is the summary of the myth, again cited from the introduction:

” In the primitive era Cronos was lord of all gods. During his time the human race was created, but was early recognized as a regrettable failure, and kept in a state of wretchedness and total subservience. Force ruled everything; reason and right were unknown. The Titans, sons of Earth begotten by gods, were a race of gigantic size and strength, and no intelligence; until in one of them, Prometheus, emerged rational and moral qualities, ranging from cunning and ingenuity to a love of freedom and justice.

The knowledge that the future lay with such intangible principles rather than with brute strength, was a secret possessed by Earth, who imparted it to her son Prometheus. (The earth was in all centuries thought of by the Greeks as the prime source of foreknowledge and prophecy.) This certainty set Prometheus at the side of Zeus, son of Cronos, in rebellion against his father and the older dynasty; and by Prometheus’ help Zeus and the other “Olympian” gods won the day and thenceforward ruled the universe.

But Prometheus was not only an immortal; he was also a son of Earth, and felt a natural sympathy with the earth’s mortal inhabitants. The race which Zeus despised and planned to destroy, Prometheus saw as capable of infinite development. He stole fire from heaven and gave it to them; and he taught them the basic mental and manual skills. In so doing he frustrated Zeus’s plan to create a more perfect race. So when Aeschylus shows him punished for this presumption, the reader or spectator, judging between the antagonists, finds the scales nicely balanced.

What has won our favour for Prometheus is largely the fact that he believed in, and wanted to help, the human race as it is, full of both noble achievement and pitiable squalor, honouring both goodness and wickedness; a race where virtue, if rare, is at least costly. ”

Visual and resources: 1- Prometheus bound and visited by the Eagle at Caucasus by Elsie Russel and 2-Prometheus Bound, by A. Russell.

You may wish to check out previous episodes of Share a myth, find them at: Share a myth I, II, III, IV, V.

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!



This entry was posted on Monday, February 13th, 2006 at 9:07 pm and is filed under Mythology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.