Prometheus Bound

We know the basic story of Prometheus: he gives fire to humans, is punished.

The story in Prometheus Bound is a little more complicated. One of the old school Titans, when their descendants (the Olympian Gods) under Zeus rebel, Prometheus tries to help the Titans; they spurn his help and he then changes sides. But Zeus turns out to be no more beneficent a ruler than Kronos was, so Prometheus once again switches, siding decisively with the common folk - humans - and giving them, along with fire, math, husbandry, and medicine. Now comes the punishment: the play opens as Hephaistos chains him down, and he whines like a bitch for like 30 pages before turning to self-aggrandizement and finally prophesying his own victory and the downfall of Zeus.

No wonder Karl Marx liked this play.

It's not terribly good. Certainly not as good as the Oresteia, and while it's unfair to say that because we're missing the second two parts of the Prometheus trilogy (stay tuned for my review of Percy Bysshe Shelley's recreation of Prometheus Unbound next week,) Prometheus Bound has nowhere near the depth of Agememnon, the first of the Oresteia trilogy and Aeschylus's best work. Apparently modern scholars (only in the past 20 years or so) are leaning towards believing that Prometheus Bound isn't by Aeschylus at all, and I see no reason to disagree.

Prometheus is one of our best metaphors. At his simplest: a genius chooses to share it with the proles against the will of the bosses and is punished. At what this play actually says: a genius goes with the revolution, hoping that life will be better under it; realizes that absolute power corrupts absolutely; and is punished. Either way, useful, although I prefer the second scheme for its depth and for its truth.

As a story it's terrific; whoever wrote this play didn't do a great job of expressing it.

The translation by Scully and Herington falls in the Fagles mode: a few too many modernizations ("Zeus is not / about to mellow," that seriously happened) but some lovely lines as well...uh, no, not really. Fagles can boast that, but Scully/ Herington have at best functional lines. I didn't care for this translation. I can't recommend it. ( )

MSFO, in homage.

This tragedy packs a punch with a modern ring. I was familiar with the myth of Prometheus in Greek mythology, but never read this version by Aeschylus. I wasn't expecting much but was pleasantly surprised at its depth. Depending on the personification one attaches to Prometheus, the story can take on various meanings. Is this a war between intellect and power, a struggle between cruelty and compassion, warfare between justice and injustice, or a competition between conformity versus individualism?

This translation by Scully & Herington was fun and very modern. I didn't read the introduction and went straight to the text and was immediately rewarded.


POWER: And so we've come to the end of the world.
To Schythia: this howling waste
No one passes through.

Hephaistos, now it’s up to you.
What the Father wants done
You’ve got to do.
On these overhanding cliffs
With your own shatter-proof irons
You’re commanded:
Clamp this troublemaking bastard to the rock.


After POWER’S scene is done the direction reads (POWER strides away. After a moment VIOLENCE follows him, silent as ever). Who said these old stories were irrelevant and dull?
( )

O conto de Prometeu, aprisionado a uma rocha e condenado a terríveis tormentos por ter dado ao homem o fogo, é maravilhosamente contado por Ésquilo, em um livro que seria fonte de inspiração para Goethe, Lord Byron e o casal Shelley. ( )

Edition: Sixth Edition // Descr: xxxix, 141 p. 18 cm. // Series: Call No. { 882 A2 9 copy #2 } With Notes and an Introduction by R.H. Mather Contains Lyrics of the Prometheus. // //