Aeschylus I

Aeschylus I: Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus


I read Prometheus Bound as part of the Online Great Books program.

This is a fascinating story. it is, of course, a Greek play written in the 5th century BC. The story is written in a form of prose poetry with dialogue and monologues intercut with contributions from the chorus to provide background and move the story along. The translation in this edition is quite accessible to the lay reader. This edition has a nice glossary that briefly explains references to persons and places in the text.

The story involves the “nailing” of the titan Prometheus to a mountain for offending Zeus by giving fire to man. The text is very clear that all of man's arts come from Prometheus and that Zeus's great ambition for man was to destroy mankind and start again.

The story moves in dialogue format. Prometheus talks to Io - a woman who has been horribly mistreated by the gods - and Hermes - who interrogates Prometheus about a prophecy that Zeus will be overthrown by a son (and who assigns the eagle to tear out Prometheus's liver for his refusal to share his knowledge.)

Reading this text at this point in my life makes me regret my misspent youth. This text raises questions about theodicy and the role of the gods in paganism. The sense I got was that Greeks viewed the goes with ambivalence. There is a lot of talk about Zeus being great and the first cause, but Zeus does awful things to individuals for petty and venal reasons. Likewise, Prometheus comes across as a kind of proto-savior, but one who denies a resurrection.

Again, this is a fruitful book for discussion and contemplation.