Allusions to the Greek Myth of Prometheus allow insightful readers to withhold a better understanding of the story of Prometheus. First, from the poem “Prometheus” by Marin Sorescu we were given a piece that has far more meaning to the text then is depicted. “Whoever said I was chained” (Sorescu 1). Said the mighty Prometheus, which I believe portrays how free Prometheus feels due to the eagle’s presence and how itself has the freedom to soar in the sky and be free with itself. Next, from D'aulaires’ Book Of Greek Myths we read through a number of passages that gave us more understanding as to how Prometheus cares for his creations, the humans. “Prometheus could not bear to see his people suffer and he decided to steal fire, though he knew
Zeus would punish him severely” (D'aulaires’ 72). This insert portrays how selfless Prometheus is, he knew that stealing fire from the gods was going to come with sever punishment, but he still stole fire because he knew it was the right thing to do. Finally, from the video posted to youtube by the “Prometheus” channel “Introducing david 8” shows us more characteristics about Prometheus and what he believes in. “David what makes you sad? War, poverty, unnecessary violence” and “I understand human emotions but I do not feel them myself” (xx). David being in relation to Prometheus gives us more insight on how Prometheus cares for the humans and how he wants them to join together and be happy.
Prometheus Bound is quite different from other tragedies in that it is peopled entirely by gods. The play focuses on the story of Prometheus, and we have versions of this myth in Hesiod's famous works. There is reason to think that the author of Prometheus Bound was not only acquainted with Hesiod's version but actually drew on Hesiod directly in this play. This essay therefore aims to establish in what ways the author of Prometheus Bound seems to have drawn from Hesiod's version of myth, in what ways he has diverged from it, and what reasons he might have had for making these changes and innovations. This might therefore highlight any particular emphasis or purpose of Prometheus Bound and what its author might have been trying to get across. Though there is not space in this essay to discuss the problems of attributing this play, it must be recognised that this ambiguity of authorship and dating makes it even more difficult than usual to look at views and purposes behind the play.
...to Prometheus because he considers himself the man who brought light likewise Prometheus the man who stole fire from the gods to provide for the people in the city. He renames himself also because he feels like a new person after his discovery of freedom.
The first question which must be addressed is, "Why have these men been made to suffer?" To simply say that Zeus or God is displeased is not enough, and to say that Prometheus and Job have sinned is confusing. Most Western readers approach these works with a pre-conceived notion of sin which has been born out of the Judeo-Christian theological tradition a tradition which dictates that there are specific moral rules which must be followed, and to transgress them is to sin. While this interpretation of sin may be functional for a reading of Job, it is useless for understanding Prometheus Bound.
According to the Greek poet Hesiod, the Titan demi-god Prometheus was responsible for the creation of men. He manufactured them from clay, from the natural earth. When Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus, she left little doubt that the creator of the monster, Victor Frankenstein, by making a living creature from inaminate parts was a new Prometheus. But her metaphor extends beyond the immediately obvious. In Hesiod’s myth, Prometheus had an inflated sense of self importance and was determined to be adored by men. Because men had no control over fire they were destined to remain mere animals. The forbidden knowledge of fire, the most basic and natural form of energy was the domain of the god, Zeus. The ego-centric Prometheus became obsessed with devising a means by which he could procure fire and with no other motive in mind than glory, he cunningly stole fire from Zeus and gave it to a grateful mankind. Prometheus’ trickery was bound to invite catastrophe. Zeus’ retribution was swift and twofold. Firstly, with the help of Hephaestus, Hermes and Aphrodite, he fashioned out of clay the first woman, Pandora. Thereafter, men would no longer be born directly from the earth; now through women, they would undergo birth by procreation, and consequently old age, suffering and death. She was given a box which contained all manner of misery and evils and was responsible for letting them escape, to torment humankind forever. Secondly, Zeus caught Prometheus, chained him to a rock, and each day an eagle would visit him and feed on his liver. Prometheus’ liver, however, replenished itself overnight, so he was condemned not so much to a single act of punishment but to perpetua...
"The Allegory of the Cave" and "The Apology" by Plato explore the methods in which people for themselves, usually through the cultivation of the soul. "The Allegory of the Cave" employs an allegory to highlight the importance of the soul, while "The Apology" focuses on Plato 's beloved mentor, Socrates, and his views on tur value of the soul. Both allegory and dialogue seek to stress the importance of the truth to caring for one 's self. The pursuit of the truth and the care of the self are intricately intertwined; one cannot do without the other. Additionally, both pieces challenge the reader from their complacency and forces them to re-evaluate their lives, calling for lives that better cultivate the soul and take care of the self. From
...Hercules had a similar impact on Prometheus. Prometheus was sentenced to punishment forever, but eventually Hercules freed him from imprisonment. Although both Prometheus and Victor lived with unending and constant pain, they were mentally and physically freed from their chains.
Over the temple of Apollo at Delphi, there are some norms called “maxims” inscribed. These maxims are essentially rules by which society is expected to live. One of these rules is “Nothing in excess”. This maxim attempts to eradicate extremes. Particular actions and the consumption of luxuries should be regulated; one should not consume to the point of greediness. This rule, if broken, does not go unpunished. Mythological figures are inevitably punished for their gluttony, of which there are countless examples. I am going to focus on Prometheus, who stole fire and gave it to the humans that he “made out of earth and water” (Apollo Library 1.7.1), Icarus, who disregarded his father’s orders in order to satisfy his overzealous curiosity, and
Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound portrays a greek god detained by a superior for disobedience against the latter’s rule. On the other hand in Euripides’ Hippolytus portrays lust and vengeance of the gods and the extent that they can go to to avenge it.
To protest decree of the Gods, who want to keep the power of fire for themselves, Prometheus is toughly punished. He is chained to a rock to have his liver eaten out every day by an eagle. Every night his liver would grow back. This is his punishment for all of the eternity.
This is where it would all begin. After the war ended, Prometheus was tasked as the role creator to create the human race. With the help of Athena breathing life into the clay figures constructed by the hands of Prometheus and Epimetheus giving the mortals specific qualities, Prometheus's creation was complete. When wanting to construct the mortals to be more superior than the gods themselves, Prometheus played Zeus and tricked him which would cause his many punishments to start. Zeus would remove fire from the mortals and leave them without light or warmth. Prometheus grew displeasure and quickly returned fire back to the mortals outraging Zeus which backlashed on Prometheus physically and mentally. He had to be chained to a giant rock and have is liver devoured by an enormous eagle everyday, his liver would also regenerate for endless torture. He would also watch his creations suffer through Zeus, from Pandora opening a box containing diseases and evil and much, much more. He failed the responsibility of keeping his beings well flourished. Prometheus as not only punished himself, but his being composed of clay as well. Prometheus had great affection for the mortals, the myth reveals it by stating this, "Prometheus loved man more than the Olympians, who had banished most of his family to Tartarus" (Hunt, line 8). Prometheus would go from a devoted follower of Zeus, to a risk taker that would cross Zeus's boundaries, leading him to utter pain and misery as a punishment in the
In the myth Zeus is willing to set Prometheus free if he tells him of the secret child Zeus would have that would end up slaying him. Prometheus refuses again showing the humans a fearless spirit. However, in the poem Lesemann starts by saying Prometheus is on the ground rather than shackled to the mountain. One may infer this to mean that Prometheus breaks and tells Zeus the secret to be set free. Also, Lesemann describes Prometheus’ time being tortured as being in vain and he describes the humans sitting comfortably by the fire, ignoring the torture of Prometheus. In the myth Prometheus return to works amongst his humans but in the poem he turns into an outcast.
In the beginning of this tragic play we find Hephaestus delivering Zeus’ prescribed punishment on Prometheus. This punishment entailed being chained to a rock in the middle of desolate land because Prometheus had pity on the humans that Zeus wanted to annihilate. In the first scene, the character of Force could be seen as Zeus’ id, the tyrant’s instinctive and reactionary desires as defined by Freud. Force demands that Prometheus be chained immediately to a large mountain rock for the crime of stealing fire from the gods to give to man (Aeschylus 5-10). Hephaestus “is selected to be the instrument of the tyrant’s vengeance because it was Hephaestus’ privilege which Prometheus has given to man,” since he is the god of fire (Grene 27). It was not only fire that Prometheus gave to man, but an explanation of numbers, shapes, love, hate, language and many other things as he details to the nymphs (Aeschylus 14-35). In this way man and gods were brought closer together by giving man dominion over nature and a means of survival without a constant interaction with the gods (Harris and Platzner
The story of Prometheus and pandora began when Prometheus, the god of war, was assigned with the task of creating mankind. Prometheus had assigned Epimetheus ( his brother) the task of giving the creatures of the earth their various qualities, such as swiftness, cunning, strength, fur, and wings. Unfortunately, by the time he got to man Epimetheus had given all the good qualities out and there were none left for man. So Prometheus decided to make mankind stand upright as the gods did and to give them fire. Zeus was furious at Prometheus as a result of not asking him first. Zeus chained Prometheus up to the tallest mountain. Zeus then came up with a plan to create a woman to come to life and she was named Pandora. Pandora was sent as a gift to Epimetheus so he could marry her. With her came a gold box with a key. Pandora was told not to open it under any circumstance. Her curiosity grew stronger and stronger every day. After a few weeks of having the box in the back of her mind, she decided to open the box. Pandora saw evil waft out of the box. Deceit, jealousy, hate, war and despair all came out of the box. Pandora
One the most important gifts the humans received from Prometheus was courage, which allowed human beings to discover their freedom. Throughout the play, Prometheus maintains that he was the only one who “had the courage to halt men in their walk of death and to extinction” (pg. 35) and to defy the all-powerful Zeus. In doing this, Prometheus becomes the ultimate symbol of resistance to tyranny because he goes against the ruler of mortals and immortals in order to defend what he believes is right. Despite being chained to a rock and having his liver eaten daily by an eagle, Prometheus is determined to endure the suffering to prove his actions were not in vain. Thus, teaching humans the concept of courage. Initially human beings led lives in which they “…had eyes to see, but never saw; [had] ears for hearing, but never heard. Like huddled shapes in dreams, they used to drag their long lives through…” (pg. 46). Yet with fire, humans now had instruments that gave them a sense of courage and, in a way, a purpose for living as opposed to a continuous fight against death. Now, humans had courage through physical mediums and through Prometheus’ actions and
Greek mythology has many different stories that can depict different morals. For example, the myth of Helios, the sun god, and his son, Phaeton shows the importance of not letting your fantasies distract you from reality. However, the theme would not be clear without the main conflict.