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Prometheus Analytical Essay
Essay relationship between power and morality
Literary analysis essay on the story of Prometheus
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When Is Power Too Much?
If someone gave you the keys to the world, what would you do? Would you abuse the power and control everything or not? What of that power was threatened? It is okay to have some power, but more often than not, power corrupts.
In Prometheus & Pandora’s Box, it is shown that having too much power can be very bad. “ ‘It is best for them to be poor and ignorant, that so we Mighty Ones may thrive and be happy.’” (Paragraph 8) With this quote, Jupiter, the king of the gods, told us exactly how he felt. He didn’t want the mortals, who’d been living terribly, to gain power for their own. Jupiter wanted his life to be one where only he and the other gods had power. He didn’t care for the mortals; he only cared about himself and how great it was to be a god. The same thing happened in The Stanford Experiment when the guards were mistreating the prisoners. “They behaved in a brutal and sadistic manner, apparently enjoying it.” (Paragraph 11) Within only hours since the experiment began, the guards realized that they had much more power and authority than the prisoners. They began to let it show and insulted the prisoners, taunted them, and beat them.
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In addition, the guards or Jupiter didn’t want their power to be taken away from them.
When Jupiter realized that Prometheus had given the mortals fire, he was outraged. “But one day, when he chanced to look down upon the earth, he saw the fires burning, an the people living in houses, and the flocks feeding on the hills, and this made him very angry.” (Paragraph 17) Jupiter was furious when he realized that the mortals would gain strength and become more powerful. He was so worried that he decided to punish all of mankind by creating a wife for Epimetheus, Prometheus’s brother, with curiosity and a box. She was called Pandora, and when she opened the box, she unleashed great terrors upon them
all. Power might be corrupting sometimes, but it is also good. Think of Prometheus. He had power, and he used it to help the mortals. “After that, Prometheus taught them, little by little, a thousand things. He showed them how to build houses of wood and stone, and how to tame sheep and cattle and make them useful, and how to plow and sow and reap, and how to protect themselves from the storms of winter and the beasts of the woods. Then he showed them how to dig in the earth for copper and iron, and how to melt the ore, and how to hammer it into shape and fashion from it the tools and weapons which they needed in peace and war; and when he saw how happy the world was becoming he cried out: “A new Golden Age shall come, brighter and better by far than the old!” (Paragraph 15, 16) Prometheus knew that he had to do good with the gifts he’d been given. In conclusion, I still believe that having too much power can override whatever sense of justice you have. Too much power makes you feel like you can treat people who are lower than you anyway you want. As they always say, “too much of anything is bad for you.”
...s talk and the two sisters become awfully jealous of her. After they try to find out the truth of Psyche and her husband, they leave with some jewels. The night after the two sisters leave, Psyche can’t sleep at night and order her servants to bring her a lamp. She sneaks into her husband’s room, to find a beautiful creature with great, white folded, feathered wings. He is the son of Aphrodite’s, Eros – she says. As she quietly moves away, her oil lamp drops oil on Eros burning him and waking him up. He explains to Psyche that “mortals and gods are forbidden to marry” (p.137) that’s why she couldn’t see him and now he must go away from her. In this play we see that Pandora should’ve listened to her husband, Eros, and it caused herself bad in not listening to Eros, but we see that things can work out after something terrible occurs, such as the birth of a child.
What is power to a human? As time has gone by, there have been many forms of control and influence in the world. Many strive to achieve total rule over a society or group of individuals. Yet the question still presents itself to the average man. Why does man desire power so greatly even though there is visible trouble that follows? Shelley’s Frankenstein, Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron”, and Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, whether through the situation or the character themselves, depict the evils and hardships due to an imbalance and poor management of power.
Contrary to popular belief, power does not give a person everything needed in life. Power gives people an illusion of a perfect, ungrueling life which- news flash!- is probably the total opposite of what power actually bestows upon people. Within The Count of Monte Cristo, Edmond Dantes is mistreated with due to abundance of power Monseuir Villefort has, causing Edmond to later seek power to avenge for the mistreatment caused to him. Almost everyone in the book either loses or gives up their power in the end, thanks to Edmond. Viva la Vida, similarly, depicts the story of Louis XVI possessing immense power and then being deprived of the same power he once thought was going to be in his fist forever.
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
Ultimately the characters strive for power does not end well. In particular the story of Gilgamesh the main character Gilgamesh has power and abuses it. Gilgamesh is a greedy king who gets what he wants. He often has no consideration for his people that are looking up to him. The quote stated above about Gilgamesh can also speak for his power. Because Gilgamesh had a lot of power he is able to do anything he wishes. When Gilgamesh and Enkidu meets Gilgamesh is trying to sleep with a bride before her husband can. Gilgamesh has power but he abuses his power and his people are the ones who are punished. Claudius also thrives for power. It is ultimately Claudius’s need for power that urges him to kill his brother so he could marry his brother’s wife and become king. Claudius does not even stop his wife Gertrude from drinking the poisoned wine. He does say “Gertrude, do not drink” (Shakespeare. 5.2. 262). Claudius does not but tell her not to drink the wine but by the time he tells her that it is too late. Both Gilgamesh and Claudius have power. They do not use their power to benefit others. Both Gilgamesh and Claudius’s power harms their
He was worshipped particularly in manufacturing and crafting fields, especially in Athens. Hephaestus crafted many creations, most notable being Pandora. According to Hesiod, Zeus ordered Hephaestus to create a women irresistible to man or god. Zeus planned revenge against Prometheus, a titan who mocked Zeus. She was molded from Earth and water and once her body was ready, The Four Winds breathed life into it. She was given all of the gifts from the gods. Aphrodite gave her beauty, grace, and decisive. Hermes gave her a cunning mind and a clever tongue. Athena clothed her and gave her nimble hands. Poseidon gave her a pearl necklace that would prevent her from drowning. Apollo taught her to play the lyre and sing. Zeus gave her a foolish and mischievous deposition. Finally, Hera gave her the gift that would lead to her downfall, curiosity. Pandora was born and descended down onto earth along with a beautifully gilded box from Zeus with a warning never to open it. She married Epimetheus, Prometheus brother who warned him not to accept a gift from Zeus, as he was aware he was still mad at him. Epimetheus so enchanted by Pandora ignored his brother and married Pandora anyways. The gift of Hera’s curiosity finally got the best of Pandora and she opened the box; releasing sickness, death, turmoil, strife, jealousy, famine, and evil. Pandora was a pawn in Zeus’s game of revenge. Pandora weighed down by her actions was left with hope, the only good virtue Zeus hid in the box. From then on hope would be in every man, for when life’s evils weighed him
Power. It is defined as the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events. Throughout time, certain individuals have acquired power in their society as a way to govern and keep order among their community. Power is not a new concept; it was used in the past by many emperors, kings, and queens, and is still being used by presidents, prime ministers, and dictators. Although, it has been used to further progress societies into what the world is like today, not all power has been used for the best of mankind. But what goes awry to make power turn corrupt? In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, it is illustrated how power can turn corrupt, when authoritative figures, who possess power, abuse it for their personal gain, rather than for the common good of the society.
Power has been defined as the psychological relations over another to get them to do what you want them to do. We are exposed to forms of power from the time of birth. Our parents exercise power over us to behave in a way they deem appropriate. In school, teachers use their power to help us learn. When we enter the work world the power of our boss motivates us to perform and desire to move up the corporate ladder so that we too can intimidate someone with power one day. In Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness Kurtz had a power over the jungle and its people that was inexplicable.
Power is both a good and evil thing. With power, a person has the potential to change the world. With power, a person’s words would be so influential, that anything would be possible. But when a person uses power for evil, it could possibly provoke the most horrible events imaginable. One person who used power for evil was a character from the movie Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith created by George Lucas. The characters name was Chancellor Palpatine. In a span of about fifteen years, he was able to manipulate the political system of the Galactic Republic so that he would come to power. With various events such as the Clone Wars, he gained more and more power as Chancellor, so much so that the only thing that the Chancellor feared was to lose his power.
"Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it" [Lord Acton, British Historian]. It is human nature that the more power one desires, the more corrupt actions they have to commit to attain power. Power is the ability to have control over people and/or things. People who are powerful can, and in most cases will, create an illusion of anything they want you to see about them. This illusion can make people blind to their true intentions.
“Ah me, alas, pain, pain ever, forever! / No change, no pause, no hope! – Yet I endure” (I, 23-24) – such are the words of Prometheus, when in desperation and overwhelmed by emotion, his thoughts dissolve in sheer agony and turn to himself, away from the Mighty God whose “ill tyranny” has nailed him to the “eagle-baffling mountain” (I, 19-20). In his essay, Prometheus: The Romantic Revolutionary, Northrop Frye observes that “pain is the condition which keeps Prometheus conscious” (96), because in reflection, he is confronted with himself, and his sense of self and being. But he is quick to call once again on the “cruel King” (I, 50), who has sentenced him to his fate, after begging the natural world to hear his cries and not punish him, no longer to injure his bones by “burning cold” (I, 33) the chains that bind him or let “Heaven’s winged hound” (I, 33) feed upon him. His words echo his earlier sentiment, found in Aeschylus’ work, where he mourns himself, as a “spectacle of pity” (14) who must suffer the “disease of tyranny (13) . In his quest and the earlier part of his imprisonment, Prometheus still longed to engage and relate to the Olympian, as “a counterpart of himself” (Frye 96), as one god contesting with another for power over and influence on the world. This struggle resulted in the imprisonment of Prometheus, because he craved to incite a revolution, where he desired not to transform the degenerate system of Jupiter but overturn it. Frye reminds us that “Jupiter’s real impetus is toward chaos rather than order” (96), as understood through the initial conversation between Prometheus and the Earth, where he identifies her as a “living spirit” (I, 139) but she is fearful of that description...
Having too much power can lead a person to making wrong decisions and going crooked. During the French revolution, the third estate had to work for long hours and got nothing in return, and the food prices were skyrocketing. By doing so, King Louis XVI took away the rights of the third estate, but the third estate was not happy with the King’s decision. King Louis XVI didn’t give any right to
We have to reach into Pandora’s box and give the rest of the world the one and only thing that was left and that was hope. Pandora’s box as a fable teaches us about moral truth. Myths are intended to instruct and the myth of Pandora’s box is no different. Bad things happen because; Pandora yields to her curiosity and decides to open this weird box that was given to her as a gift from Zeus. If Pandora’s curiosity and temptation didn’t get in the way and she would have left the box alone and no evil would have been released into the world. The moral of the story is very important because it makes sense knowing the Greek culture at the time, which valued obedience rather than curiosity. Anyone who is acting excessively curious may lead them to harm or even death. Temptation is the root of all evil and sometimes its better if it’s just ignored. According to the story of Pandora’s box, all of our problems fall back on her. Zeus just wanted to teach humankind a lesson. With Pandora’s box, Zeus got even with Prometheus because he got out of line along with teaching humans a lesson as well. From this myth itself, we learn that curiosity can kill the cat and the Greek golden age of
The leader will always take advantage of his power. Power causes the leader to make decisions, that will only better himself. "... Boxer was being sent to the knacker's." The pigs killed an animal just so that they could make some money. The power led them to this decision, they could kill Boxer, make some money, and no one would ever find out. Everyone has heard about the golden rule: "whoever has the gold makes the rules." This applies to "
In the novel The Island of Dr. Moreau, written by H.G. Wells, many themes are shown but one that is most interesting is how one of the three essentially “human” characters abuse the power they have and end up paying for their actions. All the people in the position of power often believe that nothing can stop them, that they are a “God” , an example being Dr. Moreau. The power that is being abused in this novel not only shows that sometimes people see themselves like God, but also what consequences can occur if our own selves want too much power that can't be administered . First of all, in times of Ancient Egypt there was a Pharaoh that not only was seen as a mighty Pharaoh but changed the religion to honor the God Amun “king of all gods”