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It is painful to me to tell the tale, painful to keep it silent. My case is unfortunate every way.
Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound, lines 197-98; Herbert Weir Smyth translation
Introduction
Prometheus Bound is a play in another trilogy by Aeschylus. The other two plays have not survived fully. In the case of one of the plays, only a single line survives and it is unclear what the name of the play was. Nothing is known about the satyr play. Apparently, there is also disagreement about whether Prometheus Bound was the first or the second play in the trilogy (I personally always heard it was the first).
Regardless, Prometheus Bound is about the famous story of Prometheus. The short version is that Prometheus stole fire from the gods and gave it to mortals. Zeus didn’t like this and condemned Prometheus to a terrible torture: he would be bound to a rock and everyday an eagle would eat his liver (his liver would grow back everyday). As hinted in the play, eventually Zeus would allow Prometheus to be freed from his chains (the one to free him would be Heracles (Hercules), a descendant of Io).
Prometheus’ story is also tied to a few important characters in the Iliad. As also shown in the play, Prometheus knows something that Zeus wants to know: there’s a woman out there who will bear a son fated to be stronger than his father. If Zeus sleeps with this woman, he will certainly be overthrown by his son. Eventually, Prometheus reveals to Zeus who that woman is: the sea goddess Thetis. Zeus then forces Thetis to marry the mortal man Peleus. Their son is Achilles, the most famous warrior of the Trojan War who’s life is cut short but who’s name lives on forever.
All quotes from Prometheus Bound are from the Herbert Weir Smyth translation which is in the public domain. This translation appeared in the Loeb Classical Library. I had to rely on the David Grene translation for the line numbers, so they may not be 100% accurate.
The title of this post is inspired by the title of an album by the metal band Demon Hunter (True Defiance). Demon Hunter is my favorite band and True Defiance is in the top three of my favorite Demon Hunter albums.
As always, I encourage you to read Prometheus Bound for yourself. You can do it! Read the publicly available Smyth translation, which is somewhat easy to read (especially if you could follow along with the Butler translations of the Iliad and Odyssey)! You might have to look up a word here and there, but it’s not too bad. If you prefer a modern translation, Richmond Lattimore and David Grene also translated and/or edited the plays of Aeschylus and compiled them into two volumes (Prometheus Bound is found in Aeschylus I). Lastly, I just recently discovered a modern translation that the translator Ian Johnston offers for free! He’s also translated other ancient Greek works like the Iliad and the Odyssey. You can find them here.
Summary
Prometheus is being held down by Force and Power while Hephaestus binds him to a rock with unbreakable fetters. Prometheus is being punished for giving fire to mortals. Hephaestus does not like what he is doing, but is more afraid of Zeus' wrath. When the fetters are in place, Hephaestus, Force, and Power exit, leaving Prometheus by himself.
While Prometheus tries to encourage himself, the Chorus appears. They are the daughters of Oceanus (Ocean) and the sisters of Prometheus’ wife. They lament Prometheus' imprisonment and inquire how he got in trouble. Prometheus explains that after he helped Zeus and the Olympians win their war against the Titans, he finds out Zeus wants to destroy humanity and make a new creation. Prometheus could not stand for this and gave humanity rationality, awareness, knowledge of mathematics, language, architecture, and arts, prophetic interpretation, and finally, he gave them fire. The Chorus thinks Prometheus crossed a line, but nonetheless feel sorry for him. Prometheus asks if they could stay a little longer and they agree.
Soon after Oceanus himself visits Prometheus and implores him to reconcile with Zeus and simply accept that Zeus is in charge now and everyone has to submit to his rule. He even offers to visit Zeus himself and plead on Prometheus' behalf. Prometheus refuses and even tells Oceanus to not plead Prometheus' case because he might get punished by Zeus as well. Oceanus is eventually convinced to stand down and he leaves.
While the Chorus continue to console Prometheus, he hints that he knows something vital regarding Zeus and his fate, but refuses to go into any more detail. A new character, Io, appears, seeking relief from her plight. She is a woman who has captured the attention of Zeus and he calls her in her dreams to go somewhere hidden and far away so he can sleep with her. After her father inquires some of the oracles, he finds out that he must banish her from his household so she can journey to meet Zeus or Zeus will destroy the household. Io is banished, and just as she begins her journey, she is partially transformed into a cow, harassed by a stinging gadfly, and pursued by the monster Argus who has eyes all over its body. Hera is the one behind this. At some point, Argus mysteriously dies, but the gadfly continues to follow Io. She stumbles upon Prometheus while wandering and inquires him if he knows anything about her future.
Prometheus tells Io that she has to travel to the outskirts of civilization and leave Europe for Asia, and that's only the beginning. Io laments her fate and wonders whether it would be better to kill herself right there and Prometheus laments that he is unable die and that he will continue suffering until Zeus is dethroned. When Io questions him about this, Prometheus reveals that he knows something that Zeus needs to know: Zeus is going to father a son that is more powerful than him. However, Zeus can only escape this demise if Prometheus is freed from his punishment. When Io asks who will free Prometheus, he reveals it will be one of Io's descendants. When Io tries to inquire further, Prometheus tells her she can either know the remaining travails in store for her or who will be that descendant who will free Prometheus. The Chorus jumps in and tells Prometheus to tell Io about her travails and tell them about the descendant.
Prometheus explains that Io will have to travel through uncivilized land where mythical and dangerous creatures and peoples dwell. She will have to avoid them all and travel to the Nile River and take it to her destination where her and her descendants will found a colony. It is at this colony that she will bear a son from Zeus. Five generations later fifty women, avoiding undesirable marriages, flee the colony. They are pursued, and unable to avoid their suitors, they hatch a plan. They pretend to agree to marry their suitors, but on their wedding beds they murder their husbands. All the women murder their husbands except one because she falls in love with her husband. This woman’s descendants will be a royal line, with one of them being the one who will free Prometheus. After hearing all of this, Io is unable to stand the gadfly any further and flees the area to continue her journey.
Hermes shows up on Zeus' behalf and demands the information Prometheus knows about the woman who Zeus should not have a son with. Prometheus refuses to tell Hermes anything. Hermes then tells Prometheus what he will suffer if he doesn't give up the information: he will be blasted into the earth for a period of time, still fettered. Then, he will be brought back to the surface where an eagle will tear into his body and eat his liver every day. The Chorus try to reason with Prometheus to stop being stubborn, but Prometheus doesn't budge. He knew beforehand that he was going to suffer this torture. Hermes tells the Chorus to leave, but they refuse, so Hermes departs. The scene ends with the sky turning stormy as lightning flashes down where Prometheus and the Chorus are.
The Controversial Prometheus?
I have to admit that Prometheus Bound is a bit shocking. Up to this point, Zeus has been portrayed as relatively neutral, dutifully carrying out Fate and his responsibilities as king of the gods.
In Prometheus Bound, however, Zeus is an outright tyrant. He uses fear to force gods into submission and to do his will. The opening scenes has a reluctant Hephaestus binding Prometheus to a rock, but nonetheless pushes himself to do it:
I am constrained to summon courage to this deed; for it is perilous to disregard the commandments of the Father.
Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound, lines 16-18; Herbert Weir Smyth translation
Power is there next to Hephaestus making sure he does his job. He has to constantly goad Hephaestus into action and even reminds him of the consequences of disobeying Zeus. Power’s interaction with Hephaestus is practically a 101 in how to manipulate the weak willed into doing an authority’s bidding:
Why do you not hate Prometheus? Zeus and the other gods hate him.
Don’t you fear disobeying Zeus?
You aren’t responsible for Prometheus’ fate, so just shut up and work.
What if Zeus sees you delaying?
What if Zeus sees you sympathizing with the enemy?
The scene is very uncomfortable to get through. Hephaestus is one of Zeus’ sons. And yet, here is Zeus forcing Hephaestus, through fear, to do something Hephaestus doesn’t want to do. On top of that, Zeus sent the embodiment of Power with Hephaestus to make sure he would carry out his work.
Dad of the year right there.
Zeus is more than just a tyrant though: he’s an ungrateful tyrant. Prometheus was instrumental in helping the gods win their war against the Titans. He told Zeus the key to winning:
Often my mother Themis, or Earth (though one form, she had many names), had foretold to me the way in which the future was fated to come to pass. That it was not by brute strength nor through violence, but by guile that those who should gain the upper hand were destined to prevail.
Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound, lines 209-14; Herbert Weir Smyth translation
However, the second Prometheus did something Zeus didn’t like, Zeus locked up Prometheus and threw away the key.
And what was it that Prometheus did?
He saved mankind from Zeus.
Zeus was getting ready to let mankind die out and replace him with a new creation. Prometheus was having none of it:
But of wretched mortals he took no notice, desiring to bring the whole race to an end and create a new one in its place. Against this purpose none dared make stand except me – I only had the courage; I saved mortals so that they did not descend, blasted utterly, to the house of Hades. This is why I am bent by such grievous tortures, painful to suffer, piteous to behold. I who gave mortals first place in my pity, I am deemed unworthy to win this pity for myself, but am in this way mercilessly disciplined, a spectacle that shames the glory of Zeus.
Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound, lines 231-42; Herbert Weir Smyth translation
In short, Prometheus saved mankind by giving him fire. Think about the implications of not having fire:
No way to cook food
No way to boil water
Harder to keep yourself warm in the cold
No light in the dark
Can’t work with metal or make pottery
Withholding fire from mankind was essentially a death sentence.
Prometheus did more though. He made mankind sentient. He also taught them arts, letters and sciences. He taught them how to make boats and chariots. He taught them how to tame horses and beasts of burden. He taught them astronomy and the different ways to see into the future.
By doing all of these things, Prometheus gave mankind a chance to survive. He also thwarted Zeus’ plans of letting mankind die off so they could be replaced.
I don’t know why Zeus still didn’t wipe out mankind. Maybe there’s lines even he won’t cross.
If that wasn’t bad enough, we’re introduced to Io—a mortal woman whom Zeus wants to sleep with but it has to be done away from known civilization so Zeus can’t get caught by Hera. So, he threatens her father: exile Io or you and your household will be destroyed by my lightning bolt. Io’s father kicks her out of his house and she begins wandering the land. That’s not all though. She gets partially turned into a cow, harassed by a stinging gadfly, and pursued by a monster, all because of Hera’s jealousy.
All because Zeus lusted after Io, he put her through hell. And he could do that because he’s the king of the gods. He can throw around his power and create fear to get his way.
[Prometheus]: Does it not seem to you that the tyrant of the gods is violent in all his ways? For this god, desirous of union with this mortal maid, has imposed upon her these wanderings. Maiden, you have gained a cruel suitor for your hand.
Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound, lines 736-40; Herbert Weir Smyth translation
A cruel suitor indeed.
The cherry on top is when it is revealed that Prometheus knows something that Zeus doesn’t: there’s a woman out there who will give birth to a son who will be stronger than his father. Prometheus refuses to tell Zeus who this woman is unless Zeus releases him from his bonds. Rather than work with Prometheus, Zeus instead decides to blast him into the earth and promise a worse punishment: when Prometheus rises from the ground again, an eagle will daily tear into his body and eat his liver.
Zeus, in true tyrannical fashion, chose punishment and torture over making a compromise.
Anyway, to reiterate what I said in the beginning, the portrayal of Zeus in Prometheus Bound is quite shocking. For the modern audience, at least, Zeus comes off as a brutal dictator. It flies in the face of all the other portrayals of Zeus we’ve seen so far.
But, what about Aeschylus? Was he intending to make his audience sympathize with Prometheus? Was he intending on making them angry at Zeus or despise him? Or, was Power speaking for him when he said of Prometheus:
I see this man getting his just deserts.
Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound, line 70; Herbert Weir Smyth translation
If Aeschylus did intend on making Prometheus a sympathetic character and Zeus come off as a tyrant, how did his audience feel? Were they in agreement? Or, was this blasphemy?
Was Aeschylus making a political statement of some kind? If so, what was that statement? Was he taking a jab at tyrants of his day? Was there a political prisoner being unjustly persecuted in Aeschylus’ eyes?
Or, was he justifying the actions of a particular tyrant? Was he showing that even the beloved king of the gods, Zeus, had to doing something shocking in order to assert his just rule?
My Conspiracy Theory Was Right…?!
In my post on The Eumenides, I played around with the idea that everything regarding Agamemnon’s murder and Orestes’ revenge was intentionally used by the gods to ditch the old system of justice in favor of a new system of justice that Zeus was responsible for. I stated that I was having fun with the theory because I couldn’t really prove it.
And then I read Prometheus Bound again.
Perhaps my “conspiracy theory” was unknowingly influenced by my two previous readings of the play—the first in 2018 and the second in 2020. By the time I read the play again for this blog, I had forgotten most everything in the play aside from the basic premise. I even forgot some of the characters in it.
Therefore, my mind was blown when I read:
[Hephaestus]: Such is the prize you have gained for your championship of man. For, god though you are, you did not fear the wrath of the gods, but you bestowed honors upon mortal creatures beyond their due. Therefore on this joyless rock you must stand sentinel, erect, sleepless, your knee unbent. And many a groan and unavailing lament you shall utter; for the heart of Zeus is hard, and everyone is harsh whose power is new.
Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound, lines 28-35; Herbert Weir Smyth translation
And then:
[Chorus]: For there are new rulers in heaven, and Zeus governs with lawless customs; that which was mighty before he now brings to nothing.
Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound, lines 148-51; Herbert Weir Smyth translation
And then:
[Oceanus]: Learn to know yourself and adapt yourself to new ways; for new also is the ruler among the gods.
Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound, lines 310-11; Herbert Weir Smyth translation
And lastly:
[Chorus]: For Zeus, holding this unenviable power by self-appointed laws, displays towards the gods of old an overweening spirit.
Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound, lines 401-05; Herbert Weir Smyth translation
In other words: Zeus, as soon as he came to power, was indeed creating a new order. He was doing away with most everything the old gods had established and creating something new which he could exercise authority over.
Zeus punishing Prometheus was also because of this. On the one hand, Zeus had to strongly assert his dominance against any potential rebellion and disobedience, so Prometheus became an example. On the other hand, mankind was created by the old gods and Zeus wanted to get rid of them so he could create new mortals who were indebted to him for their creation. When Prometheus gave them sentience, learning in many subjects, and fire, he gave mankind the ability to survive on their own. He elevated them closer to the gods than they were before. Zeus’ plan for mankind was therefore thwarted. Mankind would forever remain a vestige of the old order which Zeus couldn’t fully control.
There is Always a Cost for Defiance
Prometheus knew the price he was going to pay for helping mankind and for refusing to divulge the information about who would upend Zeus’ rule. He knew he was going to be bound to the rock, blasted into the earth, and suffer daily from an eagle eating his liver. He chose to save mankind and spite the tyrannical Zeus anyway.
Knowing it and experiencing it though are two different things. Just because Prometheus knew of the tortures he would face, it doesn’t make experiencing them any less painful. It doesn’t take away all of the shock that someone would actually subject him to it.
There is always a price to pay for defying authority, for going against the grain, for pushing back against the prevailing view. In many cases, if you aren’t paying a price, you aren’t in rebellion. You’re either going with the status quo or doing exactly what Authority wants you to do.
In my observations, this is something that has been wholly missed by a lot of activists of recent years. They want a Civil Rights Movement 2.0, but they are unwilling to pay the price to make it happen. Or worse: they’re ignorant of the price that needs to be paid. They seem to fail to understand that civil disobedience means breaking a law they consider unjust and accepting the consequences for breaking said law. Instead, they shout cries of unfairness, demands to be coddled, and expectations to be lionized.
It’s one thing to point to your abuser and say, “This is how they make me suffer. This is their true face. This is how far they’re willing to go to uphold injustice.” It’s another thing to whine and make demands.
One of the more egregious cases happened about four months ago (I’m writing this on March 1, 2023). A group of activists superglued their hands to the floor of a sports car showroom to protest carbon emissions or something like that.
What happened next is something you would expect from a satire.
The company, on whose property these activists were trespassing on, refused to give them food and a pot to relieve themselves in. On top of that, the company turned off the lights and heat and went home. The company also refused to let any of the activists’ supporters onto the property to help them out.
The activists’ response?
They complained about it. How dare this company not accommodate them!
It was an absolutely pathetic display of resistance and protest. The activists sounded like a group of spoiled brats. They wouldn’t have lasted five seconds in the Civil Rights Movement.
Why should the people you are railing against have any sympathy for you? Why should they restrain themselves from making you even more miserable? You are declaring yourself their enemy. You are standing in the way of the power and control they have now and any future power and control they may gain. You are hindering their ability to make a profit and have a more comfortable life. You are a potential threat to whatever positive image they may have. To believe that you should be accommodated and treated respectfully by the very people you oppose requires narcissism on the delusional level.
Prometheus did what he thought was right even though it went against the most powerful ruler in the universe. He stood defiant against Zeus and did it without bloodshed. He could have raised an army to attack Zeus in order to force him to allow mortals to survive. Instead, Prometheus stole from the gods what the mortals needed, knowing that his criminal act would have dire consequences for himself. Once he committed the crime, he took his punishment.
Prometheus didn’t really have sympathy from anyone, not even from his friends or relatives. “It’s unfortunate this happened to you, but you kind of deserved it” and “What you did was wrong, but I still hate seeing you suffer like this” is the closest he got to any sympathy. Even among the people closest to him, Prometheus was alone. And he was okay with it. He didn’t want others to get dragged down into the mess he got himself into.
Quite frankly, if an activist can’t have the same resolve as Prometheus, their activism is fit only for the dung heap.
Could you do what Prometheus did?
Could I?
That's all for Prometheus Bound.
May your days be filled with grace.
-Andronikos
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Thumbnail: Prometheus Being Chained by Vulcan by Dirck van Baburen, 1623. Public domain.