Prometheus Bound

By Aeschylus

Aeschylus was the first of the three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays can still be read or performed, the others being Sophocles and Euripides. He is often described as the father of tragedy: our knowledge of the genre begins with his work and our understanding of earlier tragedies is largely based on inferences from his surviving plays. Only seven of his estimated seventy to ninety plays have survived into modern times. Fragments of some other plays have survived in quotes and more continue to be discovered on Egyptian papyrus, often giving us surprising insights into his work.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wilder Publications, Inc.
• Release date: Jan 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781515447443

Aeschylus

Aeschylus (c.525-455 B.C) was an ancient Greek playwright and solider. Scholars’ knowledge of the tragedy genre begins with Aeschylus’ work, and because of this, he is dubbed the “father of tragedy”. Aeschylus claimed his inspiration to become a writer stemmed from a dream he had in which the god Dionysus encouraged him to write a play. While it is estimated that he wrote just under one hundred plays, only seven of Aeschylus’ work was able to be recovered.

Book preview

Prometheus Bound

by Aeschylus

translated into english verse by

E. D. A. MORSHEAD, M.A.

late fellow of new college, oxford

formerly assistant master of winchester college

©2020 SMK Books

All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission except for brief quotations for review purposes only.

Wilder Publications, Inc.

PO Box 632

Floyd, VA 24091-0632

ISBN 13: 978-1-5154-4744-3

Table of Contents

Introduction

Argument

Dramatis Personae

Prometheus Bound

INTRODUCTION

The surviving dramas of Aeschylus are seven in number, though he is believed to have written nearly a hundred during his life of sixty-nine years, from 525 B.C. to 456 B.C. That he fought at Marathon in 490, and at Salamis in 480 B.C. is a strongly accredited tradition, rendered almost certain by the vivid references to both battles in his play of The Persians, which was produced in 472. But his earliest extant play was, probably, not The Persians but The Suppliant Maidens—a mythical drama, the fame of which has been largely eclipsed by the historic interest of The Persians, and is undoubtedly the least known and least regarded of the seven. Its topic—the flight of the daughters of Danaus from Egypt to Argos, in order to escape from a forced bridal with their first-cousins, the sons of Aegyptus—is legendary, and the lyric element predominates in the play as a whole. We must keep ourselves reminded that the ancient Athenian custom of presenting dramas in Trilogies—that is, in three consecutive plays dealing with different stages of one legend—was probably not uniform: it survives, for us, in one instance only, viz. the Orestean Trilogy, comprising the Agamemnon, the Libation-Bearers, and the Eumenides, or Furies. This Trilogy is the masterpiece of the Aeschylean Drama: the four remaining plays of the poet, which are translated in this volume, are all fragments of lost Trilogies—that is to say, the plays are complete as poems, but in regard to the poet’s larger design they are fragments; they once had predecessors, or sequels, of which only a few words, or lines, or short paragraphs, survive. It is not certain, but seems probable, that the earliest of these single completed plays is The Suppliant Maidens, and on that supposition it has been placed first in the present volume. The maidens, accompanied by their father Danaes, have fled from Egypt and arrived at Argos, to take sanctuary there and to avoid capture by their pursuing kinsmen and suitors. In the course of the play, the pursuers’ ship arrives to reclaim the maidens for a forced wedlock in Egypt. The action of the drama turns on the attitude of the king and people of Argos, in view of this intended abduction. The king puts the question to the popular vote, and the demand of the suitors is unanimously rejected: the play closes with thanks and gratitude on the part of the fugitives, who, in lyrical strains of quiet beauty, seem to refer the whole question of their marriage to the subsequent decision of the gods, and, in particular, of Aphrodite.

Of the second portion of the Trilogy we can only speak conjecturally. There is a passage in the Prometheus Bound (ll. 860-69), in which we learn that the maidens were somehow reclaimed by the suitors, and that all, except one, slew their bridegrooms on the wedding night. There is a faint trace, among the Fragments of Aeschylus, of a play called Thalamopoioi,—i.e. The Preparers of the Chamber,—which may well have referred to this tragic scene. Its grim title will recall to all classical readers the magnificent, though terrible, version of the legend, in the final stanzas of the eleventh poem in the third book of Horace’s Odes. The final play was probably called The Danaides, and described the acquittal of

Reviews for Prometheus Bound

[danielstj · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An amazing play. This is a recommended read for anyone interested in classics, ancient Greek literature, and drama.

[theinvernessie · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I had to read Prometheus Bound for my Greek Tragedies class. I was pleasantly surprised with it, it was relatively quick, and easy to follow. I loved it, quite frankly. It was fun to read, however it felt too short! (Crazy, right?)

[alcracka · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

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.

[clif_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

When Aeschylus wrote this play 2500 years ago could he have anticipated that people would still be talking about it this many years later? Goethe, Shelley and Karl Marx all referenced the story of Prometheus in their writing. Wikipedia's discussion of the Promethean myth in modern culture has many examples where book titles, names used in science, game names, works of art, and numerous other examples where the name Prometheus has been used. With such a famous name, this story deserves to be read. It should be acknowledged that the myth of Prometheus predated the play written by Aeschylus, so perhaps the playwright shouldn't get all the credit for the longevity of the story. The Great Books KC group selected this book for discussion because we had previously discussed Frankenstein, a Modern Prometheus. Our discussion spent considerable time discussing what Mary Shelly may have been thinking when she placed the name Prometheus into her book's subtitle. The logical conclusion is that Dr. Frankenstein was Prometheus and the Monster was the equivalent of saving humans, giving them fire and teaching them the secrets of divination. Assuming that Shelly intended the monster to be an example of a big mistake leading to unintended consequences, did Shelly think that humans were big mistake? One interpretation of the Prometheus is that he did a bad thing by defying Zeus's wishes and saving humans from being destroyed and giving them fire. Shelly must have been a romantic who thought that nature would be so much better off if humans were not on the scene. I prefer to believe that Shelly was thinking more about the fire given to humans than about humans themselves. Fire can do many good things, but too much of it can be undesirably destructive. It would follow that humans aren't good or bad, but rather how they use the fire given to them that's good or bad. The Promethean myth was a well known story to those living in the first century Greco-Roman world. That may explain why the new Christian religion spread as quickly as it did among the Greek culture of the middle east, and why they went on to developed the atonement theory. The image of Prometheus being spiked to a boulder has obvious similarities to the Christian crucifixion story. Both stories involve a god saving humans. Thus when a new religion came along that involved Christ dying for sinners, it made sense to the people at the time. It's interesting to note that Eastern Religions that were not influenced by Greek myths did not develop a religion that involved a god suffering for the benefit of humans. Perhaps God gave the Promethean myth to the ancient Greeks in order to prepare the mind set of the first Century Greco-Roman world to be open the Christian message. Read in December, 2008

[jpsnow · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Again we have a deep look into the religious mindset of the Greeks. The play opens with Prometheus being led to the rock and bound by a regretful Haephestus. They discuss the unforgiving nature of Zeus, who ordered Prometheus' punishment: "For not by prayer to Zeus is access won; An unpersuadable heart hath Cronos' son." Prometheus was a minor member of the gods who gave fire to the humans. According to his speech while on the rock, he gave them knowledge, including writing, animal husbandry, medicine, and the wheel. Prometheus is given the opportunity, through Hermes, to repent but declines, saying that he knew the consequences and had to do what he had done. For this lack of regret, he is further punished. The rock closes in around him and he descends into Hades, where a bird picks at his liver each day. Prometheus predicts the downfall of Zeus. The play also includes a significant interaction with Io, who passes by Prometheus bound. Prometheus predicts the son of the 13th generation of Io will lead to the downfall of Zeus and also prophecies Io's journey. It's very interesting reading and very valuable as an eye into how the Greeks portrayed their own "mythology." It's also great poetry, with a variance in rhyme and a strong conveyance of moods.