We have already met the titan Prometheus, the benefactor of humanity, in Hesiod’s poem “Theogony”. There he is a clever cunning man who arranges the division of sacrificial bull meat between people and gods so that the best part goes to people for food. And then, when the angry Zeus does not want people to be able to boil and fry the meat they have received, and refuses to give them fire, Prometheus steals this fire secretly and brings it to people in a hollow reed. For this, Zeus chains Prometheus to a pillar in the east of the earth and sends an eagle to peck out his liver. Only after many centuries will the hero Hercules kill this eagle and free Prometheus.
Then they began to tell this myth differently. Prometheus became more majestic and sublime: he is not a cunning and thief, but a wise seer. (The very name “Prometheus” means “Provider.”) At the beginning of the world, when the elder gods, the Titans, fought with the younger gods, the Olympians, he knew that the Olympians could not be taken by force, and offered to help the Titans with cunning; but they, arrogantly relying on their strength, refused, and then Prometheus, seeing their doom, went over to the side of the Olympians and helped them win. Therefore, Zeus’s reprisal against his former friend and ally began to seem even more cruel.
Not only that, Prometheus also revealed what will happen at the end of the world. The Olympians are afraid that just as they overthrew their Titan fathers, so they will someday be overthrown by new gods, their descendants. They don't know how to prevent this. Prometheus knows; then Zeus torments Prometheus in order to find out this secret from him. But Prometheus is proudly silent. Only when Zeus's son Hercules - not yet a god, but only a hard-working hero - in gratitude for all the good that Prometheus did to people, kills the tormenting eagle and eases Prometheus's torment, then Prometheus, in gratitude, reveals the secret of how to save the power of Zeus and all the Olympians. There is a sea goddess, the beautiful Thetis, and Zeus seeks her love. Let him not do this: it is destined by fate that Thetis will give birth to a son stronger than his father. If it is the son of Zeus, then he will become stronger than Zeus and overthrow him: the power of the Olympians will come to an end. And Zeus gives up the thought of Thetis, and in gratitude frees Prometheus from execution and accepts him to Olympus. Thetis was married to a mortal man, and from this marriage she gave birth to the hero Achilles, who was truly stronger not only than his father, but also all people in the world.
It was from this story that the poet Aeschylus made his tragedy about Prometheus.
The action takes place on the edge of the earth, in distant Scythia, among the wild mountains - maybe this is the Caucasus. Two demons, Power and Violence, introduce Prometheus onto the stage; the fire god Hephaestus must chain him to a mountain rock. Hephaestus feels sorry for his comrade, but he must obey fate and the will of Zeus: “You were sympathetic to people beyond measure.” Prometheus's arms, shoulders, and legs are shackled, and an iron wedge is driven into his chest. Prometheus is silent. The job is done, the executioners leave, the authorities say contemptuously: “You are a Provider, here are the providences of how to save yourself!”
Only when left alone does Prometheus begin to speak. He turns to the sky and the sun, the earth and the sea: “Look what I, God, suffer from God’s hands!” And all this for the fact that he stole fire for people and opened the way for them to a life worthy of a person.
A chorus of nymphs appears - Oceanids. These are the daughters of Ocean, another titan, they heard the roar and clang of Promethean shackles in their distant seas. “Oh, it would be better for me to languish in Tartarus than to writhe here in front of everyone! - Prometheus exclaims. “But this is not forever: Zeus will not achieve anything from me by force and will come to ask me about his secret humbly and affectionately.” - “Why is he executing you?” - “For mercy towards people, for he himself is merciless.” Behind the Oceanids comes their father Ocean: he once fought against the Olympians along with the rest of the Titans, but he humbled himself, submitted, was forgiven and is peacefully splashing around all corners of the world. Let Prometheus also humble himself, otherwise he will not escape even worse punishment: Zeus is vengeful! Prometheus contemptuously rejects his advice: “Don’t worry about me, take care of yourself:
Lest Zeus punish you yourself for sympathizing with a criminal!” The ocean leaves, the Oceanids sing a compassionate song, remembering in it Prometheus’s brother Atlas, who is also tormented at the western end of the world, supporting the copper firmament with his shoulders.
Prometheus tells the chorus how much good he has done for people. They were foolish, like children - he gave them intelligence and speech. They were languishing with worries - he inspired them with hope. They lived in caves, afraid of every night and every winter - he forced them to build houses against the cold, explained the movement of the heavenly bodies in the changing seasons, taught them writing and counting in order to pass on knowledge to their descendants. It was he who pointed out for them the ores underground, harnessed the oxen to the plow for them, made carts for earthly roads and ships for sea routes. They were dying from diseases - he revealed healing herbs to them. They did not understand the prophetic signs of the gods and nature - he taught them to tell fortunes by bird cries, and by sacrificial fire, and by the entrails of sacrificial animals. “Truly you were a savior for people,” says the chorus, “how did you not save yourself?” “Fate is stronger than me,” replies Prometheus. “And stronger than Zeus?” - “And stronger than Zeus.” - “What fate is destined for Zeus?” - “Don’t ask: this is my great secret.” The choir sings a mournful song.
The future suddenly bursts into these memories of the past. Zeus’s beloved Princess Io, transformed into a cow, runs onto the stage. (At the theater it was an actor in a horned mask.) Zeus turned her into a cow to hide her from the jealousy of his wife, the goddess Hera. Hera guessed this and demanded a cow as a gift, and then sent a terrible gadfly to her, who drove the unfortunate woman around the world. So she ended up, exhausted by pain to the point of madness, at the Promethean Mountains. Titan, “the protector and intercessor of man,” takes pity on her;
He tells her what further wanderings await her across Europe and Asia, through heat and cold, among savages and monsters, until she reaches Egypt. And in Egypt she will give birth to a son from Zeus, and the descendant of this son in the twelfth generation will be Hercules, an archer who will come here to save Prometheus - at least against the will of Zeus. “What if Zeus doesn’t allow it?” - “Then Zeus will die.” - “Who will destroy him?” - “Himself, having conceived an unreasonable marriage.” - "Which?" - “I won’t say a word more.” Here the conversation ends: Io again feels the sting of the gadfly, again falls into madness and rushes away in despair. The Oceanid Choir sings: “Let the lust of the gods blow us away: their love is terrible and dangerous.”
It is said about the past, it is said about the future; Now the terrible present is coming. Here comes the servant and messenger of Zeus - the god Hermes. Prometheus despises him as a hanger-on for the Olympian masters. “What did you say about the fate of Zeus, about the unreasonable marriage, about the impending death? Confess, otherwise you will suffer bitterly!” - “It is better to suffer than to serve as a servant, like you; and I am immortal, I saw the fall of Uranus, the fall of Cronus, I will also see the fall of Zeus.” - “Beware: you will be in underground Tartarus, where the Titans are tormented, and then you will stand here with a wound in your side, and an eagle will peck at your liver.” - “I knew all this in advance; let the gods rage, I hate them!” Hermes disappears - and indeed Prometheus exclaims: “The earth really trembled all around, And lightning curled, and thunder roared... O Heaven, O holy mother, Earth, Look: I suffer innocently!” This is the end of the tragedy.
Option 2
The Titan Prometheus was a very wise seer. When the world was just beginning to be built, and the old gods Titans shared the right to rule with the young Olympians, Prometheus realized that the Olympians could not be taken by force, and came up with an insidious plan on how to outwit and defeat them. He told everything to the Titans, but they were very self-confident and did not listen to him. Then Prometheus defected to the Olympians, telling them the plan, and they defeated the Titans.
Prometheus had knowledge of the end of the world. Fear settled in the hearts of the Olympians; they began to fear that their predecessors, like themselves, would be thrown off the throne of government. To calm themselves down, they began to question Prometheus, trying to extract knowledge from him. But neither they nor Zeus succeeded. Only one mortal Hercules, the earthly son of Zeus, was told by Prometheus knowledge, acting on which, it was possible to save the current gods from the next rebellion. According to the prophecy, if Thetis, the beautiful sea goddess, gives birth to a son from Zeus who surpasses his father in strength, then the Olympian gods will be defeated. For this knowledge, Zeus breaks off his love relationship with the goddess, and Prometheus is accepted to Olympus. The goddess herself married a mere mortal, and they had a son, Achilles, and as Prometheus said, he was stronger than any man.
There were only rumors about the imprisonment of Prometheus by the gods. Few people knew that in distant Scythia, under the supervision of the demons Violence and Power, Prometheus was to be shackled in chains that Hephaestus himself riveted. Hephaestus himself feels sorry for his friend Prometheus, but he has no choice, because Zeus himself ordered this. His shoulders, arms and legs are shackled, and an iron wedge is driven into his broad chest. The sound of Prometheus's shackles was heard by the daughters of Ocean - the nymphs, and behind them the Titan Ocean himself, who was forgiven by the Olympians and lived quietly in the ocean. He invites his friend to measure himself, because Zeus is vengeful and no one knows what will happen next. After these words, Ocean leaves his friend. Beyond the Ocean, Zeus's former lover, Princess Io, comes to Prometheus in the guise of a cow, so that Zeus' wife Hera would not know anything about her husband's lusts. But she was aware and asked for this cow, driving a huge gadfly onto her, who drove the animal to wander around the world. Prometheus told Io her entire future fate, that she would become the mother of the demigod Hercules, the son of Zeus, who would save Prometheus, and even Zeus himself would not be able to stop him.
Hermes returns to Prometheus, whom Prometheus despises, speaking of him as the faithful dog of the Olympians. Hermes has heard about the conversation between Prometheus and Io, about what Prometheus knows about the further essence of Zeus, but Hermes is not aware of all the details. He tries to find out all the details in more detail, frightening Hermes with severe torture. He scares Prometheus with underground Tartarus, where the Titans are serving their imprisonment, and then with an eagle, which will peck his liver through the wound in Prometheus’s side. Prometheus objects to all this, saying that he witnessed when Uranus fell, then Cronus, and is sure that he will see the fall of Zeus with his own eyes. Prometheus tells Hermes that he foresaw all this and chose this fate himself.
Essay on literature on the topic: Summary of Prometheus chained by Aeschylus
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- The surviving tragedies allow us to outline 3 stages in Aeschylus’ TV. The middle period includes such works as “Seven Against Thebes” and “Prometheus Bound”. Here a central image of the hero appears, characterized by several main features; dialogue is greatly developed, prologues are created; become more clear Read More ......
- The tragedy “Prometheus Bound” is the most famous tragedy of the Greek playwright Aeschylus, who lived on the border of the 6th-5th centuries BC in Athens, whom the ancient Greeks called “the father of Greek tragedy.” Aeschylus, like other artists in Ancient Greece, always used mythical Read More......
- If you imagine the voices sympathizing with Prometheus and condemning him, you can understand the difference in his behavior and Io, who also turned out to be a victim of Zeus. The confrontation between Zeus and Prometheus is understood in the tragedy as a duel of physical strength and spiritual strength, cruelty and generosity. Zeus is merciless Read More ......
- There was an ancient legend according to which Aeschylus, having fallen asleep in his father’s vineyard as a child, saw the god Dionysus in a dream. God warned the boy that he should become a tragic poet. At the behest of the gods, Aeschylus became the author of many dozens of plays, of which, to Read More......
- Prometheus The author turns to the mythical hero of Ancient Greece - the titan Prometheus, who was sympathetic to humanity with its sorrow and pain. People quietly suffered from such a life. He refused to carry out the evil orders of the Thunderer and helped humanity. And for your Read More......
- The ancient Greek tragedian Aeschylus in his work reflected an entire stage in the formation of the Athenian state. His tragedies captured many of the events of that heroic time when the Greek people defended their freedom and independence. Therefore, the poet’s works are full of conflicts of powerful passions, and act in them Read More......
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- I would not exchange my sorrows for slave service. Aeschylus He really was a hero, a titan in the original meaning of these words. Just think, he has been sung for more than twenty-five centuries! This is only in the drama of Aeschylus, but how long before that? And they said Read More......
From which he suffered a well-deserved punishment. In Athens there was an ancient cult of Prometheus, the thief of fire. At a festival in his honor, young men competed in a race with burning torches (Promethean fire).
The action of Aeschylus's tragedy "Prometheus Bound" takes place at the ends of the earth, in the wild country of the Scythians. In the prologue, Power and Strength, the rude servants of Zeus, bring the chained Prometheus, and the blacksmith god Hephaestus, against his will, on the orders of Zeus, nails the titan to a high cliff. (Since in Aeschylus’s tragedies more than two actors could not actively participate in the action at the same time, in this scene Prometheus and Power were probably portrayed by silent extras, the protagonist played the role of Hephaestus, and the deuteragonist, i.e., the second actor, played the role of Power. )
Prometheus chained by Vulcan (Hephaestus). Episode from the tragedy of Aeschylus. Artist D. van Baburen, 1623
Left alone, the chained Prometheus bemoans his fate, calling upon nature to bear witness to his suffering.
O you, divine ether, and you,
O swift-winged winds and rivers,
And the laughter of countless sea waves,
The earth is the all-mother, the all-seeing circle of the sun,
I call you all as witnesses: look,
What now, God, do I endure from the gods!
The prologue ends and the first episode begins. Prometheus' mournful monologue is interrupted by unexpected sounds:
What's that noise coming from nearby?
From rushing birds? And the ether rang
We cut with the blows of soaring wings.
A choir representing the daughters of the god Ocean appears on a winged chariot. The oceanids console the sufferer and ask him to tell him what made Zeus resort to such severe punishment. The first episode of Aeschylus' tragedy opens with a monologue by Prometheus. His guilt lies in his immense love for people and in his desire to protect them from the unjust attacks of the gods. Wishing people happiness, Prometheus hid the secrets of the future from them, gave them hope and, finally, brought them fire. While doing all this, he knew for sure that
Helping mortals
He was preparing execution for himself.
Aeschylus further depicts how the old man Ocean flies from the depths of the sea on a winged dragon to console Prometheus. But chained to the rock, Prometheus is alien to the humility and repentance to which the Ocean calls. The ocean leaves the orchestra, and the first act ends with the song-cry of the Oceanids, with whom all people mourn Prometheus, the depths of the sea groan, crushing the angry surf against the coastal rocks, the silvery waves of the rivers cry, and even in their underground palaces the gloomy Hades trembles.
With the great monologue of Prometheus, Aeschylus opens the second episode of his tragedy. Chained Prometheus lists the benefits that he showed to people: once, like miserable ants, they swarmed in underground caves, devoid of feelings and reason. He “showed the rising and setting of the heavenly stars,” taught “the science of numbers and literacy,” “gave them creative memory, the mother of muses.” With his help, people learned to tame wild animals and sail the seas, he revealed to them the secrets of healing and extracted for them the riches of the earth’s bowels - “iron, and silver, and gold, and copper.” “Everything is from me,” Prometheus ends his story, “wealth, knowledge, wisdom!” »
Chained Prometheus and Hermes. Artist J. Jordaens, ca. 1640
The era of the formation and establishment of Athenian democracy, which called people to active creative activity, is characterized by faith in the progressive development of society. It found artistic expression in the image of the titan Prometheus created by Aeschylus. Hesiod's pessimistic ideas about social regression, reflected in the myths about Pandora, sent to people as punishment for the crime of Prometheus, and for five generations they no longer met with sympathy. According to the centuries-old mythological tradition, social progress is embodied in Aeschylus in the image of a benefactor god, who was the root cause of all the achievements of civilization. In Aeschylus's tragedy, the chained Prometheus becomes an active fighter for justice, an opponent of evil and violence. The greatness of his image is also emphasized by the fact that he, a seer, knew about his future suffering, but in the name of the happiness of people and the triumph of truth, he deliberately doomed himself to torture. The enemy of Prometheus, the enemy of people, the unbridled rapist and despot is Zeus himself, the father of gods and people, the ruler of the universe.
In order to emphasize the arbitrariness of his power, Aeschylus introduces another victim of Zeus in the third episode of his tragedy. Io runs up to the rock on which Prometheus is crucified. Zeus's unhappy lover, a once beautiful girl, is turned into a heifer by Zeus's jealous wife, the goddess Hera, and is doomed to endless wanderings. The gods changed Io's appearance, but retained her human mind. She is pursued by a gadfly, whose bites plunge the unfortunate woman into madness. Io's undeserved torment makes the chained Prometheus forget about his own suffering. He consoles Io and predicts her imminent end to her torment and glory. In conclusion, Prometheus threatens the death of their common tormentor - Zeus, the secret of whose fate is known to him alone. The words of Prometheus reach the ears of Zeus, and the frightened tyrant sends the servant of the gods Hermes to Prometheus to find out the secret. Now the powerless, crucified Prometheus holds in his hands the fate of the omnipotent autocrat. He refuses to reveal the secret of Zeus and looks with contempt at Hermes, who voluntarily exchanged his freedom for the service of Zeus:
Know well that I wouldn't trade it
Their sorrows into servile service.
Hermes threatens the chained Prometheus with new unheard-of torments, but Prometheus knows that Zeus is not able to kill him, and “to endure torment for an enemy from an enemy is not at all shameful.” An angry Zeus brings down all the elements under his control on Prometheus. The crying Oceanids rush about in fear. The sky splits in the fire of sparkling lightning. Rolls of thunder shake the mountains. The earth is shaking. Winds intertwine in black clubs. The rock with Prometheus chained to it falls into the abyss. The further fate of Prometheus in Aeschylus's trilogy remains unknown. The surviving tragedy seemed strange to many. The image of Zeus, who in other dramas of Aeschylus acted as the embodiment of world order and justice, was considered especially mysterious. Perhaps the answer was in the unpreserved parts of the trilogy, which ended with the reconciliation of Prometheus with Zeus. Aeschylus believed in global progress and in the progressive movement of the world towards universal harmony. He could depict the young Zeus, who, according to the myth, forcibly seized power, and then develop this image and show how Zeus, at the cost of the suffering of the chained Prometheus, ceases to be a rapist and tyrant. In support of this hypothesis, reference should be made to the evolution of the Erinyes in the Oresteia trilogy.
Prometheus. Painting by G. Moreau, 1868
The composition of “Prometheus Bound” is still quite archaic. The action is predominantly replaced by a story about it. The hero Aeschylus himself, crucified on a rock, is motionless; he only pronounces monologues or talks with those who come to him.
However, the emotional impact of this tragedy is enormous. For many centuries, the most advanced social ideas were associated with the image of the titan Prometheus, and the fire he brought to earth became a symbol of the fire of thought that awakens people. For the famous critic Belinsky, “Prometheus is a reasoning force, a spirit that does not recognize any authority other than reason and justice.” The name of Prometheus forever became a household name for a fearless fighter against despotism and tyranny. Under the influence of Aeschylus, the young Goethe created his rebellious Prometheus. Prometheus turned out to be a romantic hero, a passionate opponent of all evil and an ardent dreamer in Byron's poem of the same name and in Shelley's Prometheus Unbound. The symphonic poem of the same name was created by Liszt, the symphony “Prometheus, or the Stealing of Fire” - Scriabin.
The Titan Prometheus, benefactor of mankind, first appears in Hesiod's poem Theogony. There he is a clever cunning man who arranges the division of sacrificial bull meat between people and gods so that the best part goes to people for food. And then, when the angry Zeus does not want people to be able to boil and fry the meat they have received, and refuses to give them fire, Prometheus steals this fire secretly and brings it to people in a hollow reed. For this, Zeus chains Prometheus to a pillar in the east of the earth and sends an eagle to peck out his liver. Only after many centuries will the hero Hercules kill this eagle and free Prometheus.
Then they began to tell this myth differently. Prometheus became more majestic and sublime: he is not a cunning and thief, but a wise seer. (The very name “Prometheus” means “Provider.”) At the beginning of the world, when the elder gods, the Titans, fought with the younger gods, the Olympians, he knew that the Olympians could not be taken by force, and offered to help the Titans with cunning; but they, arrogantly relying on their strength, refused, and then Prometheus, seeing their doom, went over to the side of the Olympians and helped them win. Therefore, Zeus’s reprisal against his former friend and ally began to seem even more cruel.
Not only that, Prometheus also revealed what will happen at the end of the world. The Olympians are afraid that just as they overthrew their titan fathers, so they will someday be overthrown by new gods, their descendants. They don't know how to prevent this. Prometheus knows; then Zeus torments Prometheus in order to find out this secret from him. But Prometheus is proudly silent. Only then does Zeus’s son Hercules—not yet a god, but only a hard-working hero—in gratitude for all the good that Prometheus has done to people, kills the tormenting eagle and eases Prometheus’s torment. Prometheus, in gratitude, reveals the secret of how to save the power of Zeus and all the Olympians. There is a sea goddess, the beautiful Thetis, and Zeus seeks her love. Let him not do this: it is destined by fate that Thetis will give birth to a son stronger than his father. If this is the son of Zeus, then he will become stronger than Zeus and overthrow him: the power of the Olympians will come to an end. And Zeus gives up the thought of Thetis, and in gratitude frees Prometheus from execution and accepts him to Olympus. Thetis was married to a mortal man, and from this marriage she gave birth to the hero Achilles, who was truly stronger not only than his father, but also all people in the world.
It was from this story that the poet Aeschylus made his tragedy about Prometheus.
The action takes place on the edge of the earth, in distant Scythia, among the wild mountains - maybe this is the Caucasus. Two demons, Power and Violence, introduce Prometheus onto the stage; the fire god Hephaestus must chain him to a mountain rock. Hephaestus feels sorry for his comrade, but he must obey fate and the will of Zeus: “You were sympathetic to people beyond measure.” Prometheus's arms, shoulders, and legs are shackled, and an iron wedge is driven into his chest. Prometheus is silent. The job is done, the executioners leave, the authorities say contemptuously: “You are a Provider, here are the providences of how to save yourself!”
Only when left alone does Prometheus begin to speak. He turns to the sky and the sun, the earth and the sea: “Look what I, God, suffer from God’s hands!” And all this for the fact that he stole fire for people and opened the way for them to a life worthy of a person.
A chorus of nymphs appears - Oceanids. These are the daughters of Ocean, another titan, they heard the roar and clang of Promethean shackles in their distant seas. “Oh, it’s better for me to languish in Tartarus than to writhe here in front of everyone! - exclaims Prometheus. “But this is not forever: Zeus will not achieve anything from me by force and will come to ask me about his secret humbly and affectionately.” - “Why is he executing you?” - “For mercy towards people, for he himself is not merciful.” Behind the Oceanids comes their father Ocean: he once fought against the Olympians along with the rest of the titans, but he humbled himself, submitted, was forgiven and is peacefully splashing around all corners of the world. Let Prometheus also humble himself, otherwise he will not escape even worse punishment: Zeus is vengeful! Prometheus contemptuously rejects his advice: “Don’t worry about me, take care of yourself: lest Zeus punish you yourself for sympathizing with a criminal!” The ocean leaves, the Oceanids sing a compassionate song, remembering in it Prometheus’s brother Atlas, who is also suffering at the western end of the world, supporting the copper firmament with his shoulders.
Prometheus tells the chorus how much good he did for people. They were foolish, like children - he gave them intelligence and speech. They were languishing with worries - he inspired them with hope. They lived in caves, afraid of every night and every winter - he forced them to build houses against the cold, explained the movement of the heavenly bodies in the changing seasons, taught them writing and counting in order to pass on knowledge to their descendants. It was he who pointed out for them the ores underground, harnessed the oxen to the plow for them, made carts for earthly roads and ships for sea routes. They were dying of diseases - he revealed healing herbs to them. They did not understand the prophetic signs of the gods and nature - he taught them to guess by bird cries, and by sacrificial fire, and by the entrails of animals. “Truly you were a savior for people,” says the chorus, “how could you not save yourself?” “Fate is stronger than me,” replies Prometheus. “And stronger than Zeus?” - “And stronger than Zeus.” - “What fate is destined for Zeus?” - “Don’t ask: this is my great secret.” The choir sings a mournful song.
The future suddenly bursts into these memories of the past. Zeus’s beloved Princess Io, transformed into a cow, runs onto the stage. (At the theater it was an actor in a horned mask.) Zeus turned her into a cow to hide her from the jealousy of his wife, the goddess Hera. Hera guessed this and demanded a cow as a gift, and then sent a terrible gadfly to her, who drove the unfortunate woman around the world. So she ended up, exhausted by pain to the point of madness, at the Promethean Mountains. Titan, “the protector and intercessor of man,” takes pity on her; he tells her what further wanderings await her across Europe and Asia, through heat and cold, among savages and monsters, until she reaches Egypt. And in Egypt she will give birth to a son from Zeus, and the descendant of this son in the twelfth generation will be Hercules, an archer who will come here to save Prometheus - even against the will of Zeus. “What if Zeus doesn’t allow it?” - “Then Zeus will die.” - “Who will destroy him?” - “Myself, having conceived an unreasonable marriage.” - "Which?" - “I won’t say a word more.” Here the conversation ends: Io again feels the sting of the gadfly, again falls into madness and rushes away in despair. The Oceanid Choir sings: “Let the lust of the gods blow us away: their love is terrible and dangerous.”
It is said about the past, it is said about the future; Now the terrible present is coming. Here comes the servant and messenger of Zeus - the god Hermes. Prometheus despises him as a hanger-on of the Olympian hosts. “What did you say about the fate of Zeus, about the unreasonable marriage, about the impending death? Confess, otherwise you will suffer bitterly!” - “It is better to suffer than to serve as a servant, like you; and I am immortal, I saw the fall of Uranus, the fall of Cronus, I will also see the fall of Zeus.” - “Beware: you will be in underground Tartarus, where the titans are tormented, and then you will stand here with a wound in your side, and an eagle will peck at your liver.” - “I knew all this in advance; let the gods rage, I hate them! Hermes disappears - and indeed, Prometheus exclaims: “The earth really trembled all around, / And lightning curled, and thunder roared... / O Heaven, O holy mother, Earth, / Look: I am suffering innocently!”
This is the end of the tragedy.
Prometheus desmotes
Tragedy (450s BC?)
We have already met the titan Prometheus, the benefactor of humanity, in Hesiod’s poem “Theogony”. There he is a clever cunning man who arranges the division of sacrificial bull meat between people and gods so that the best part goes to people for food. And then, when the angry Zeus does not want people to be able to boil and fry the meat they have received, and refuses to give them fire, Prometheus steals this fire secretly and brings it to people in a hollow reed. For this, Zeus chains Prometheus to a pillar in the east of the earth and sends an eagle to peck out his liver. Only after many centuries will the hero Hercules kill this eagle and free Prometheus.
Then they began to tell this myth differently. Prometheus became more majestic and sublime: he is not a cunning and thief, but a wise seer. (The very name “Prometheus” means “Provider.”) At the beginning of the world, when the elder gods, the Titans, fought with the younger gods, the Olympians, he knew that the Olympians could not be taken by force, and offered to help the Titans by cunning; but they, arrogantly relying on their strength, refused, and then Prometheus, seeing their doom, went over to the side of the Olympians and helped them win. Therefore, Zeus’s reprisal against his former friend and ally began to seem even more cruel.
Not only that, Prometheus also revealed what will happen at the end of the world. The Olympians are afraid that just as they overthrew their Titan fathers, so they will someday be overthrown by new gods, their descendants. They don't know how to prevent this. Prometheus knows; then Zeus torments Prometheus in order to find out this secret from him. But Prometheus is proudly silent. Only when Zeus' son Hercules - not yet a god, but only a hard-working hero - in gratitude for all the good that Prometheus did to people, kills the tormenting eagle and eases Prometheus's torment, then Prometheus, in gratitude, reveals the secret of how to save the power of Zeus and all the Olympians. There is a sea goddess, the beautiful Thetis, and Zeus seeks her love. Let him not do this: it is destined by fate that Thetis will give birth to a son stronger than his father. If it is the son of Zeus, then he will become stronger than Zeus and overthrow him: the power of the Olympians will come to an end. And Zeus gives up the thought of Thetis, and in gratitude frees Prometheus from execution and accepts him to Olympus. Thetis was married to a mortal man, and from this marriage she gave birth to the hero Achilles, who was truly stronger not only than his father, but also all people in the world.
It was from this story that the poet Aeschylus made his tragedy about Prometheus.
The action takes place on the edge of the earth, in distant Scythia, among the wild mountains - maybe this is the Caucasus. Two demons, Power and Violence, introduce Prometheus onto the stage; the fire god Hephaestus must chain him to a mountain rock. Hephaestus feels sorry for his comrade, but he must obey fate and the will of Zeus: “You were sympathetic to people beyond measure.” Prometheus's arms, shoulders, and legs are shackled, and an iron wedge is driven into his chest. Prometheus is silent. The job is done, the executioners leave, the authorities say contemptuously: “You are a Provider, here are the providences of how to save yourself!”
Only when left alone does Prometheus begin to speak. He turns to the sky and the sun, the earth and the sea: “Look what I, God, suffer from God’s hands!” And all this for the fact that he stole fire for people and opened the way for them to a life worthy of a person.
A chorus of nymphs appears - Oceanids. These are the daughters of Ocean, another titan, they heard the roar and clang of Promethean shackles in their distant seas. “Oh, it would be better for me to languish in Tartarus than to writhe here in front of everyone!” Prometheus exclaims. “But this will not last forever: Zeus will not achieve anything from me by force and will come to ask me for his secret humbly and affectionately.” - “Why is he executing you?” - “For mercy towards people, for he himself is merciless.” Behind the Oceanids comes their father Ocean: he once fought against the Olympians along with the rest of the Titans, but he humbled himself, submitted, was forgiven and is peacefully splashing around all corners of the world. Let Prometheus also humble himself, otherwise he will not escape even worse punishment: Zeus is vengeful! Prometheus contemptuously rejects his advice: “Don’t worry about me, take care of yourself: lest Zeus punish you yourself for sympathizing with a criminal!” The ocean leaves, the Oceanids sing a compassionate song, remembering in it Prometheus’s brother Atlas, who is also suffering at the western end of the world, supporting the copper firmament with his shoulders.
Prometheus tells the chorus how much good he has done for people. They were foolish, like children - he gave them intelligence and speech. They were languishing with worries - he inspired them with hope. They lived in caves, afraid of every night and every winter - he forced them to build houses against the cold, explained the movement of the heavenly bodies in the changing seasons, taught them writing and counting in order to pass on knowledge to their descendants. It was he who pointed out for them the ores underground, harnessed the oxen to the plow for them, made carts for earthly roads and ships for sea routes. They were dying of disease - he discovered healing herbs for them. They did not understand the prophetic signs of the gods and nature - he taught them to guess by bird cries, and by sacrificial fire, and by the entrails of sacrificial animals. “Truly you were a savior for people,” says the chorus, “how could you not save yourself?” “Fate is stronger than me,” replies Prometheus. "And stronger than Zeus?" - “And stronger than Zeus.” - “What fate is destined for Zeus?” - “Don’t ask: this is my great secret.” The choir sings a mournful song.
The future suddenly bursts into these memories of the past. Zeus’s beloved Princess Io, transformed into a cow, runs onto the stage. (At the theater it was an actor in a horned mask.) Zeus turned her into a cow to hide her from the jealousy of his wife, the goddess Hera. Hera guessed this and demanded a cow as a gift, and then sent a terrible gadfly to her, who drove the unfortunate woman around the world. So she ended up, exhausted by pain to the point of madness, at the Promethean Mountains. Titan, “the protector and intercessor of man,” takes pity on her; he tells her what further wanderings await her across Europe and Asia, through heat and cold, among savages and monsters, until she reaches Egypt. And in Egypt she will give birth to a son from Zeus, and the descendant of this son in the twelfth generation will be Hercules, an archer who will come here to save Prometheus - even against the will of Zeus. "What if Zeus doesn't allow it?" - “Then Zeus will die.” - “Who will destroy him?” - “Myself, having conceived an unreasonable marriage.” - "Which?" - “I won’t say a word more.” Here the conversation ends: Io again feels the sting of the gadfly, again falls into madness and rushes away in despair. The Oceanid Choir sings: “Let the lust of the gods blow us away: their love is terrible and dangerous.”
It is said about the past, it is said about the future; Now the terrible present is coming. Here comes the servant and messenger of Zeus - the god Hermes. Prometheus despises him as a hanger-on for the Olympian masters. “What did you say about the fate of Zeus, about the unreasonable marriage, about the impending death? Confess, otherwise you will suffer bitterly!” - “It is better to suffer than to serve as a servant, like you; and I am immortal, I saw the fall of Uranus, the fall of Cronus, I will also see the fall of Zeus.” - “Beware: you will be in underground Tartarus, where the Titans are tormented, and then you will stand here with a wound in your side, and an eagle will peck at your liver.” - “I knew all this in advance; let the gods rage, I hate them!” Hermes disappears - and indeed Prometheus exclaims: “The earth really trembled all around, / And lightning curled, and thunder roared ... / O Heaven, O holy mother, Earth, / Look: I suffer innocently!” This is the end of the tragedy.
We have already met the titan Prometheus, the benefactor of humanity, in Hesiod’s poem “Theogony”. There he is a smart cunning man who arranges the division of sacrificial bull meat between people and gods so that the best part goes to people for food. And then, when the angry Zeus does not want people to be able to boil and fry the meat they have received, and refuses to give them fire, Prometheus steals this fire secretly and brings it to people in a hollow reed. For this, Zeus chains Prometheus to a pillar in the east of the earth and sends an eagle to peck out his liver. Only after many centuries will the hero Hercules kill this eagle and free Prometheus.
Then they began to tell this myth differently. Prometheus became more majestic and sublime: he is not a cunning and thief, but a wise seer. (The very name “Prometheus” means “Provider.”) At the beginning of the world, when the elder gods, the Titans, fought with the younger gods, the Olympians, he knew that the Olympians could not be taken by force, and offered to help the Titans by cunning; but they, arrogantly relying on their strength, refused, and then Prometheus, seeing their doom, went over to the side of the Olympians and helped them win. Therefore, Zeus’s reprisal against his former friend and ally began to seem even more cruel.
Not only that, Prometheus also revealed what will happen at the end of the world. The Olympians are afraid that just as they overthrew their Titan fathers, so they will someday be overthrown by new gods, their descendants. They don't know how to prevent this. Prometheus knows; then Zeus torments Prometheus in order to find out this secret from him. But Prometheus is proudly silent. Only when Zeus's son Hercules - not yet a god, but only a hard-working hero - in gratitude for all the good that Prometheus did to people, kills the tormenting eagle and eases Prometheus's torment, then Prometheus, in gratitude, reveals the secret of how to save the power of Zeus and all the Olympians. There is a sea goddess, the beautiful Thetis, and Zeus seeks her love. Let him not do this: it is destined by fate that Thetis will give birth to a son stronger than his father. If this is the son of Zeus, then he will become stronger than Zeus and overthrow him: the power of the Olympians will come to an end. And Zeus gives up the thought of Thetis, and in gratitude frees Prometheus from execution and accepts him to Olympus. Thetis was married to a mortal man, and from this marriage she gave birth to the hero Achilles, who was truly stronger not only than his father, but also all people in the world.
It was from this story that the poet Aeschylus made his tragedy about Prometheus.
The action takes place on the edge of the earth, in distant Scythia, among the wild mountains - maybe this is the Caucasus. Two demons, Power and Violence, introduce Prometheus onto the stage; the fire god Hephaestus must chain him to a mountain rock. Hephaestus feels sorry for his comrade, but he must obey fate and the will of Zeus: “You were sympathetic to people beyond measure.” Prometheus's arms, shoulders, and legs are shackled, and an iron wedge is driven into his chest. Prometheus is silent. The job is done, the executioners leave, the authorities say contemptuously: “You are a Provider, here are the providences of how to save yourself!”
Only when left alone does Prometheus begin to speak. He turns to the sky and the sun, the earth and the sea: “Look what I, God, suffer from God’s hands!” And all this for the fact that he stole fire for people and opened the way for them to a life worthy of a person.
A chorus of nymphs appears - Oceanids. These are the daughters of Ocean, another titan, they heard the roar and clang of Promethean shackles in their distant seas. “Oh, it would be better for me to languish in Tartarus than to writhe here in front of everyone! - exclaims Prometheus. “But this is not forever: Zeus will not achieve anything from me by force and will come to ask me for his secret humbly and affectionately.” - “Why is he executing you?” - “For mercy towards people, for he himself is merciless.” Behind the Oceanids comes their father Ocean: he once fought against the Olympians along with the rest of the Titans, but he resigned himself, submitted, was forgiven and is peacefully splashing around all corners of the world. Let Prometheus also humble himself, otherwise he will not escape even worse punishment: Zeus is vengeful! Prometheus contemptuously rejects his advice: “Don’t worry about me, take care of yourself: lest Zeus punish you yourself for sympathizing with a criminal!” The ocean leaves, the Oceanids sing a compassionate song, remembering in it Prometheus’s brother Atlas, who is also suffering at the western end of the world, supporting the copper firmament with his shoulders.
Prometheus tells the chorus how much good he has done for people. They were foolish, like children - he gave them intelligence and speech. They were languishing with worries - he inspired them with hope. They lived in caves, afraid of every night and every winter - he forced them to build houses against the cold, explained the movement of the heavenly bodies in the changing seasons, taught them writing and counting in order to pass on knowledge to their descendants. It was he who pointed out for them the ores underground, harnessed their oxen to the plow, made carts for earthly roads and ships for sea routes. They were dying of disease - he discovered healing herbs for them. They did not understand the prophetic signs of the gods and nature - he taught them to guess by bird cries, and by sacrificial fire, and by the entrails of sacrificial animals. “Truly you were a savior for people,” says the chorus, “how come you didn’t save yourself?” “Fate is stronger than me,” Prometheus answers. “And stronger than Zeus?” - “And stronger than Zeus.” - “What fate is destined for Zeus?” - “Don’t ask: this is my great secret.” The choir sings a mournful song.
The future suddenly bursts into these memories of the past. Zeus's beloved Princess Io, transformed into a cow, runs onto the stage. (At the theater it was an actor in a horned mask.) Zeus turned her into a cow to hide her from the jealousy of his wife, the goddess Hera. Hera guessed about this and demanded a cow as a gift, and then sent a terrible gadfly to her, who drove the unfortunate woman around the world. So she ended up, exhausted by pain to the point of madness, at the Promethean Mountains. Titan, “the protector and intercessor of man,” takes pity on her;
he tells her what further wanderings await her across Europe and Asia, through heat and cold, among savages and monsters, until she reaches Egypt. And in Egypt she will give birth to a son from Zeus, and the descendant of this son in the twelfth generation will be Hercules, an archer who will come here to save Prometheus - at least against the will of Zeus. “What if Zeus doesn’t allow it?” - “Then Zeus will die.” - “Who will destroy him?” - “Himself, having conceived an unreasonable marriage.” - "Which?" - “I won’t say a word more.” Here the conversation ends: Io again feels the sting of the gadfly, again falls into madness and rushes away in despair. The Oceanid Choir sings: “Let the lust of the gods blow us away: their love is terrible and dangerous.”
It is said about the past, it is said about the future; Now the terrible present is coming. Here comes the servant and messenger of Zeus - the god Hermes. Prometheus despises him as a hanger-on for the Olympian masters. “What did you say about the fate of Zeus, about the unreasonable marriage, about the impending death? Confess, otherwise you will suffer bitterly!” - “It is better to suffer than to serve as a servant, like you; and I am immortal, I saw the fall of Uranus, the fall of Cronus, I will also see the fall of Zeus.” - “Beware: you will be in underground Tartarus, where the Titans are tormented, and then you will stand here with a wound in your side, and an eagle will peck at your liver.” - “I knew all this in advance; let the gods rage, I hate them! Hermes disappears - and indeed Prometheus exclaims: “The earth really trembled all around, / And lightning curled, and thunder roared ... / O Heaven, O holy mother, Earth, / Look: I suffer innocently!” This is the end of the tragedy.
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