Sculpture of Prometheus by Paul Manship at the Rockefeller Center Skating Rink in Manhattan
(photo by Troy David Johnson)
On Monday night we discuss the play "Prometheus Bound," by the Greek dramatist Aeschylus, about Zeus's punishment of the Titan Prometheus for giving humankind the useful arts. Classicist John Hetherington writes in his book on Aeschylus (Aeschylus, Yale University Press, 1986) that we who have been brought up in Jewish or Christian traditions, in which truth is based on scripture, may find it difficult to comprehend ancient Greek religion, based as it is on "a bewildering multitude of traditional beliefs and local cult-practices". We may tend to conflate Zeus, the first among the gods, with the God of the Judeo-Christian tradition. Aeschylus's view of Zeus, however, was quite different, as we'll talk about tomorrow night.
As a "study aid," I offer this outline of the play. As you can see, a considerable portion of the play is devoted to Io. Io is the only human character in the play, though as punishment for Zeus's attraction to her, she is turned into a cow. I think the common bond she and Prometheus share as victims of Zeus puts them at the center of the drama.
Pages 63-66: Dialogue of Might (Kratos) and Hephaestus
Pages 67-73: Prometheus and Chorus
Pages 73-76: Oceanos and Chrous
Pages 76-77: Chorus
Pages 78-80: Chorus and Prometheus
Pages 80-81: Chorus
Pages 81-91: Io, Prometheus, and Chorus
Pages 92-96: Chorus and Prometheus
Pages 94-96: Prometheus and Hermes
Pages 97-99: Chorus, Prometheus, and Hermes
1 comment:
A central question posed by Aeschylus’ “Prometheus Bound” concerns the hero’s motivation for his sacrifice, and as Tom has noted in his blog notes, it is tempting to frame the drama within a Judea-Christian context. The similarities between the two narratives are striking: in both, there is an authoritarian figurehead who, displeased with human behavior, is prepared to annihilate mankind. In both, another god intercedes and is willing to personally suffer in order for mankind not only to survive, but to live with hope; moreover, both sacrifices are presented, in the play as well as in The New Testament, as necessary and as unavoidable. In addition, both Jesus and Prometheus possess the gift of foresight and thus, know exactly how their own ordeal will end, and that mankind will be spared.
Their final appeals for justice (Prometheus: “How I suffer unjustly”; Jesus: “Father, why hast thou forsaken me?”) are remarkably similar. But was Prometheus driven by the same love for mankind that inspired Jesus?
Unlike the Christian narrative which has remained intact over the years, the Prometheus myth underwent many rewrites since Hesiod in the 8th c. BC. In one version, where Prometheus is actually the creator of mankind, fashioning man out of clay like the Almighty Father in the Old Testament, a case could be made for genuine love. In Aeschylus, however, the connection that Prometheus has with humanity seems to spring from an empathy for the underdog, which is closely connected with the concept of justice. He explains to the Chorus that he pities mankind because of how unfairly it was treated by Zeus. Though fire was considered a divine possession, the class distinction that prohibited Prometheus’ act of generosity is upstaged by his sense of justice; he is able to empathize with the plight of the “unhappy breed” of mankind and share a divine privilege. It is a sense of justice of which Zeus, at least the Zeus of Aeschylus, is completely devoid: he could not have prevailed against the Titans without Prometheus’ help, yet he imposes a draconian sentence on a true ally for a random act of kindness. Political expediency is at the core of Zeus’ actions; he punishes Prometheus for daring to challenge his image of absolute authority, just as he does nothing to alleviate Io’s suffering for the trouble it might cause with Hera. We are told that, a thousand years hence, he will become reconciled with Prometheus, but again, for purely political reasons. By contrast, Prometheus is portrayed as not only a character who understands the concept of justice, in the modern sense of the word, but more importantly, as someone for whom political expediency is virtually meaningless. Justice is what drives him, and thus, I think he pities rather than loves mankind.
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