Prometheus Bound
The hammer strikes the mountain in Scythia, sending sparks into the cold air. Kratos and Bia stand over a silent figure bound to the cliff face. They are personifications of brute power and callous violence. Hephaestus, the blacksmith of the gods, performs the task with reluctance. He shudders at the cruelty required by Zeus's orders. Prometheus remains silent as his wrists are shackled to the stone. No words pass between him and his tormentors until the three exit. Only then does Prometheus speak to the wind and the springs of water around him. He calls upon the Earth and the Sun to witness his unfair suffering. His voice rises against the silence of the mountainside. He intuits that the future might hold positive terms for him. His outrage begins to diminish as he speaks to the elements.
Rudolf Westphal challenged the idea that Aeschylus wrote this text in 1857. He returned to the question again in 1869. By 1911, A. Gercke became the first scholar to reject the Aeschylean attribution entirely. F. Niedzballa followed two years later with lexical analysis of unique words. Mark Griffith made forceful cases in 1977 regarding linguistic grounds. M. L. West found evidence against the traditional claim overwhelming after editing all seven plays. Wilhelm Schmid argued that themes appeared foreign to Aeschylus compared to The Suppliants. Some scholars suggest Euphorion, son of Aeschylus, may have written it instead. Computerized stylometric analysis has thrown the burden of proof on those who uphold the traditional claim since the 1970s. No consensus exists today despite decades of debate. The play likely dates between 479 BC and 424 BC based on internal references and parodies.
Hesiod's Theogony presents Prometheus as a lowly trickster and semi-comic foil to Zeus. His anger toward Prometheus is reported without question by Hesiod. Aeschylus sees intolerable injustice where Hesiod saw only divine authority. In Hesiod's version, the two punishments appear as one story. Aeschylus decided to separate the tortures into distinct events. The eagle begins tearing at Prometheus' liver only after he refuses to reveal secrets. This separation became a standard element for literature that followed. Pandora remains entirely absent from this play. Instead, Prometheus becomes a human benefactor and divine kingmaker. He taught men writing, medicine, mathematics, astronomy, metallurgy, architecture, and agriculture. These civilizing arts form the Catalogue of the Arts found in lines 447 through 506. The mythological aspects are treated as secondary compared to the clash of wills.
Heracles frees Prometheus from his chains in the missing play Prometheus Unbound. He kills the eagle sent daily to eat the Titan's perpetually regenerating liver. Zeus has released other Titans imprisoned during the Titanomachy in that sequel. Prometheus warns Zeus not to lie with Thetis in Prometheus the Fire-Bringer. Thetis is fated to give birth to a son greater than the father. Zeus marries Thetis off to Peleus instead. Their union produces Achilles, hero of the Trojan War. Grateful for the warning, Zeus finally reconciles with Prometheus. The final two dramas survive only in fragments. Some scholars propose all fragments originated from Prometheus Unbound. They suggest there were only two Promethean plays rather than three. The author's intention for the work as a whole remains unknown due to these losses.
Robert Potter published a verse translation in 1777 available at Wikisource. Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote an anonymous version in 1833 and another completely different one in 1851. Henry David Thoreau produced a verse translation in 1843. A production by George Eugeniou set the drama in Greece governed by the Junta in 1979. James Kerr directed a new translation in 2005 starring David Oyelowo as Prometheus. Joel Agee's translation premiered at the Getty Villa from August 29 to the 28th of September 2013. Travis Preston directed that production using a huge steel wheel instead of a cliff. MacMillan Films staged the play in April 2015 using Peter Arnott's translation. Tanya Rodina played Io while Casey McIntyre led the Chorus. The production used a real skene building whose roof served as landing platform for dancers.
Continue Browsing
Common questions
Who wrote the play Prometheus Bound?
The authorship of Prometheus Bound is disputed among scholars. While traditionally attributed to Aeschylus, many experts believe Euphorion or another writer composed it based on linguistic analysis.
When was Prometheus Bound written according to historical evidence?
Scholars date the composition of Prometheus Bound between 479 BC and 424 BC using internal references and parodies found within the text.
What specific arts did Prometheus teach humanity in this play?
Prometheus taught men writing, medicine, mathematics, astronomy, metallurgy, architecture, and agriculture as described in lines 447 through 506.
How does Hesiod's Theogony differ from Aeschylus version of Prometheus?
Hesiod portrays Prometheus as a lowly trickster while Aeschylus depicts him as an intolerable victim suffering injustice at the hands of Zeus.
Which translation of Prometheus Bound premiered at the Getty Villa in 2013?
Joel Agee's translation premiered at the Getty Villa from August 29 to the 28th of September 2013 with Travis Preston directing the production.
All sources
29 references cited across the entry
- 1bookPrometheus BoundAeschylus — Oberon Books — 2005
- 2journalReview of ManousakisPeter Barrios-Lech — 10 April 2021
- 3newsPreston's Prometheus Bound Brings Poetic Revolution to Getty VillaDeborah Behrens — 5 September 2013
- 4newsGetty Villa's 5-ton wheel keeps 'Prometheus Bound' centeredMike Boehm — 31 August 2013
- 5bookAeschylus' Prometheus Bound: A Literary CommentaryD. J. Conacher — University of Toronto Press — 1980
- 6bookNomodeiktes: Greek Studies in Honor of Martin OstwaldK. DeVries — University of Michigan Press — 1993
- 7journalThe Date of the Prometheus BoundE Flintoff — 1986
- 8bookThe Authenticity of Prometheus BoundMark Griffith — Cambridge University Press — 1977
- 9bookPrometheus BoundCambridge University Press — 2007
- 10journalIntroduction to Prometheus BoundC. J. Herington — 1973–1974
- 11bookThe Author of the Prometheus BoundC. J. Herington — University of Texas Press — 2015
- 12journalRecitative Anapests and the Authenticity of Prometheus BoundT.K Hubbard — 1991
- 13webDavid Oyelowo to Star in London Prometheus BoundJames Inverne — 5 August 2005
- 14journalSentence Structure in Aeschylus and the Position of the Prometheus in the Corpus AeschyleumS. Ireland — 1977
- 15bookHesiodRobert Lamberton — Yale University Press — 1988
- 16book'Prometheus bound'- a separate authorial trace in the Aeschylean corpusNikos Manousakis — Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG — 2020
- 17journalGeschichten und Geschichte: Zum Beispiel Prometheus bei Hesiod und AischylosAda Neschke-Hentschke — 1983
- 18bookL'autenticità del Prometeo incatenato di EschiloMaria Pia Pattoni — Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa — 1987
- 19bookAnnual Meeting of the American Philological AssociationA.J Podlecki — 2006
- 20newsPrometheus BoundThe atricalia
- 22bookAeschylus: Prometheus BoundIan Ruffell — A & C Black — 2012
- 23bookUntersuchungen zum Gefesselten PrometheusWilhelm Schmid — Kohlhammer — 1929
- 24bookHesiod and AeschylusFriedrich Solmsen — Cornell University Press — 1995
- 25bookAeschylean TragedyAlan Sommerstein — 1996
- 26bookThe Stagecraft of AeschylusOliver Taplin — Clarendon Press — 1989
- 27journalThe Prometheus TrilogyMartin L. West — 1979
- 28bookStudies in AeschylusMartin L. West — Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG — 2015
- 29journalΑἰσχύλου ΠρομηθεύςGünther Zuntz — 1983