Aeschylus Prometheus Bound

The period of Antiquity held great reverence to godly figures, having them encompass a great portion of culture. Gods and fate dictated the course of human life: defying them resulted in abominable punishment. Yet, those whom the gods loathed didn’t necessarily meet with an abhorrent end, rather the opposite. Factors that dominated the feelings of gods were that of virtue. No benevolent soul faced an undeserving demise; they often changed the minds of their superiors or escaped unfair judgement by special means. Even the flawed heroes who wronged the almighty weren’t put to a regrettable end. Something manipulated the story so that even gods couldn’t act how they wished. The intervening factor was morality, and whether a hero had it within

Regarding Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound, Prometheus’ apostrophe towards the absent Zeus reveals pain for the wrong reasons. Prometheus claims, “[t]he gifts I gave to man / Have harnessed me beneath this harsh duress” (6). An act of kindness to the less learned prompts rewarding much unlike the eternal torture Zeus has commanded. Furthermore, Zeus demands the knowledge of Prometheus even as he suffers upon the rock. Possibly hubris or an idealist stance, Prometheus refuses, openly defying the natural order. However, instead of ending on dismal terms, Prometheus is to be rescued while Zeus is to “be humbled” (39). An explicit foreshadowing marks the end, but not before the audience hears of the mighty falling. Along with Prometheus, Job, as from the Book of Job, receives punishment for an otherwise pious life. An innocent man is thought to be wicked and his course of action is obvious: Job must lament and eventually curse the unfair. “If the scourge slay suddenly, he will laugh at the trial of the innocent” (King James 9:23). Job rejects the notions of a great God and now endows titles of brutality upon Him, until God visits the crippled being. Job’s story concludes with good fortune coming upon Job, despite that he blasphemed and that Satan was correct in his judgement of humanity. Both Job and Prometheus followed righteous paths, and even after their irreverence to more perfect

Then it must be true that gods capable of folly are imitations, as they are not in a true state of perfection. The presence of imitations warrants the existence of a superior kin, one that is impervious to failure and that controls the success of all. Following Vergil in The Aeneid, the God Juno reveals she is bound by forces not under her control. “That Fates forbid me, am I to suppose?” (Book 1:59). To suppress even the mightiest of beings is no act of imitation. Aeneas is in collaboration with a force stronger than all, and this connects with his most important quality as a hero - his position as king. He may commit grievous acts, but only to fulfill his destiny. Gilgamesh is alike in position and action. He has angered a plethora of gods in his quests, and even refused the invitation of Ishtar to become lovers. The governing factor in these worlds is therefore not the gods that can lay waste to the lands and murder the civilians, instead the force that binds the kings to their fates. They are capable of sin, but too great of a sin will remove them from their path of fate and end up destroying them, so they are forced into a life with rectitude. Thier choice is to accept the notions of the intangible or to fall