As one version of the myth goes, Prometheus and his brother Epimetheus were punished for not fighting alongside the Titans and were sent down to earth and given the task of creating man and protecting him. Prometheus gifted man fire and allowed him to stand upright like the gods. In a food sacrificing ritual to the gods, Zeus was tricked by Prometheus, which angered him very much. As punishment, he took fire from man and returned it to the heavens. Prometheus, who loved man dearly, defiantly climbed back up to the heavens and stole fire to return it to man.
Discovery of such history had a profound impact on Equality such as when he read the word “I”. It is through man’s writing in which Equality came to understand “the blessed thing which (he) had called (his) curse” (98). This writing had such a positive impact on Equality that he decided to “write the first chapter of new history of man” so that it would be eternal (101). It is through his writing, that Prometheus will be remembered not as a number, but as a hero who vanquishes collectivism. His eternal message cautions the reader of the dangers of an irrational society so that someday man will think twice before chaining himself to the word
Since Prometheus and Gaea chose their own names, they started to create a new sense of individualism for the future generations to come. Here, it is proven that Prometheus will not have the rule of being assigned ordinary names, because he changed his name and Liberty’s to represent their
Hesiod’s Theogony was no longer able to satisfy the higher minds among the nation. Thus, inspiring Aeschylus to write tragic poets such as Prometheus’ Bound in order to express his own ideology and pointing the moral of tragedy. It is no surprise that Hesiod viewed Zeus as a glorified olympian hero and Prometheus as a traitor who stole fire and gave it to mankind. Aeschylus’s idea of Prometheus was conflicting to Hesiod, whereby he viewed Prometheus as a god supporting the civilization of mankind.
Humans wrote myths long ago, yet have a lot of relatable truths and morals. For example, in the myth of “Prometheus,” his kindness of giving gifts to humans out of his pity for not being able to survive yet ends him up in severe punishment. Similarly, in The Lightning Thief, Thalia’s bravery and compassion end up with her having to be sacrificed. In both texts, Prometheus and Thalia show how good deeds may end in misfortune. 1
This one ties into the first point of self-worth. No one could make anything on their own, or have ideas of their own. Going back to the light, he was not allowed to have his idea praised since it was not made by more than one person. The council asked Equality if he was working on this with more than one person, when he responded no, the council was enraged. At the end of the novel, Prometheus was very happy since he could express his ideas in his own way, and not to please everyone.
This shows that Prometheus’s intentions were only pure in making new discoveries. He never had plans of uncovering new inventions and knowledge to keep to himself, but to help improve the lives of all people in his world. This also shows that this discovery sparked the inspiration in Prometheus to strive for the greater good of his people, the opposite of what is perceived of what an egoist would want. Another example that proves Prometheus is a good-hearted egoist is when he talks about what he hopes to accomplish by bringing the light bulb to the scholars. He says, “We shall join our hands to theirs, and we shall work together, with the power of the sky, for the glory of mankind” (Rand 69).
Prometheus Bound and The Book of Job are two stories that are both similar in many ways, but at the same time very different from one another. Prometheus Bound is a story about a man who kindly assists humans and gives them fire for their own use. However, Zeus does not like the fact that Prometheus helped the humans, or is friends with them, so he decided to punish Prometheus for what he done. Zeus has his his servant Hephaestus chain Prometheus to a rock and leave him there. Prometheus spend days on the rock and talks to the Chorus of Oceanis, lo, and Hermes while he is on the rock and explains to them all why he is chained to the rock.
The quote “To be free, a man must be free of his brothers.” to me means that one can’t truly reach their full potential if they let everyone else dictate what to do and how to do it. One truly can discover this once they’re alone with their self. All of his life Prometheus had felt different from his brothers, like he was an outcast. Once he was finally free of the “love” of his brothers he finally realises that they have been brainwashed all of their life to love their brothers so much that they cannot reach their full potential.
Prometheus Bound stands apart from Robert Lowell’s other plays and is of special interest because here we find a fine embodiment of an existentialist rebel in the character of Prometheus, despite the mythical content of the play. In his adaptation of Aeschylus’s play, he reworks the classical myth of Prometheus. We can trace subtle elements of archetypal rebels like Milton’s Satan, Camus’s Sisyphus and Joyce’s Daedalus in his Prometheus. However, nuances of the contemporary situation are also incorporated in order to make it relevant to the present. However, as he himself admits there is no attempt at modernization:
In his essay discussing the nature of narrative, J. Hillis Miller poses the question “[w]hy do we need the ‘same’ story over and over?”. Miller also notes that we seem to “want repetition in the form of many stories that are recognizably variations on the same formula” (Miller). Indeed, this is true throughout the Western tradition of literature; the same stories are told throughout time, albeit with slight changes to details in setting and circumstances. In Aeschylus’ Greek Tragedy, Prometheus Bound, the reader is told that protagonist, Prometheus, has willfully gone against the will of the god, Zeus, and is punished. Moving forward several centuries, the reader will notice a similar tale in Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe; the protagonist, Robinson Crusoe, finds himself shipwrecked on a deserted island for over twenty-seven years after disobeying his
I hope to leave the reader with a deeper sense of understanding on how literature can inspire the future generations in ways we don 't yet know. It was written in Greek mythology that, the titan Prometheus was a wise craftsman who taught humans many useful skills, including ‘navigation, writing, and architecture’. Prometheus, created humans by shaping clay into figures that looked like the gods. The gods admired these figures and ‘breathed life’ into them. Zeus disliked the ‘creatures’, but ‘he could not destroy them’.
Prometheus loved humans more than olympians and gave them a number of gifts. In all accounts Prometheus is known as the protector and benefactor of man. He gave mankind a number of gifts including fire. He also tricked zeus into allowing man to keep the best part of the animals sacrificed to the gods and to give the gods the worst parts. Prometheus loves man, he created them, but, he also protects them, this makes him very important as he is one of the few deities to favor humans over the olympians.
The myth started out with two brothers named Epimetheus and Prometheus. During that time, only men roamed the Earth. Zeus created women later because of his anger that Prometheus cared so much for mankind. Even though Zeus declared that man did not deserve fire, Prometheus still decided to steal fire for them. He also arranged that men should get the best part of any animal sacrifice and that the gods should get the worst.
It is paramount to begin this argument by discussing the difference between formal equality and substantive equality. Formal equality assumes neutrality and equal treatment amongst citizens. Critics have argued that by adopting this approach, historical factors which have placed citizens in dislocated socio-economic contexts are denied. Substantive equality focuses on the effects and the impact and of laws on citizens. Contrary to formal equality, identical treatment is not guaranteed.
