Prometheus Bound

Prometheus Bound is a Greek tragedy traditionally attributed to Aeschylus. The play, whose authorship and date are disputed, dramatizes the story of the Titan Prometheus and his defiance of Zeus, the new ruler of the gods. After Prometheus steals fire from the gods and gives it to humanity, Zeus punishes Prometheus by chaining him to a remote mountain to suffer eternal torment. The play explores the themes of The Conflict Between Power and Justice, The Consequences of Defying Tyranny, and The Role of Knowledge and Enlightenment in Human Progress.

This study guide refers to David Grene’s translation of the play from the third edition of the University of Chicago Press series The Complete Greek Tragedies (2013).

Content Warning: The source material features violence and torture.

Plot Summary

The play begins with Zeus’s servants, Might and Violence, dragging the Titan Prometheus to a mountain where he is to suffer punishment for defying Zeus. Then Hephaestus, the god of the forge, unwillingly nails Prometheus to the mountain as Might taunts both him and Prometheus. Hephaestus, Might, and Violence finally leave Prometheus to reflect on his fate and his punishment. Prometheus calls on all of nature to bear witness to his suffering, explaining that he has the gift of prophecy and thus knows everything that will happen. The Chorus, made up of daughters of the Titan Ocean, appears and tries to comfort Prometheus.

Prometheus describes the circumstances leading up to his punishment: Though he had helped Zeus in his war against the Titans, Prometheus stood in Zeus’s way when the new ruler of the gods tried to eliminate humanity by depriving them of fire. Prometheus assisted the humans by stealing fire from the gods and giving it to them, but in so doing, he incurred the wrath of Zeus, who decided to punish him by having him chained to a cliff to be tortured for eternity. Prometheus gradually reveals, however, that he knows how Zeus will ultimately fall, and that this knowledge is what has kept Zeus from destroying him with his thunderbolt.

Ocean arrives. He is a Titan, like Prometheus. He is also the father of the Chorus. Ocean tries to comfort Prometheus, though he advises him to stop speaking up against the new regime, as doing so is precisely what got him into trouble in the first place. He says that he will talk to Zeus on Prometheus’s behalf, but Prometheus argues with him. The two Titans each tell the other that he is deceiving himself, and Ocean finally leaves, angrily. As their father leaves, the Chorus sings about how the entire cosmos laments to see Prometheus’s cruel punishment.

Prometheus recounts to the audience everything he has done to help humanity. Medicine, mining, agriculture, sailing—all these and more, including the arts—have come from Prometheus and his gift of fire. The Chorus responds with another song, in which they once again express sympathy for Prometheus but posit that his love of humanity has driven him to act foolishly.

Io, the daughter of Inachus, enters. She explains how she has been punished by Hera for her romantic involvement with Hera’s husband, Zeus, having been partly transformed into a cow and then chased around the world by a relentless gadfly. Prometheus prophesies that Io will travel through Europe, Asia, and Africa before settling down, and that it will be Heracles, one of Io’s descendants, who will someday release him from his torment. Before Io continues her frenzied travels, Prometheus consoles her by predicting Zeus’s downfall. As Io leaves, the Chorus sings about marriage, stating that one should only marry within one’s station: It is wrong, for instance, when humans become involved with gods.

Prometheus maintains his defiance and tells the Chorus more about the prophecy of Zeus’s downfall: Specifically, Zeus is destined to have a son who is more powerful than he is, and this son will overthrow him. Hermes now arrives, having been sent by Zeus to find out more about this figure who is destined to overthrow him. Prometheus refuses to reveal what he knows. Hermes threatens to make Prometheus’s torment even worse if he does not relent, promising to bury him beneath a mountain before dragging him out so that an eagle can peck out his liver every day. Prometheus is unmoved. The play ends with Hermes describing the earthquake and thunder that sound as Prometheus is cast into the abyss.