Prometheus

Prometheus is the subject of the poem and poem's addressee, but throughout the poem, the titan also becomes a symbol of what the poem wishes to see from mankind. The speaker makes this clear late in the poem when he directly calls Prometheus “a symbol and a sign / To Mortals of their fate and force” (Lines 45-46, emphasis added). Prometheus is a model for how humans should approach life.

One of the ways Byron accomplishes this is by using apostrophe to write the poem in the second person. Since the poem is in the second person, the use of direct address and the pronoun “you” gives the poem a sense of intimacy, as if the speaker is talking to Prometheus directly. By directly telling readers that Prometheus is a symbol for mankind, the speaker makes it clear that anything the poem says about the titan is something that can be applied to humans as well.

Ultimately, Prometheus represents the ideal Byronic hero. He is anguished, bold, rebellious, and selfless. We are not meant to read the poem as a poem about Prometheus the myth; instead, we are meant to read Prometheus as ourselves and the potential we all possess.