Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
release my boy Prometheus he did nothing wrong!!!
he was just too based for the olympians
he was just too based for the olympians
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This felt quite incomplete to me as a work. It says in the intro that Prometheus Bound was originally part of a trilogy of plays (the other two have been lost to time), which probably accounts for the sensation. But unlike other plays that form a trilogy where I've read just the first and it feels complete, Prometheus Bound really does read like the unmoored section of a larger narrative, Act I of III. You never do get to continue the whole story, and as such, it's not super satisfying in that respect.
I think I was drawn to this play because I've always loved Prometheus as a character. He's the ultimate rebel. Poor guy spent an eternity getting his liver plucked out by an eagle daily, chained to a rock ("stretched out here/ baked and withered on this rock/ outraged by chains of hardest steel"), all because he tried to help out humans-- draw them out from the dark and bestow consciousness and innovation upon them. He's firm in his ideals and principles and he isn't even a little bit repentant. But it turns out this play might have had a lot to do with how we now view Prometheus, as it helped engineer the shift of portraying Prometheus as mankind's benefactor ("All arts that humans use come from Prometheus") instead of merely a foiled, humbled trickster. Not sure if I should thank Aeschylus for consolidating one of my favorite characters in Greek myth, as the true authorship of this play is in serious doubt. Whoever you were, ancient Greek playwright, thanks.
Prometheus tells his story chained to his rock to the Chorus, the daughters of Ocean. Io, the girl turned into a cow to escape Zeus' predation, makes an appearance, and the Chorus is luridly, voyeuristically interested in the most sordid details of her suffering: ("Give me a portion too, of pleasure./ Allow us first to learn of her disease/ and let her tell the perils in her past/ then you can add the sequel of her sufferings.") Then again, we are too. The whole play manages to make Zeus look like a violent, crazed despot in need of overthrow. Neat.
My version was translated by James Romm. Favorite line:
I think I was drawn to this play because I've always loved Prometheus as a character. He's the ultimate rebel. Poor guy spent an eternity getting his liver plucked out by an eagle daily, chained to a rock ("stretched out here/ baked and withered on this rock/ outraged by chains of hardest steel"), all because he tried to help out humans-- draw them out from the dark and bestow consciousness and innovation upon them. He's firm in his ideals and principles and he isn't even a little bit repentant. But it turns out this play might have had a lot to do with how we now view Prometheus, as it helped engineer the shift of portraying Prometheus as mankind's benefactor ("All arts that humans use come from Prometheus") instead of merely a foiled, humbled trickster. Not sure if I should thank Aeschylus for consolidating one of my favorite characters in Greek myth, as the true authorship of this play is in serious doubt. Whoever you were, ancient Greek playwright, thanks.
Prometheus tells his story chained to his rock to the Chorus, the daughters of Ocean. Io, the girl turned into a cow to escape Zeus' predation, makes an appearance, and the Chorus is luridly, voyeuristically interested in the most sordid details of her suffering: ("Give me a portion too, of pleasure./ Allow us first to learn of her disease/ and let her tell the perils in her past/ then you can add the sequel of her sufferings.") Then again, we are too. The whole play manages to make Zeus look like a violent, crazed despot in need of overthrow. Neat.
My version was translated by James Romm. Favorite line:
"The waves of the sea shout their grief."
dark
reflective
sad
fast-paced
sad
fast-paced
challenging
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
informative
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes