''Prometheus Unbound'' ( grc, Προμηθεὺς Λυόμενος, ''Promētheus Lyomenos'') is a fragmentary play in the ''

Prometheia The ''Prometheia'' ( grc, Προμήθεια) is a trilogy of plays about the titan Prometheus. It was attributed in Antiquity to the 5th-century BC Greek tragedian Aeschylus. Though an Alexandrian catalogue of Aeschylean play titles designates t ...

'' trilogy attributed to the 5th-century BC

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

tragedian Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy i ...

Aeschylus Aeschylus (, ; grc-gre, Αἰσχύλος ; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian, and is often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek ...

, thought to have followed ''

Prometheus Bound ''Prometheus Bound'' ( grc, Προμηθεὺς Δεσμώτης, ''Promētheús Desmṓtēs'') is an Ancient Greek tragedy traditionally attributed to Aeschylus and thought to have been composed sometime between 479 BC and the terminus ant ...

''. ''Prometheus Unbound'' was probably followed by ''

Prometheus the Fire-Bringer ''Prometheus the Fire-Bringer'' (Ancient Greek: Προμηθεὺς Πυρφόρος, ''Promētheús Pyrphóros'') was probably the final play in the ''Prometheia'' trilogy traditionally ascribed to the 5th century BC Greek tragedian Aeschylus. P ...

''. It is concerned with the torments of the Greek mythological figure

Prometheus In Greek mythology, Prometheus (; , , possibly meaning " forethought")Smith"Prometheus". is a Titan god of fire. Prometheus is best known for defying the gods by stealing fire from them and giving it to humanity in the form of technology, kn ...

who defies the gods and proceeds to give fire to humanity (

theft of fire The theft of fire for the benefit of humanity is a theme that recurs in many world mythologies. This narrative is classified in the ''Motif-Index of Folk-Literature'' as motif A1415. Its recurrent themes include a trickster figure as the thief, ...

), for which he is subjected to eternal punishment and suffering at the hands of

Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label= genitive Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label= genitive el, Δίας, ''Días'' () is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek reli ...

. The text of the ''Unbound'' survives only in eleven fragments preserved by later authors. Nevertheless, these fragments, combined with prophetic statements made in the first play of the trilogy, allow the reconstruction of a broad outline. A lengthy fragment translated into

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

by the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

statesman

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the esta ...

indicates that the play would have opened with Prometheus visited by a chorus of

Titans In Greek mythology, the Titans ( grc, οἱ Τῑτᾶνες, ''hoi Tītânes'', , ''ho Tītân'') were the pre-Olympian gods. According to the ''Theogony'' of Hesiod, they were the twelve children of the primordial parents Uranus (Sky) and Gai ...

. Though

had imprisoned them in

Tartarus In Greek mythology, Tartarus (; grc, , }) is the deep abyss that is used as a dungeon of torment and suffering for the wicked and as the prison for the Titans. Tartarus is the place where, according to Plato's ''Gorgias'' (), souls are judg ...

at the conclusion of the

Titanomachy In Greek mythology, the Titanomachy (; grc, , , Titan battle) was a ten-year series of battles fought in Ancient Thessaly, consisting of most of the Titans (the older generation of gods, based on Mount Othrys) fighting against the Olympians (t ...

, he has at long last granted them clemency. This perhaps foreshadows Zeus's eventual reconciliation with Prometheus in the trilogy's third installment. Prometheus complains about his torment just as he had to the chorus of

Oceanids In Greek mythology, the Oceanids or Oceanides (; grc, Ὠκεανίδες, Ōkeanídes, pl. of grc, Ὠκεανίς, Ōkeanís, label=none) are the nymphs who were the three thousand (a number interpreted as meaning "innumerable") daughters o ...

in ''Prometheus Bound''. As the ''dramatis personae'' of ''Prometheus Bound'' erroneously lists

Gaea In Greek mythology, Gaia (; from Ancient Greek , a poetical form of , 'land' or 'earth'),, , . also spelled Gaea , is the personification of the Earth and one of the Greek primordial deities. Gaia is the ancestral mother—sometimes partheno ...

, it has been suggested that she is next to visit Prometheus in this play, in a sympathetic role that echoes Oceanus' turn in the first play. Finally, the faulty ''dramatis personae'' mentioned above and several fragments indicate that

Heracles Heracles ( ; grc-gre, Ἡρακλῆς, , glory/fame of Hera), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptiv ...

visits the Titan just as Io had in ''Prometheus Bound''. Heracles kills the eagle that had been torturing Prometheus by eating his regenerating liver every day and frees the Titan. Again mirroring events in the previous play, Prometheus forecasts the travels of Hercules as he concludes his

Twelve Labours The Labours of Hercules or Labours of Heracles ( grc-gre, wikt:ὁ, οἱ wikt:Ἡρακλῆς, Ἡρακλέους wikt:ἆθλος, ἆθλοι, ) are a series of episodes concerning a penance carried out by Heracles, the greatest of the ...

. The play thus concludes with Prometheus free from the torments of Zeus, but the Titan and Olympian have yet to reconcile. It inspired the play of the same title by Percy Bysshe Shelley.

References

{{Authority control Plays by Aeschylus Lost plays Prometheus Plays based on classical mythology

See also

References