Resumo de Prometheus Bound

The tragedy of Prometheus Bound, perhaps the best-known play by the classical Greek dramatist Aeschylus, operates on two levels: the first is that of a noble soul persecuted by an upstart usurper of power who understands only brute force; the second (and much more sublime) level shows the agonies of a gifted being who can foresee the future and is yet unable to lift a finger on his own behalf.

In ancient Greek mythology, Prometheus was a titan who stole fire from the gods and gave it to man, thus becoming the patron of human civilization. His punishment was to be chained to a rock on a mountainside in Scythia and watch helplessly as a vulture gnawed daily at his liver. These are the bald events of the legend. Aeschylus infuses them with tragedy by humanizing the myth.

The play presents Zeus not with the awful majesty of the Father of the Gods but as a kind of low power-seeker and advantage-taker who can maintain his rule only by the use of force ? not the father of the gods, but a kind of god father, the boss of bosses. The opening scene shows two of his chief servants, Might and Violence, leading Prometheus to his place of punishment. In one of his early speeches, Might describes Zeus as a cruel chieftain and a tyrant who regards disobedience as the greatest crime. Since Might and Violence are allegorical attributes of their master's basic character, we can take them at their word.

Later on in the play, the tragic figure of Io enters the scene. Like Prometheus, she is another victim of Zeus, not of his vindictiveness but his lechery. Prometheus foretells her travails and prophesies that the tenth generation of her posterity will release him from his captivity. Though the name of his rescuer is not mentioned in the play, the reference is to Hercules, the greatest hero of Greek mythology.

Thus, though he knows the future, Prometheus is at its mercy. Even so, he is a nobler figure than Zeus, who rules in complete ignorance of the forces that will destroy him. Learning of Prometheus? gift of clairvoyance, he sends Hermes (the messenger of the gods) to induce Prometheus to share his knowledge about the ultimate fate of the god father. Prometheus refuses to be bullied into submission, but replies with contempt that although Hermes himself is a sycophant of the god father, the latter will one day be driven from his throne. The play closes with Prometheus grimly resigned to his fate, but comforted by the knowledge that he is spiritually superior to his archenemy, truly a tragic hero in that he succumbs to his destiny but rises above it.

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