Resumo de Prometheus Bound

In the great war between the Olympian gods and their older siblings the
Titans, the mighty Zeus overthrew his father, Chronos and imprisoned
him along with his allies for all eternity. Of the titans, a few
stood against their brethren. Wisest of these was Prometheus,
called Foresight. He and the great mother Thebis joined with the
gods and would have been content to live under the new rule of
Zeus. But Prometheus could not abide Zeus? policy towards the
humans. man was Thebis? weakest child but Zeus could not abide
their existence. Prometheus took pity on man and contrived to
save them from Zeus? edict. He gave them fire, man?s great
power. He also taught them all of their arts and sciences and
trained their reason, lifting them above all other mortal
creatures. But by his own account, Prometheus? greatest gift to
man was their blindness to their destiny; made possible by blind hope.

It is this blindness which he himself has given them that Prometheus
envies in Man. As is mentioned by Prometheus early in the play,
man alone has the gift of blind hope. Man, while afflicted, is
nevertheless happier than his benefactor because he lacks the prophetic
foresight of his future suffering. This serves to insulate him
from the doom of mortality which lies before him, and his powerlessness
before the gods. This blind hope is foresight; not of what must
be but what may be. We might think of it as delusion, but the
gods consider it a pearl put before swine. The foresight of his
millennia of suffering is a pain that Prometheus feels very
sharply. So it is not surprising that this blind hope is a gift
that Prometheus envies.

It is for Man?s, and no other?s sake that the events of this play
occur. Although Prometheus never challenged Zeus directly, he
acted against his will. Those titans defeated in open conflict
were simply imprisoned, but Prometheus and his kinsman Atlas were given
special treatment. By promoting the interests of the
insignificant mortals and neglecting his own, Prometheus removed
himself from Zeus? newly formed balance of power. He could not be
bullied, bribed, or wagered with. Prometheus? steadfast self
sacrifice baffled the gods and rendered him impossible for them to deal
with in the manner they dealt with each other. Zeus wanted him
removed, but Prometheus could not be killed. So Zeus banished him
to the very edge of the Earth.

Prometheus Bound is the account of how Prometheus was bound at the edge
of the world and his conversations with various beings who escort and
visit him there. These include Might and Violence, the enforcers
of Zeus? decree, Hephaestus the blacksmith, Oceanus a sea god, Io a
cursed mortal girl, Hermes the messenger of Olympus, and the daughters
of Oceanus who act as Chorus. These all play their parts to shed
light on the very human condition of helpless suffering. These
players represent in their turn Zeus the tyrant, the other Olympian
gods both in and out Zeus? court, those gods who dwell about the
earthly realm, and afflicted Man.

In the face of this impending torture Prometheus doggedly curses Zeus
as he prophesies his downfall. The prisoner claims to know who
will ultimately overthrow Zeus and that he alone knows how to prevent
it. When Hermes is sent to question him Prometheus refuses to
budge, inviting even harsher penalties. For his abstinence and
disrespect, Zeus punishes Prometheus even further.
Prometheus must suffer perpetual storm blasts, hurling rocks, and gory
evisceration by Zeus? great eagle. Still, to the end of the play
Prometheus invites more and more punishment while insisting that he
suffers unjustly.

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