Prometheus Bound

The Greek tragedy of the Titan chained to a Scythian mountain for giving fire to mortals.

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Prometheus Bound is an ancient Greek tragedy traditionally credited to Aeschylus, probably written at some point between 479 BC and 424 BC. It dramatizes the myth of Prometheus, the Titan who stood against Zeus, saved humankind and handed it the gift of fire, and who pays for that defiance with harsh punishment. The play is thought to have opened a sequence of related dramas, most likely followed by Prometheus Unbound and possibly a third work, Prometheus the Fire-Bearer, but those survive only as fragments. As the one intact piece, it remains the central ancient stage version of the Prometheus story and a key source for how Greek audiences pictured Zeus as a new and severe ruler.

Quick Facts

Writer

Aeschylus (disputed)

Chorus

Oceanids

Setting

Scythian mountains

Premiere date

479–424 BC

Subject

Prometheus' punishment

Characters

Cratus
Bia
Hephaestus
Prometheus
Oceanus
Io
Hermes

Facts from the source article.

Background

Before the action starts, Zeus has toppled Cronus and the Titans, with Prometheus fighting on his side. Once in power, Zeus plans to wipe out humanity and start over; Prometheus thwarts him by stealing fire for mortals and teaching them the arts. In the opening scene Kratos and Bia, embodiments of force and violence, bind the silent Titan to a crag in Scythia while a reluctant Hephaestus does the smithing. Left alone, Prometheus calls on wind, springs, Earth and Sun to see his suffering. Visitors follow: the daughters of Oceanus as the chorus, Oceanus himself offering cautious advice, and the wandering Io, driven across the world by Hera. At the end Hermes demands a secret about a marriage that threatens Zeus, and when Prometheus refuses, he is blasted down to Tartarus.

Did You Know?

The play begins with four characters on stage, something found in no other surviving Greek tragedy.
Oceanus arrives riding a griffin.
The chorus of sea nymphs rush in so quickly that they forget their sandals.
Prometheus predicts Io's travels will end at the mouth of the Nile.