Prometeu inlantuit, de Eschil * Cratos si Bia - personificarile puterii si violentei * Hephaistos - zeul schiop si faurul nemuritorilor * Prometeu - semizeu * Corul okeanidelor * Okeanos - titan * Io, fiica lui Inachos * Hermes - desi are o puternica nota religioasa, opera lui Eschil este un protest impotriva tiraniei si Marx are perfecta dreptate cand afirma ca zeii grecilor au fost raniti de moarte mai ales prin Prometeu inlantuit al lui Eschil Kratus and Bia, two servants of Zeus, carry in Prometheus and hold him against a rocky mountain in the Caucasus. Hephaestus, whose job is to chain Prometheus to the rock, follows them. Kratus states that this is a punishment for giving fire to human beings, and Prometheus must learn to like Zeus's rule. Hephaestus expresses his pity for Prometheus, lamenting the fact that he must bind his friend to the rock. Kratus urges him on, insisting that pity for Zeus's enemies is both useless and dangerous. Hephaestus finishes his task and leaves with Kratus and Bia. Click here to find out more! Prometheus calls on nature to witness the suffering of a god at the hands of other gods, specifically the new ruler Zeus. He mentions that he has the gift of prophecy and knows all that will happen. He must live with his suffering because no one can fight fate. Prometheus hears the sound of wings and discovers that it is the Chorus of Oceanids, daughters of Oceanus, on winged chariots. The Oceanids express their sympathy for Prometheus's suffering, explaining that the new ruler of Olympus follows only his own laws. Prometheus prophecies that one days Zeus will be in danger and will be forced to befriend him to avoid it. Asked what crime he has committed to deserve this punishment, Prometheus recounts the war between Zeus and the Titans. He had tried to help the Titans, but they refused his guile and decided to use force. Prometheus then offered his guile to Zeus, helping him win. Now Zeus punishes him because like all tyrants he distrusts his friends. Zeus had planned to destroy humanity but Prometheus stood in his way. Questioned further, Prometheus recounts that he gave humanity blind hope and also the gift of fire. The Chorus responds to this last admission, saying that he has sinned, but Prometheus replies that he did so willingly and will not now renounce his action. He asks the Chorus to come down to earth so he can tell them the whole story. Oceanus flies in on a winged beast and says that Prometheus should stop provoking Zeus while he himself goes to the god to have Prometheus freed. Prometheus responds that talking to Zeus would be useless and Oceanus should not place himself in danger by getting involved. Oceanus argues that words are needed for healing, but Prometheus counters that the medicine must be applied at the proper time. Convinced by Prometheus's categorical refusal of his help, Oceanus departs. The Chorus sings that the entire old world mourns for Prometheus and his brothers who also suffer at the hands of Zeus, especially Atlas who must hold the world. Prometheus summarizes everything he has done for humanity. He taught human beings agriculture, language, mathematics, harnessing of animals, and sailing. He also taught medicine, divination, and mining. He insists that all human arts come from him. Prometheus almost reveals his prophecy to the Chorus, but stops himself, saying only that it will free him because Zeus is a slave to necessity like all others. The Oceanids affirm their piety to Zeus, chide Prometheus for helping mortals who cannot help him back, and remember his happy wedding to their sister. Io enters wearing cow horns. Screaming that a gadfly is biting her and the ghost of Argos pursues her, she calls on Zeus and asks why he tortures her like this. In response to her questions, Prometheus reveals who he is and why he is being punished. Io asks him to tell her about her future wanderings, but first the Chorus asks to know of her past suffering. Io tells how Zeus became infatuated with her and forced her father to drive her out of his house. Io was turned into a cow and guarded by Argos, but he was killed and returned as a ghost along with a gadfly that drove her around the world. Prometheus tells her of her future wanderings through Europe, Asia, and Africa, where she must constantly avoid dangerous peoples and monsters. Click here to find out more! Prometheus reveals that Zeus, who makes Io suffer, will one day choose a mate whose son will depose his father. Only Prometheus can help Zeus prevent this. He reveals also that one day Io's descendant will free him. He then concludes the story of Io's journey, telling how at the end of her suffering Zeus will cure and impregnate her with a gentle touch of his hand. Prometheus talks about Io's descendants, who will become kings of the city Argos. Io runs off again tortured by the gadfly, and the Oceanids chant about the dangers of marrying above one's own rank, expressing the hope that Zeus never takes an interest in them. Angered by Io's suffering, Prometheus shouts out that Zeus's own son will topple him. Zeus's messenger Hermes enters and orders Prometheus to reveal the identity of this son's mother. Prometheus mocks Hermes and says that he will tell nothing. Hermes accuses Prometheus of being overly obstinate, disobedient, and mad. Prometheus deflects each accusation with direct insults or sarcasm. Hermes warns that if Prometheus does not yield, a storm will send him to Tartarus. Then he will emerge only to have an eagle eat his liver every day, and this will not end until a god agrees to die for him. The Chorus advises Prometheus to yield, but he shows no fear of his destiny. Hermes orders the Oceanids away, but they reply that to betray a friend is the worst crime of all and vow to stay with Prometheus. As the earth begins to shake and thunder gathers around him, Prometheus calls on the elements to witness his suffering. ------------ Prometheus - The protagonist of the play. Prometheus aided Zeus against his fellow Titans only to be punished for giving fire to human beings. Prometheus demonstrates the value of thought and knowledge in progress as well as in the opposition and temperance of tyrannical power. He is a rare example of a Greek tragic hero whose faults, such as excessive pride and stubbornness, ennoble him. Prometheus opposes Zeus because of his anger over his punishment, bolstered by his anger over the mistreatment of his brothers and Io. He is also driven to opposition by a belief in the value friendship. His friendship for humanity is the cause of his punishment, but he views as equally important Zeus's inability to recognize the importance of friendship. Prometheus shows that if intellect and force cannot work together, then intellect must oppose force, since it is useless if dominated by power. Zeus - Though he does not appear in the play, Zeus clearly deserves mention as a major character. He rules by his own laws, creating a world where no one but him can be free. Both the objects of his hatred and his love can easily fall to misfortune since Zeus, unfamiliar with sympathy and pity, does not concern himself with the welfare of others. Unable to rule through any means other than brute force, Zeus is presented as a perfect example of a fairly stupid but powerful tyrant who shows no regard for others not because he is evil but because he hasn't given it any thought. Zeus's servants take it for granted that everyone must be taught to love him and hate his enemies. Zeus's rule demands that his servants surrender any trace of individuality in obedience to his will. Hermes - A mindless servant of Zeus. Hermes appears in sharp contrast to Prometheus. Like his master, Hermes understands neither friendship nor pity, but only force and obedience. Hermes is certain that he is on the right side, and certain also that his master is all-powerful. Though he comes down from Olympus to question Prometheus about the future threat to Zeus's power, Hermes clearly does not take this threat seriously. He is highly arrogant, but not horribly bright as illustrated in a scene where every insult and accusations he throws at Prometheus gets turned around by the recipient and shipped back in force. Io - A victim of Zeus's love. Io is exiled from her home because Zeus wishes to deflower her. Transformed into a cow, she wanders the earth awaiting salvation. Io is seen as a parallel to Prometheus: though she suffers, in the end she will be freed and rewarded. Her descendant will free Prometheus, bonding their fates together. As the only human, despite being technically bovine, in the play, Io ties the cosmic conflict of gods to known human history and geography as Prometheus documents her wanderings and the future of her offspring. Oceanids - Serve the proper role of a Chorus in Greek tragedy. The Oceanids advocate adherence to the moral norm to a protagonist who has deviated from that norm. Until the end, the Oceanids maintain two moral orientations. First, they consistently demonstrate sympathy with the hero's suffering and avow their friendship. Second, they counsel him to bow down to a greater power and tone down his defiance since nothing good can come of opposing Zeus. By deviating from the moral norm at the end, however, the Oceanids manage to establish a new moral norm that contradicts Zeus's own laws. Oceanus - Comfortable in his service to Zeus, Oceanus believes that one should not rock the boat but simply obey. He agrees that Zeus is too harsh and extends his sympathy to Prometheus with an offer of help. Something about Oceanus's advice and his demeanor seems a little off-putting, however. First, he suggests that one should simply give up and accept injustice rather than fighting it—Prometheus should stop being defiant and not provoke a stubborn and excessive Zeus. Second, Prometheus clearly does not trust Oceanus, telling him much less than he had told the Chorus only a moment ago. Oceanus, while counseling his friend and expressing sympathy, seems to be waiting to leave the entire time—he does not get off his winged animal and states that it is eager to fly home, as if his visit to Prometheus was only a chore on a long list. Quantcast Hephaestus - Like Oceanus, Hephaestus is an obedient but unwilling servant. He bows to Zeus's force, but wishes he did not have to. Hephaestus first introduces pity and friendship into the tragedy while chiding Zeus's servants for their insensitivity. Yet Hephaestus does what he is told, showing him to be closer to Kratus than to Prometheus in his outlook. Hephaestus, however, seems to obey more out of fear than out of a complete identification with his ruler, which seems more the case with Kratus and Hermes. Kratus - Simply accepts Zeus's orders completely. Zeus's justice, for Kratus, is the only possible justice. Kratus cannot understand how someone might fail to hate an enemy of Zeus. He shows an absolute identification of a slave with his master, taking Zeus's thoughts as his thoughts and Zeus's orders as his maxims. Unlike Hephaestus and Oceanus, Kratus experiences no friendship or pity because he has no value system outside the one imposed on him by Zeus. The name Kratus means force, so as a representative of Zeus, this character demonstrates the nature of Zeus's rule. Bia - Bia's name means violence, representing the nature of Zeus's power. Bia is a silent character, helping Kratus bring Prometheus to the rock to be chained. We can assume that what holds for Kratus holds also for Bia.