Aeschylus
Prometheus
The play is set in Scythia amongst the crags of a desolate wasteland. Kratos (Might) and Bia (Violence), accompanied by Hephaestus, have captured the Titan Prometheus and have chained him to a rock at the order of Zeus. The God is punishing Prometheus for going against his will by lavishing favors on the mortals; giving the gift of fire to man. Thus chained in this land at the confines, the rebellious prisoner is to meet the other characters of the play. Cosmic creatures, from the magnificent to monstrous, who attempt to comfort and advise him: the Chorus of Oceanide Nymphs; the Titan Oceanos with his winged horse; the maiden Io, who was loved by Zeus but for the jealousy of Era was transformed into a cow and due to torment, which has rendered her mad, forced to wander an eternity. It is to the latter that Prometheus, in his role as a seer, forsees the future peregrination, conquered liberation and the fate of her progeny. And it is by the very virtue of this prophetic gift that Prometheus knows a secret which could bring about the ruin of Zeus; the birth of a son capable of ousting the father. For this reason Zeus orders Hermes to go to Prometheus and get him to confess the truth. However, faced with the indomitable spirit of the Titan, the arguments and threats of the God are to have no effect. Rather, the wrath of Zeus in all its might is to turn upon Prometheus and the Titan is to be thrown into the abyss, together with the rock to which he is bound.
Date (uncertain)
probably composed within the sixties of the V century b.C
Characters
In order of appearance
Kratos (Might)
Bia (Violence)
Hephaestus
Prometheus
The Chorus of Oceanide Nymphs
Oceanos
Io
Hermes