Prometheus Bound (Greek Tragedy in New Translations)

Book Description

For readers accustomed to the relatively undramatic standard translations of Prometheus Bound, this version by James Scully, a poet and winner of the Lamont Poetry Prize, and C. John Herington, one of the world's foremost Aeschylean scholars, will come as a revelation. Scully and Herington accentuate the play's true power, drama, and relevance to modern times. Aeschylus originally wrote Prometheus Bound as part of a tragic trilogy, and this translation is unique in including the extant fragments of the companion plays.

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Customer Reviews:

A surprisingly easy to grasp translation..........2006-11-11

I always find the prospect of reading ancient literature daunting, but this play was very easy to understand. I would definitely recommend this as a supplement for those studying ancient Greek Mythology. It really added depth to my understanding of Prometheus, Zeus and the mind set of the Ancient Greeks.

Not worth it.......2002-06-17

Don't spend the extra money for this translation. Buy the Dover Thrift edition. You get the same story for a buck or two, and this translation is nothing spectacular.

Great read.......2001-11-12

Prometheus Bound is the tale of Prometheus, a titan, who is being punished by Zeus. It is an interesting story and well worth the read, although it is only the first of three plays. The other two are lost to us. The price alone makes this a great deal.

Stunningly Modern Translation.......2001-10-03

This is a stunningly modern translation of The Prometheus Bound. James Scully, the poet-translator, has done the impossible, he's turned one of the world's oldest dramas into a can't-put-it-down pageturner. If you've never read the Prometheus or read it and found it dull and archaic, read this translation. Additionally, there's a fascinating discussion at the end of what territory the next two plays in the Prometheus trilogy probably covered and this includes all the fragments of the other two plays that have been found. It was a great loss to Western Civilization when the rest of the trilogy failed to survive the Dark Ages for all the fragments hint that, where the play we have is pure defiance, Prometheus as the lone rebel against tyranny, the trilogy as a whole was about reconciliation, the ability for irreconciliable opposites to come to terms with each other without surrender or compromise. Still, even without that, the play we have gives an overwhelming image of the unbreakable human spirit and that alone makes it well worth reading. Prometheus Bound in a good translation is a must read.

a must read.......2000-11-22

Of my free will, my own free will, I erred, And freely do I here acknowledge it. -Prometheus

Aeschylus is considered to be the father of Greek Tragedy as we know it, if for no other reason than his introduction of a second actor onto the scene. Up until his time, plays had consisted of just one actor, changing masks if necessary. But in addition to being an innovator, Aeschylus wrote one of the really pivotal works in the history of literature and of the human quest to understand our purpose in the universe: Prometheus Bound.

The parallels to the Biblical account of man's fall are obvious. Prometheus is a Titan, more than human but less than God, like the angels. He gives fire to mankind in violation of Zeus' orders, making man a threat to the gods. Zeus punishes him by chaining him to a boulder where vultures peck out his innards every day, only to have them grow back at night, a little harsher than making the serpent crawl and banishing man from Eden, eh? And so on...

The play opens as Prometheus is being bound by the reluctant Hephaestus, god of fire, who is the first of several characters to beg him to repent and apologize to Zeus. Not only does Prometheus refuse, he is outwardly defiant of the king of the gods:

PROMETHEUS These things are sorrowful for me to speak, Yet silence too is sorrow: all ways woe! When first the Blessed Ones were filled with wrath And there arose division in their midst, These instant to hurl Cronos from his throne That Zeus might be their king, and these, adverse, Contending that he ne'er should rule the Gods, Then I, wise counsel urging to persuade The Titans, sons of Ouranos and Chthon, Prevailed not: but, all indirect essays Despising, they by the strong hand, effortless, Yet by main force-supposed that they might seize Supremacy. But me my mother Themis And Gaia, one form called by many names, Not once alone with voice oracular Had prophesied how power should be disposed- That not by strength neither by violence The mighty should be mastered, but by guile. Which things by me set forth at large, they scorned, Nor graced my motion with the least regard. Then, of all ways that offered, I judged best, Taking my mother with me, to support, No backward friend, the not less cordial Zeus. And by my politic counsel Tartarus, The bottomless and black, old Cronos hides With his confederates. So helped by me, The tyrant of the Gods, such service rendered With ignominious chastisement requites. But 'tis a common malady of power Tyrannical never to trust a friend. And now, what ye inquired, for what arraigned He shamefully entreats me, ye shall know. When first upon his high, paternal throne He took his seat, forthwith to divers Gods Divers good gifts he gave, and parcelled out His empire, but of miserable men Recked not at all; rather it was his wish To wipe out man and rear another race: And these designs none contravened but me. I risked the bord attempt, and saved mankind From stark destruction and the road to hell. Therefore with this sore penance am I bowed, Grievous to suffer, pitiful to see. But, for compassion shown to man, such fate I no wise earned; rather in wrath's despite Am I to be reformed, and made a show Of infamy to Zeus.

Later he explains just what the possession of knowledge will mean to mankind:

PROMETHEUS Think not that I for pride and stubbornness Am silent: rather is my heart the prey Of gnawing thoughts, both for the past, and now Seeing myself by vengeance buffeted. For to these younger Gods their precedence Who severally determined if not I? No more of that: I should but weary you With things ye know; but listen to the tale Of human sufferings, and how at first Senseless as beasts I gave men sense, possessed them Of mind. I speak not in contempt of man; I do but tell of good gifts I conferred. In the beginning, seeing they saw amiss, And hearing heard not, but, like phantoms huddled In dreams, the perplexed story of their days Confounded; knowing neither timber-work Nor brick-built dwellings basking in the light, But dug for themselves holes, wherein like ants, That hardly may contend against a breath, They dwelt in burrows of their unsunned caves. Neither of winter's cold had they fixed sign, Nor of the spring when she comes decked with flowers, Nor yet of summer's heat with melting fruits Sure token: but utterly without knowledge Moiled, until I the rising of the stars Showed them, and when they set, though much obscure. Moreover, number, the most excellent Of all inventions, I for them devised, And gave them writing that retaineth all, The serviceable mother of the Muse. I was the first that yoked unmanaged beasts, To serve as slaves with collar and with pack, And take upon themselves, to man's relief, The heaviest labour of his hands: and Tamed to the rein and drove in wheeled cars The horse, of sumptuous pride the ornament. And those sea-wanderers with the wings of cloth, The shipman's waggons, none but I contrived. These manifold inventions for mankind I perfected, who, out upon't, have none- No, not one shift-to rid me of this shame.

CHORUS Thy sufferings have been shameful, and thy mind Strays at a loss: like to a bad physician Fallen sick, thou'rt out of heart: nor cans't prescribe For thine own case the draught to make thee sound.

PROMETHEUS But hear the sequel and the more admire What arts, what aids I cleverly evolved. The chiefest that, if any man fell sick, There was no help for him, comestible, Lotion or potion; but for lack of drugs They dwindled quite away; until I taught them To compound draughts and mixtures sanative, Wherewith they now are armed against disease. I staked the winding path of divination And was the first distinguisher of dreams, The true from false; and voices ominous Of meaning dark interpreted; and tokens Seen when men take the road; and augury By flight of all the greater crook-clawed birds With nice discrimination I defined; These by their nature fair and favourable, Those, flattered with fair name. And of each sort The habits I described; their mutual feuds And friendships and the assemblages they hold. And of the plumpness of the inward parts

Prometheus Bound and Other Plays: Prometheus Bound, The Suppliants, Seven Against Thebes, The Persian (Penguin Classics)
Average customer rating:

I think these are required

Old yet ageless tragedy by "the other Greek tragedian"

So I don't like Greek drama - sue me.

Excellent translations of the four non-Oresteian plays.

Prometheus Bound and Other Plays: Prometheus Bound, The Suppliants, Seven Against Thebes, The Persian (Penguin Classics)
Philip Vellacott
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Customer Reviews:

I think these are required.......2007-05-23

Ok, missed these in college, but I think you have to read these, and quite frankly, they're a little better with some age on you. Prometheus Bound is more interesting after you have had a chance to watch people (perhaps yourself) let their ego run away with them and get them in horrible trouble. Otherwise, at 18-22 Prometheus is an unmittigated hero, and that's less interesting. Fantastic lines in this one, and the translation is excellent. "Do you think I quake and cower before these upstart gods?" Use it in your next salary negotiation.

The Suppliants is kind of a waste of time. It's obviously the introduction to the action, and not much to reflect on unless you know a woman in an unhappy marriage, and then you can supply them with the line, "I would rather meet my fate in a drawn noose/ Than give my flesh to a husband I abhor;/ Sooner let Death possess me!" That'll add zazz to any domestic argument.

Seven Against Thebes is fantastic and serves as the end to the Oedipus trilogy if you want to read it that way. Lots of great slams on the boastful and praise to the quiet effective types. It's required reading.

The Persians is great reading right now if you're not thrilled with the way America is headed under current leadership. It's about the most powerful empire in the world shattering its massive army in a war of folly. Superior wealth and technology (bridge of boats across the ocean) are squandered in the wastelands. It's from the point of view of the losers, and I can't help but think it's cautionary to the Greeks rather than celebratory. America should read it that way as well. It's eerily relevant. I read this passage this morning and it gave me the creeps:

(Mother of Xerxes's premonition concerning the fall of the Persian empire)

I saw an eagle fly for refuge to Apollo's hearth. I watched, speechless with terror; then a falcon came, and swooped with rushing wings, and with his talons clawed the eagle's head; it, unresisting, cowered there, offering itself to wounds.

Not good for us, not good at all. In any case, just about every page has some piece of wisdom on it, and the translation here puts the the thought with the perfect words. If you're enjoying Shakespeare or KJV right now but want a different flavor, give Aeschylus a shot. He has a strong grasp on the mind of the king and the burden of leadership, more so than WS. There's also a sophisticated view of how real democracy lends strength to a society, in a way that resonates with an adult brain that has become jaded on jingoism.

Old yet ageless tragedy by "the other Greek tragedian".......2002-05-08

In life and death, Aeschylus is overshadowed by Sophocles. The most tragic thing about Aeschylus is the fact that the great majority of his work was lost in the mists of time. Three of these plays are the only surviving members of three different trilogies. The Suppliants is the conclusion of Aeschylus' own Oedipus trilogy, focusing on the final battle of the twice-cursed sons of Oedipus. Not only was this play overshadowed by Sophocles' Antigone, the final few pages are apparently spurious; someone a half century after it was written felt compelled to add Antigone and Ismene to the action, countering the writer's original presentation of the tragedy. The Persians is interesting because it is based on real history, namely the routing of the Persian army by the Athenians at Salamis. Eight years are all that separate the battle and Aeschylus' dramatization of it.

I must say that tragedy is the right word for these plays. I would dub them "poor me" dramas. In each case, one or more characters suffers an ignominious fate and bemoans his/her/their lot in life, sometimes cursing the gods to boot. In Prometheus Bound, the giant Prometheus has been chained to a rock on a mountainside as divine punishment for stealing fire from Hephaestas and giving it to humans. Prometheus is proudly defiant and has a word or two to say to just about every man and god he is exposed to. The Persians must have been received very well by the Athenians because it casts Persia and her king Xerxes in a pitiful light. When a long-overdue messenger arrives home with word that the Persian army has been decimated, the whole community wails and mourns their fate; when the defeated Xerxes arrives, he takes the suffering to yet another level, his pride destroyed and replaced with self-loathing and defeatism. Seven Against Thebes details the attack by Polyneices and his followers on his brother Eteocles and the city of Thebes. While much of the play consists of the naming of the opposing champions to lead the fight at each gate, I was most interested in the dialogue between the chorus of Theban women and Eteocles. The women rush in fright to the statues of the gods, pleading for mercy and grieving over their fate. Eteocles is offended by their defeatist words, saying such talk will spread doubt and fear among the city's defenders and is an injustice reflecting a loss of faith in the gods whose likenesses they are embracing.

I consider The Suppliants the best of these four dramas, as it contains some action whereas the other plays are basically static in setting. The story of Io, a fair maiden turned into a cow/human creature and cursed by a maddening gadfly by Hera due to Zeus' pursuit of her, forms a provocative background to this tale. Io's descendants number 50 women and 50 men, and the lustful men seek to forcibly take their female cousins for wives. The women run to Argos and seek the protection of its king and people, setting the stage for a great battle (which unfortunately takes place in a lost drama).

I enjoyed these dramas, although I can't say I would care to see them presented on stage. For the most part, nothing happens, but everyone is miserable and none too shy to broadcast that misery. There can be no mistaking these plays for comedies, yet they do speak to timeless matters of the human spirit even today.

So I don't like Greek drama - sue me........1999-09-22

Call me an ignoramus if you like, but I just don't like Greek drama. Prometheus Bound is the third one I've tried - after Oedipus Rex and The Clouds - and I've found them all lacking, the tragedies overblown and rigid, the comedy an imposter to the name. It's not an antipathy to antique culture per se - Homer's epics overflow with life, Ovid is a master of imagery, incident and invention, Juvenal's spleen is still bracing. It's just hard for anyone raised on Shakespeare, Wilde, Ionesco or Beckett to actually care about these rudimentary dinosaurs. I'm sure they're not really rudimentary - they must have some complexity and relevance for fusty dons to thrill over them for so many centuries, but I'm hanged if I can spot what they see in them. Just because they were the first doesn't make them the best. I grant that much will be lost in translation, especially the poetry, but as a conflict of ideas rather than people, it seems a didactic, airless, undramatic thing. Not that there aren't merits: for all its philosophy, there is a remarkable physicality to its opening, a still shocking violence I hadn't experienced since The Bald Primadonna. Although there is subsequently little of visual interest, there is a wonderful faith in storytelling, a transmutation of the present moment into the mythological or historical through imagination, that is reminiscent of magic realism. Io's plight is very moving on paper, until you visualise her as a cow perpetually pestered by a wasp, it is very difficult to suppress the giggles. Prometheus' prophecy of ther forthcoming adventures verges on the beautiful, fusing the visionary and the actually painful. In general, though, the antique mindset is too remote for me - I'd rather read Joyce.

Excellent translations of the four non-Oresteian plays........1999-05-15

Vellacott has supplied us with excellent translations with commentaries on the four non-Oresteian plays. The seven plays of Aeschylus should be read by every college-level student, irrespective of their major (I'm in the sciences and I have enjoyed them). The popular "Prometheus Bound" is concerned with the conflict between force and injustice on one side and intelligence, justice, and altruism on the other. The Titan Prometheus, who has stolen fire from heaven and given it to Earth's mortal inhabitants, is being punished for his presumption by being bound to a rock on Mount Caucasus and tortured. He can foretell the future, but refuses to tell Zeus the secret of Zeus' downfall. "The Persians" is the least read play; probably because it has very little action. But, I like it. It is the oldest surviving play based on an event of recent history. The play was first produced in 472 B. C., only eight years after the Battle of Salamis. The speech by the Messenger in the play is the earliest known historical account of that battle. A disgraced Xerxes follows the Messenger. Interestingly, this play also contains the earliest known appearance by a ghost in a drama. "The Suppliants" is the first play of a trilogy, has very little action, and is merely a prologue to the two missing members of the trilogy. The fifty daughters of Danaus are fleeing from the fifty sons of Aegyptus, their cousins. The daughters seek sanctuary from Pelasgus, King of Argos. The play, and probably the trilogy, focuses on when city-states should give sanctuary to others. "Seven Against Thebes" is a retelling of the war between the sons of Oedipus, Eteocles and Polyneices. They were to supposed to share power in Thebes but have quarrelled. Eteocles seizes power and Polyneices goes to get help from Adrastus, King of Argos, and six other kings. Eteocles sends champions to fight the six kings at six of the gates of Thebes. The seventh gate is left to Eteocles. However, that is the gate to which his brother comes. Eteocles feels that he has no choice but to fight and further incur the wrath of the gods by shedding kindred blood. Eteocles had an "out" of his predicament but he choses not to use it. "When the gods send destruction there is no escape."

Greek Tragedies, Vol. I (Agamemnon, Prometheus Bound, Oedipus the King, Antigone, Hippolytus)

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Uprightness of heart

Greek Tragedies, Vol. I (Agamemnon, Prometheus Bound, Oedipus the King, Antigone, Hippolytus)

Manufacturer: Univ of Chicago Pr (Tx)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Customer Reviews:

Uprightness of heart.......2004-12-31

ANTIGONE portrays a sister's honorable act of burying her brother. HIPPOLYTUS tells of a young man resisting temptation. Phaedra, faced with love, first elects silence, and then seeks to conquer it with discretion and good sense. Phaedra's confession to the nurse is related to the husband's son. Phaedra dies by her own hand and Theseus, the husband, misguidedly orders the banishment of his son.

This is a fabulous collection of some of the best plays ever written. The translations are excellent. Aeschylus's AGAMEMNON and PROMETHEUS BOUND are included. Brightness, austerity, directness are qualities in the works serving to give joy to the readers. Cassandra foretells Agememnon's doom.

Prometheus, in PROMETHEUS BOUND believes that one day Zeus will come to him in amity. Prometheus gave mortals hope, and his conduct is perceived as a criminal enterprise by Zeus. Prometheus believes that all that the mortals have came from him. Hermes scolds Prometheus as a thief of fire. Prometheus avers that there is no disgrace in suffering.

The volume also contains OEDIPUS THE KING, Sophocles. Creon and Oedipus have been commanded to drive out the pollution from the land. Creon is brother to Queen Jocasta. Oedipus believes his father Polybus of Corinth has died a natural death and that he has escaped the prophecy. He then learns that Polybus is not his father. Jocasta begs him to stop his inquiries. As he seeks to unravel the mystery of his birth and his fate, tragedy ensues.

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An ecclectic collection of excellent plays (12 that is)

Twelve Plays For Theatre
Robert Cohen
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Book Description

This anthology of plays provides a balance of historical and contemporary masterpieces. The introductory remarks provide historical, literary, and bibliographic context.

Customer Reviews:

An ecclectic collection of excellent plays (12 that is).......2006-01-23

Note that the translated plays (e.g. Moliere, Machiavelli, Aeschylus, Ibsen, etc) may be different than other current translations, but are still good.

A listing of the plays is as follows:

PART I. THE CLASSICAL TRADITION
1. Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound
2. Niccolò Machiavelli, Clizia
3. William Shakespeare, Hamlet
4. Molière, The Misanthrope
PART II. INFLUENCES ON MODERN DRAMA
5. Georg Büchner, Woyzeck
6. Henrik Ibsen, A Doll's House
7. Bernard Shaw, Major Barbara
8. Tennessee Williams, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
PART III. THE CURRENT GENERATION
9. David Mamet, Glengarry Glen Ross
10. Jane Wagner, The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe
11. August Wilson, Joe Turner's Come and Gone
12. David Henry Hwang, M. Butterﬂy

Three Greek Plays: Prometheus Bound / Agamemnon / The Trojan Women

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Three Greek Plays

Three Greek Plays: Prometheus Bound / Agamemnon / The Trojan Women
Edith Hamilton
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Customer Reviews:

Three Greek Plays.......2007-05-13

Edith Hamilton does such a fine piece of work. We gave it as a gift to an an admirer of Edith Hamilton. Joyfully received.

Prometheus Bound: Science in a Dynamic 'Steady State'

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Prometheus Bound: Science in a Dynamic 'Steady State'

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Book Description

This book is a trenchant analysis of the profound changes that are taking place in the whole scientific enterprise throughout the world. The author does not assume the reader has any technical knowledge of the natural sciences, their history, or politics, and addresses his book to everybody who is concerned about the future of science and its place in society.

The Complete Greek Tragedies Volume 1 Aeschylus I Agamemnon the Libation Bearers the Eumenides Prometheus Bound

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The Complete Greek Tragedies Volume 1 Aeschylus I Agamemnon the Libation Bearers the Eumenides Prometheus Bound
David / Lattimore, Richmond / Aeschylus I Greene
Manufacturer: Modern Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000IJQ8NG

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Prometheus Bound (Oberon Classics)
Aeschylus
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Prometheus Bound, Translated from the Greek of Aeschylus; and Miscellaneous Poems (Collected Works of Elizabeth Barrett Browning)

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The Browning translation of Aeschylus's "Prometheus Bound"

Prometheus Bound, Translated from the Greek of Aeschylus; and Miscellaneous Poems (Collected Works of Elizabeth Barrett Browning)
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Manufacturer: Classic Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding

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Customer Reviews:

The Browning translation of Aeschylus's "Prometheus Bound".......2004-08-31

There was a point at which some critics contended that "Prometheus Bound" was not actually written by Aeschylus, arguing that someone else, perhaps his son Euphorion, who was also a dramatist, The argument hinged on the portrait of Zeus in the play, which is highly critical of the king of the Gods and at odds with the wise and just Zeus of the "Orestia." Since we have only a half-dozen complete plays of the ninety Aeschylus is believed to have written, it is difficult to make a judgment regarding his entire body of work. However, we do have fragments from the other plays in the trilogy, "Prometheus Unbound" and "Prometheus the Fire-Carrier," which suggest that what happens in this first play sets the stage for an evolving Zeus, who eventually finds his better nature when he achieves a reconciliation with the rebel Titan. Given the dramatic scope of the "Orestia," with its evolving notion of justice, it seems to me reasonable enough that Aeschylus was attempting something similar with this trilogy.

"Prometheus Bound" finds the titan, who defied Zeus and gave humanity the saving gift of fire (among other sins), bound on a remote mountain peak with iron spikes driven through his flesh by the unwilling Hephaestus and his assistants Might and Violence, allegorical figures who define the source of Zeus's power. The scenes of the play consist of a series of dialogues between Prometheus and the ancient god Oceanus (the chorus consists of the daughters of Oceanus), Io, a woman turned into a cow because of Zeus's attentions, and Hermes, who wants to know the secret held by Prometheus that threatens the power of Zeus. Prometheus (whose name means "foresight") refuses and is then cast into the underworld to be punished further. At the heart of the play is the conflict between the immovable will of Prometheus and the irresistible force of the power of Zeus.

Clearly this tragedy speaks to an archetypal human condition, wherein physical power seeks to break the mind of an individual to its will. The audience is caught in a dilemma, for on one side is the king of the gods and on the other is the savior of humanity, for without the gift of fire early man was doomed. Indeed, that was clearly the intent of Zeus. Consequently, like Prometheus, the audience is caught between their own rock and a hard place. Fortunately, by the end of the trilogy Aeschylus gives his audience an out, for the Zeus who is represented in this play is transformed into a more acceptable deity in the end. Even without those plays and knowing the innovative brilliance of Aeschylus as a tragic dramatist, we can certainly appreciate the overall story arc that begins with this play. For teachers who do not want to contend with the entire "Orestia" or have to contend with editing it down for students, "Prometheus Bound" represents a single work by Aeschylus that is equally as pivotal to our understanding of classical mythology.

This particular translation of "Prometheus Bound" is by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, the most respected female poet of the Victorian age. At the age of 14 Browning published her first collection of verse, "The Battle of Marathon," and her translation of "Prometheus Bound" and other poems was published annonymously thirteen years later in 1833 to high praise (her greatest work, "Sonnets from the Portugueses" would be published in 1850). Consequently, while this particular translation is gettng nearer to being two centuries old, it does have the quality of being done by someone who was a great poet in their own right.

Aeschylus II (The Complete Greek Tragedies)

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Aeschylus II (The Complete Greek Tragedies)

Manufacturer: Washington Square Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000BFXVGE

Product Description

Aechylus II is a componet of "The Complete Greek Tragedies" Series. This volume contains the following plays of Aechylus: "The Suppliant Maidens", "The Persians", "Seven Against Thebes", and "Prometheus Bound".

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