“For them the height of evil waits implacable to pay them back in suffering for pride and godlessness.”

Sublime. Nearly 2500 years ago, Aeschylus was examining questions that still haunt us: the cost of war; the duty to shelter refugees even at the cost of peace; savagery vs. justice; and the nature of the universe - who determines Fate? Can even the gods escape it?

My favorite in this volume and of all the plays is “Prometheus Bound”, followed closely by “Agamemnon” from the first volume. All are worth reading, though, and watching, if we should be so lucky as to ever have the opportunity to see a performance.

“Nothing is sweeter than life lived, as long as this may be, always to hope and feast, keep the heart while it throbs alive, lit up with happiness.”

Some have compared Prometheus to Jesus Christ. Certainly the opening scene of Aeschylus's play, with Prometheus splayed upon a rock as he is bound by Hephaestus, invites the comparison. I would not go so far and see the interplay between the Greek gods to be the relevant context for this scene. Played out at the "world's limit" in a bleak setting the drama portrays Prometheus suffering punishment for making humans "intelligent and masters of their minds". (line 444)

Prometheus' crime is not the only reason for his punishment for the chorus tells us that there is a war going on between the "Old" gods (Olympians) and the new generation of Gods. Zeus is seeking to maintain his primacy while Prometheus and his brothers are the dangerous new gods on the block. Atlas is suffering as well carrying the weight of the whole world on his back. The scales are not even - their is nothing like fairness or justice in this world. Prometheus is doomed even as he is visited by Io who is also suffering due to Hera's jealous rage over Zeus's attentions.

Being a god does not seem to lead to a completely pleasant life - there is strife and anger at every turn even for the most powerful. The winners in this play seem to be humans who do not have to relinquish the gifts endowed them by Prometheus. However, even these can be seen as a two-edged sword for our ancestors who had to endure hardships of many kinds in the struggle of living in the world. Prometheus cries out "O sky that circling brings light to all, you see how unjustly I suffer!" (lines 1091-2) Could that be our own cry even today?

Aeschylus in the editorial hands of Grene and Lattimore is stunning. The language is some of the most gripping I have read. In its juxtaposition of the divine and earthly, both in terms of individuals and themes, Aeschylus brings the glory of Greek Mythology to full fruition. This attention to balance, between characters -- when they argue (and their rhetoric is always beautifully eloquent, with the ultimate aim being Modesty) -- and in plot -- brother against brother, war in general, brings about a wonderful sense of calm amid all the strife that is found within the plays' themes. To me, that is spiritual in itself.

These four plays (all of which are the only surviving parts of trilogies) are suggestive, spare, and varied, and "Prometheus Bound" is likely my favorite ancient Greek tragedy. I'll take this over the Oresteia.

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Persialaiset ja Seitsemän Teebaa vastaan eivät oikein jaksa innostaa minua, mutta Turvananojat ja Kahlehdittu Prometheus onneksi pelastavat kokoelman, etenkin Prometheus-näytelmä (jonka olen lukenut aiemmin jo englanninnoksena) on aika huippu. Maarit Kaimion suomennokset ja johdannot kullekin näytelmälle selityksineen ovat moitteettomia.

Persialaisten "ongelma" on yksinkertaisesti vain se, että näytelmän aihe (Persian kuninkaan Kserkseen sotaretken epäonnistuminen ja sen aiheuttama suru) ei minua yhtään kiinnosta. Muutenhan näytelmä on kyllä ihan mielenkiintoinen lajinsa edustaja - esim. se on ainut meille säilynyt kreikkalainen tragedia, joka ei käsittele myyttiä vaan historiallista tapahtumaa.

Toisaalta Seitsemän Teebaa vastaan perustuu minua henkkoht kiinnostavaan mytologiseen aiheeseen (Oidipuksen poikien Eteokleen ja Polyneikeen kamppailu Teeban kuninkuudesta), mutta sen käsittely kyseisessä näytelmässä ei minua oikein vakuuta. Suurimmaksi osaksi siksi, että keskeisenä hahmona on misogynistinen Eteokles.

Sen sijaan Turvananojissa keskeisessä roolissa on - sangen epätavallisesti - näytelmän kuoro, joka koostuu Libyan kuninkaan Danaoksen 50 tyttärestä. Naiset anovat turvaa Argoksen kaupungista, sillä he eivät halua mennä naimisiin Egyptin kuninkaan poikien kanssa. Kunpa koko näytelmätrilogia, jonka ensimmäinen osa Turvananojat on, olisi säilynyt!

Myös Prometheus-trilogia olisi mielenkiintoista lukea kokonaisuudessaan - Kahlehdittu Prometheus on sekin trilogian aloittava näytelmä. Se kertoo Prometheuksesta, jota Zeus-ylijumala on rankaissut kauhistuttavalla tavalla kahlitsemalla hänet kallioon rautakiila rinnan lävitse lyötynä. Prometheuksen voi nähdä kapinallisena, joka yrittää taistella yksinvaltiastyrannia vastaan.

i do enjoy the story of prometheus and i was very glad that we are discussing this in class, however prometheus is a pick me man who should learn to shut up because he is annoying!!!

book 1 for my drama and transgression: from prometheus to faust module

DrAAAA-Maaaaa!!!!

An ancient classic that seems like it shouldn't work but is done so well it does. Technically speaking not much happens in the play. Besides a little scene setting most of the play is just Prometheus telling his story and others listening and reacting to what he says. There isn't much movement just a lot of talking. That should make this a pretty boring piece but the story that Prometheus tells is so riveting that the piece feels very action packed, regardless of the complete loss of actual action.

It is theorized that Prometheus Bound is really only the first installment in a trilogy and, except for a few scraps, the next two entries in the series are lost. That is really too bad because, even though mythology tells us how the story ends, I would still have loved to have read the whole series

I find the ancient Greeks to be a fascinating bunch. I'm slowly learning about their culture and beliefs, their love of wine and the olive, and of discourse and philosophy. They loved competition; the Panhellenic Games -- boxing, wrestling, foot races, etc., the genesis of the Olympic Games today -- was a staple of their society which managed to bring together the city-states of Hellas. This love of the contest also extended into the realm of the drama. The Greek citizen enjoyed watching plays come alive in the open-aired theatres. The playwrights vied for the honor of having their play chosen as the best.

This work provides four of Aeschylus' work that have survived. Each of these plays were originally parts of a trilogy and unfortunately those works were lost to time, and so what we have left are these unfinished stories. The only trilogy that we have in completion is the Oresteia, which I plan to read at some point.

Here is a quick review of each play:

The Suppliant Maidens: A short play about maidens who have taken flight from Egypt to prevent being forcefully married to their cousins. They arrive in Argos and beg the the king of the city to give them refuge. I wasn't blown away but its important to note that this is 1 part of a lost trilogy so who knows what the rest of the play was like. 2/5 stars.

The Persians: Another short drama written in the point of view of the Persians after their loss at Salamis. In the introduction it says that plays humanizing the enemy were unthought of in ancient Greece. I enjoyed it because the melancholy and lamentations come through very well. You feel for the losers of the war. 3/5 stars.

Seven Against Thebes: Oedipus's son Eteocles, who is now king of Thebes, protects the city against an attack from his brother Polynices and six other great warriors. I enjoyed the writing in this one; very poetic. It's a cool addition to the three Theben plays by Sophocles. Fate wasn't kind to poor Oedipus. 4/5 stars.

Prometheus Bound: The story of Prometheus is my favorite of Greek myths and I was not disappointed with this one. The language was beautiful. Prometheus is wise and defiant. Hermes is an asshole but Prometheus lays down a lyrical smackdown. I loved it. I would've loved to see how this one ended. 5/5 stars.

Four plays by Aeschylus: Prometheus Bound in which Prometheus, while bound to a rock as punishment by Zeus for helping humans and giving them fire, is visited by Io, who has been turned into a cow by a jealous Hera and tortured by a biting gadfly; Prometheus tells Io the route she must take to get to the delta of the Nile where she will found a nation.
The Suppliants in which the descendants of Io and Zeus (I won’t tell you what happens when he catches her,) fifty sisters fleeing their fifty males cousins, the sons of Aegyptus, who want to force them into marriage, arrive in Argos and seek refuge from King Pelasgus, appealing to their heritage as Argos through Io and Zeus.
Seven Against Thebes which is the end of the story of the cursed family of Oedipus and his father Laius, when sons of Oedipus meet in battle over the kingdom.
And to end on a different note, The Persians in which a messenger returns from the Battle of Salamis to report on the carnage to the court and the mother of King Xerxes.

Again, theses are classics for good reason and are an excellent way to spend an evening. Highly recommended.

“misfortune wanders everywhere, and settles now upon one and now upon another.”

See four plays are all really fragments as they portions of larger cycles dealing the same characters or themes. Imagine sitting down to read Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and having only Volume 3 available. Or only being able to watch Attack of the Clones but knowing five other Star Wars films once existed. Frustrating. Like the lost plays of William Shakespeare, the plays contained in this slim volume only tease us with what the completed stories might have authored. These are good examples of dissecting the human condition, but they only hint at what the author may have truly had in mind in telling them.

Two of the four stood out for me.
Prometheus Unbound is an interesting fraction (?) of a larger play, the rest of the pieces have been sadly lost, but it still works well on its own. Prometheus is the prototype rebel against authority, but he is also the prototype of the teacher. This makes him a very fascinating character study. In this play we see the results of his struggles against Zeus's authority and the consequences of his delivery of fire into the hands of mankind. It's a pity the other two (?) plays detailing the Prometheus chronicle by Aeschylus have been lost.

The Persians was also very interesting. A tagedy written by a Greek but from the point of view of a Persian who wanted to enslave the Greeks. Not what I expected.one would think that a historical tragedy would portray the Persians as monsters, villains and the stereotypical political enemy. Instead the Persians are humanely noble; which, of course, make sthe tragedy work. It was also interesting that this was a historical tragedy, most (all?) Greek plays I am familiar with deal with mythological stories and characters. This is in many ways a very unique example of Greek theater.