''Prometheus Unbound'' (, ''Promētheus Lyomenos'') is a fragmentary play in the '' Prometheia'' trilogy attributed to the 5th-century BC

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

tragedian

Aeschylus Aeschylus (, ; ; /524 – /455 BC) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek Greek tragedy, tragedian often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek tragedy is large ...

, thought to have followed ''

Prometheus Bound ''Prometheus Bound'' () is an ancient Greek tragedy traditionally attributed to Aeschylus and thought to have been composed sometime between 479 BC and the terminus ante quem of 424 BC. The tragedy is based on the myth of Prometheus, ...

''. ''Prometheus Unbound'' was probably followed by '' Prometheus the Fire-Bringer''. It is concerned with the torments of the Greek mythological figure

Prometheus In Greek mythology, Prometheus (; , , possibly meaning "forethought")Smith"Prometheus". is a Titans, Titan. He is best known for defying the Olympian gods by taking theft of fire, fire from them and giving it to humanity in the form of technol ...

who defies the gods and proceeds to give fire to humanity ( theft of fire), for which he is subjected to eternal punishment and suffering at the hands of

Zeus Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child ...

. The text of the ''Unbound'' survives only in eleven fragments preserved by later authors. Nevertheless, these fragments, combined with prophetic statements made in the first play of the trilogy, allow the reconstruction of a broad outline. A lengthy fragment translated into

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

by the Roman statesman

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...

indicates that the play would have opened with Prometheus visited by a chorus of

Titans In Greek mythology, the Titans ( ; ) were the pre-Twelve Olympians, Olympian gods. According to the ''Theogony'' of Hesiod, they were the twelve children of the primordial parents Uranus (mythology), Uranus (Sky) and Gaia (Earth). The six male ...

. Though

had imprisoned them in

Tartarus In Greek mythology, Tartarus (; ) is the deep abyss that is used as a dungeon of torment and suffering for the wicked and as the prison for the Titans. Tartarus is the place where, according to Plato's '' Gorgias'' (), souls are judged after ...

after the

Titanomachy In Greek mythology, the Titanomachy (; ) was a ten-year war fought in ancient Thessaly, consisting of most of the Titans (the older generation of gods, based on Mount Othrys) fighting against the Twelve Olympians, Olympians (the younger generati ...

, he had at long last granted them clemency. This perhaps foreshadows Zeus's eventual reconciliation with Prometheus in the trilogy's third installment. Prometheus complains about his torment just as he had to the chorus of

Oceanids In Greek mythology, the Oceanids or Oceanides ( ; , ) are the nymphs who were the three thousand (a number interpreted as meaning "innumerable") daughters of the Titan (mythology), Titans Oceanus and Tethys (mythology), Tethys. Description an ...

in ''Prometheus Bound''. As the ''dramatis personae'' of ''Prometheus Bound'' erroneously lists Gaea, it has been suggested that she is next to visit Prometheus in this play, in a sympathetic role that echoes

Oceanus In Greek mythology, Oceanus ( ; , also , , or ) was a Titans, Titan son of Uranus (mythology), Uranus and Gaia, the husband of his sister the Titan Tethys (mythology), Tethys, and the father of the River gods (Greek mythology), river gods ...

' turn in the first play. Finally, the faulty ''dramatis personae'' mentioned above and several fragments indicate that

Heracles Heracles ( ; ), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a Divinity, divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of ZeusApollodorus1.9.16/ref> and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive descent through ...

visits the Titan just as Io had in ''Prometheus Bound''. Heracles kills the eagle that had been torturing Prometheus by eating his regenerating liver every day and frees the Titan. Again mirroring events in the previous play, Prometheus forecasts the travels of Hercules as he concludes his Twelve Labours. The play thus concludes with Prometheus free from the torments of Zeus, but the Titan and Olympian have yet to reconcile. It inspired the play of the same title by

Percy Bysshe Shelley Percy Bysshe Shelley ( ; 4 August 1792 – 8 July 1822) was an English writer who is considered one of the major English Romantic poets. A radical in his poetry as well as in his political and social views, Shelley did not achieve fame durin ...

References

{{Authority control Plays by Aeschylus Lost plays Prometheus Plays based on classical mythology

See also

References