Prometheus Bound

7:00 pm 28 January 2015

This review can be found in its entirety on my blog:
Reckless Indulgence | of the Written Word

I read this play for the Play On Reading Challenge.

An enjoyable read! I'm glad I finally got the opportunity to read the play behind the famous motif of Prometheus, friend of man. The basic understanding behind the myth is a simple one: Prometheus gives gifts to man and in doing so saves them from Zeus' destruction, for which he is punished and left in eternal torment.

What struck me as rather interesting was the fact that he not only gave fire to mankind, but he also gave Man hope. This, beyond anything else, may very well be the gift that outshines all others. For one thing is for certain: Man's ability to hope and believe without proof, without a shadow of a doubt in things unseen, unheard, unknown... literally puts mankind leagues beyond all other creation. By having hope and being able to see beyond the immediate dire-ness of a situation, human beings can strive to accomplish so much. All on the hope that one day things will be better. Change can happen. If you believe it, you dreams can come true.

It's almost comical in a way, that Zeus should be so angered by the gift of fire being handed over to the mortals, instead of the gift of hope. Especially since it is Man's capacity to hope which ensures their continued survival even to this day.

Hands down, this play might be among my favourites of the Greek tragedies. Namely for its exquisite metaphors and parallels when comparing it to other myths of firebringers and helpers of mankind.

Highly recommended! I'm definitely going to give this one another read this year.

Reckless Indulgence on BL

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Prometheus Bound