“For some say, you either die a hero or live long enough to be a villain.”
Immortality he questioned,
Was it truly a gift or in reality, a curse.
To humanity, fire he fashioned,
Defied those who ruled him, only for the worse.
He gave them light, yet they chose to bury themselves in the darkness.
He questioned if any good came out of Pandora’s box,
For if there was hope, it was gone in the rocks.
He was enraged, saddened, and worst of all — defeated.
Maybe Zeus was right, not a single mortal deserved it,
Not after the suffering he endured.
Despite the healing wounds, a growing hole was now present in his heart.
“Oceanus, the great titan of the sea
I require your aid, as you once offered me”
“Just like all good things must come to an end,
Humanity, I believe, have had its time to spend”
“Join me as we free the titans, our kin
From the depth of Tartarus, where they’re in”
“What was once a prophecy would soon be the truth,
For no one can escape the Fates view
It’s time for the downfall of Zeus”
And soon the Earth started to tremble,
As the pits of Tartarus disassembled.
Storms brewed and the weather changed,
For Zeus no longer remained.
The oceans rose in glee,
Oceanus was once again the master of the seas.
This is not the beginning of the end, but simply the end of the beginning.
He bid farewell to his own creation,
Humanity’s actions were beyond redemption.
From fire they came and from fire they too shall end.
For he was disheartened and could no longer pretend.
He was blinded by pain and misery, and soon darkness too swallowed him whole.
Sacrifice he questioned,
Was it truly for the better good.
If it would leave you imprisoned,
Forever misunderstood.
What was once a gift was now curse, and all of humanity would be damned to burn.
ANALYSIS:
Prometheus, the primordial titan, had always had an interesting character arc. He saved humanity, and yet was punished for what should be considered an honourable service (Lucian, Dialogue of the Gods 5.1). This has always been an alluring point of debate in psychology. Would someone who have endured a lifetime of suffering due to the greater good hold no grudge, or would he be forgiving, and let is pass by. In the passage above, we explored the possibility of a more vengeful Prometheus, in which he succumbed to the darkness, and as a result punished humanity by burning the world.
Before diving in to the narrative itself, we can first take a look at the use of verses instead of paragraphs. Ancient greek literature was often in the form of poetry rather than prose. This instills a more authoritative tone, in order to persuade readers to believe that the written text hold some truth in the world. The choice of writing the text in verses was a way of mimicking that tone, to convey a more authoritative way of story telling.
As can be seen from Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound, Prometheus had a genuine liking for the mortals, so far as mentioning that he saved them from their doom (Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 250-258). If we go a little deeper and elaborate on this we can go as far as saying that there is the possibility of a heartbreak if he were to see the state of humanity today. He gave the mortals fire, so that they may thrive as a race, but instead what he saw was only discord, with war and the lack of justice. This should bring him great sorrow, considering that he paid the price so that the mortals may live.
In relation to that, we have the concept of Pandora’s box. Before the jar was opened, it was said that humanity lived free from toil and ill, but once it was opened all evil sprung out leaving behind only hope (Hesiod, Works and Days 90-105). There are two main takeaways that we can infer from this passage. The first point goes back to Prometheus’ heartbreak for seeing the state of humanity, further fuelling his regret. He feels that although hope was there, he can no longer see it, and that the evil in the world was too great, hence humanity can no longer be saved.
The second point revolves around his resentment towards Zeus. In Hesiod’s Works and Days, it was stated that Zeus was behind the creation of said box. Not only did he punish Prometheus for giving man fire (Apollodorus, The Library 1.7.1), but he goes one step further and wreaks havoc on them. If we take a psychological approach to this matter, we can easily conclude that Prometheus would have some sort of bitterness towards him, and would be in favour of Zeus’ downfall. The choice of including the Fates in the passage was not only a nod to the old prophecy, but also acts as a way for Prometheus to get his revenge.
Prometheus does so by revealing the prophecy, in which it was said that even Zeus can’t escape what has been foretold (Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 507-518). It can be considered somewhat ironic that it was believed there was no way to escape the will of Zeus, yet Zeus himself was defeated by the will of fate. Instead of choosing to portray fate as a concept, the choice of referring to them as deities with powers (Fulgentius, Mythologies 1.8) was done for poetic purposes. We are familiar with the old tale of how Cronos dethroned his father Uranus, and how his descendant, Zeus, defeated him (Apollodorus, The Library 1.2.1). The Fates, coincidentally, were also Zeus’ offspring (Hesiod, Theogony 901-906). Hence the idea of having this cycle, where his own progeny was behind his own doom, would tie in well with the Greek concept of completion, or coming full circle.
While in the topic of family, next we can dissect Prometheus’ call for Oceanus. In the passage Prometheus employed the help of Oceanus to free the titans. The connection between Prometheus and Oceanus might be farfetched to the non-trained eye, however this can simply be explained by an excerpt from Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound. In his book, it was stated that Oceanus once offered to help Prometheus while he was in chains on Mount Caucasus (Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 286). Clearly Oceanus is drawn to offer help because of his bonds of kinship, as Prometheus is a fellow Titan, as well as his son-in-law. Though Prometheus denied his offer the first time, this made the idea of calling Oceanus up for a favour understandable, for he once came to Prometheus’ aid when he was at his lowest.
Finally we will consider the relation of this myth and the real world. There are four key effects of global warming — increase in disasters, change in climate, rise in sea levels, and major climbs in temperature. We could analyse how each of these effects are brought upon by one of the four important events happening within the myth, as well as how concepts introduced in ancient texts come together to bring about this union of events.
First there’s the increase in disasters, more specifically earthquakes. The connection that was made between this real world event and its mythological counterpart was the freeing of the titans, as can be seen from the lines "and soon the Earth started to tremble, as the pits of Tartarus disassembled". It is known that the titans were imprisoned deep in the pits of Tartarus, down beneath the Earth (Hesiod, Theogony 713-725). The breaking of this cage would, hypothetically, shake the grounds of the Earth, resulting in a net global increase of earthquakes.
Next we have the fall of Zeus. Zeus was known to be the ruler of the skies, often depicted as having the power of controlling storms and the weather. The lines "storms brewed and the weather changed, for Zeus no longer remained" indicated that Zeus was no longer able to control the skies, which could explain the drastic change in climate, with more hurricanes and extreme rains.
Following the change in weather, there’s the rise in sea levels. With Zeus defeated and the Titans set free, it would once again be the age of the Titans. This means that Oceanus would once more have dominion of the seas. In the myth above this idea was expressed by how the seas awaited for the return of its true master, "the oceans rose in glee," resulting in the rise in sea levels, contrasting the more scientific explanation of the melting of ice caps. This choice was done as there was a clear lack of gods and goddesses in ancient greek text that was involved with the cold or snow, however there were two deities that had clear control over the seas, Poseidon and Oceanus. Hence this choice was made to maintain integrity and relevance to the older canonical texts.
And last we have the most prominent effect of all, the major climbs in temperature. This phenomenon can be aetiologically explained by Prometheus’ wrath and how he turned his gift of fire to a curse. He felt so defeated, not by the fact that he was caught by Zeus and as a result punished, but due to the fact that he now knows that no mortal deserved the aid he had given them.
In summary, we can consider the following cause and effects. Prometheus’ defiance, by giving mortals the gift of fire, led to his capture and punishment by Zeus. His resentment towards Zeus continued to grow and was further fuelled by the events of Pandora’s box. The prophecy of Zeus’s defeat came true and Prometheus was able to rally the Titans to rule. As a result of all this Tartarus split open as the Earth shakes, the oceans rise as its rightful master ruled once more, the skies thundered as Zeus had left his throne and finally the world burned as humanity failed Prometheus.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Aeschylus (1926). Prometheus Bound. Translated by Smyth, Herbert Weir. London: William Heinemann Ltd. Loeb Classical Library Volumes 145 & 146.
Apollodorus (1921). The Library. Translated by Sir James George Frazer. London: William Heinemann Ltd. Loeb Classical Library Volumes 121 & 122
Fulgentius (1971). Mythologies.Translated by Whitbread, Leslie George. Colombus: Ohio State University Press.
Hesiod (1914). Theogony. Translated by Evelyn-White, H G. London: William Heinemann Ltd. Loeb Classical Library Volume 57.
Hesiod (1914). Works and Days. Translated by Evelyn-White, H G. London: William Heinemann Ltd. Loeb Classical Library Volume 57.
Lucian (1905). Dialogue of the Gods. Translated by Fowler, H W and F G. Oxford: The Clarendon Press.
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