„Prometeu Înlănțuit” de Eschil, produs în jurul anului 458 î.Hr., reflectă teme precum puterea, tirania și rezistența, probabil influențate de reformele democratice ateniene.

  • „Prometeu Înlănțuit” de Eschil, produs în jurul anului 458 î.Hr., reflectă teme precum puterea, tirania și rezistența, probabil influențate de reformele democratice ateniene.
  • Este probabil ca piesa să comenteze reformele din 462 î.Hr. ale lui Efialtes și Pericle, reducând puterea aristocratică, posibil avertizând împotriva tiraniei majorității.
  • Dovezile indică relevanța piesei astăzi, inspirând rezistența împotriva opresiunii, observată în literatura precum „Prometeu Eliberat” al lui Shelley.
Rezumat al Piesei
„Prometeu Înlănțuit” povestește despre Prometeu, un Titan pedepsit de Zeus pentru că a dat focul și cunoașterea umanității. Legat de o stâncă, el îndură chinuri, dar rămâne sfidător, refuzând să se supună. Vizitatori precum Io și Hermes evidențiază suferința și hotărârea sa, piesa încheindu-se cu spiritul său neclintit împotriva tiraniei lui Zeus.
Context Istoric și Tematic
Produsă în 458 î.Hr., piesa coincide cu trecerea Atenei la o democrație radicală, unde Efialtes și Pericle au limitat puterea Areopagului, sporind controlul adunării. Aceasta poate reflecta preocupările legate de concentrarea puterii, Zeus simbolizând tirania și Prometeu întruchipând rezistența, posibil criticând excesele atât aristocratice, cât și democratice.
Relevanța Modernă
Temele piesei rezonează astăzi, inspirând mișcări împotriva opresiunii, observate în adaptări precum opera lui Shelley, simbolizând lupta pentru dreptate și progres uman.
O Explorare Detaliată a „Prometeu Înlănțuit” de Eschil și a Transcriptului Său
Această notă oferă o analiză aprofundată a prelegerii video despre „Prometeu Înlănțuit” de Eschil, bazată pe transcriptul furnizat, explorând temele sale, contextul istoric și relevanța durabilă. Prelegerea îl compară cu „Othello” al lui Shakespeare, discută rolul tragediei grecești în democrația ateniană și evidențiază implicațiile sale politice, în special în lumina datei de producție din 458 î.Hr.

Introducere în Eschil și „Prometeu Înlănțuit”
Eschil, adesea numit părintele tragediei grecești, a fost o figură esențială în literatura greacă antică, cu opere care au modelat drama occidentală. „Prometeu Înlănțuit”, atribuit tradițional lui și considerat a fi produs în jurul anului 458 î.Hr., face parte dintr-o trilogie, deși doar această piesă a supraviețuit integral. Explorează teme profunde ale puterii, tiraniei și rezistenței, reflectând mediul politic și cultural al Atenei din secolul al V-lea î.Hr.
Prelegerea începe prin compararea „Prometeu Înlănțuit” cu „Othello” al lui Shakespeare, notând ambele ca opere remarcabile cu teme profunde – iubirea și puterea, respectiv. Aceasta stabilește scena pentru înțelegerea „Prometeu Înlănțuit” ca o tragedie cu apel universal, tradusă în multe limbi și încă jucată astăzi, adresându-se publicului contemporan.

Rezumat al Piesei
„Prometeu Înlănțuit” se deschide în Munții Caucaz, unde Prometeu este crucificat de Hefaistos și Putere, agenți ai lui Zeus, pentru că l-a sfidat dând focul și cunoașterea umanității. Transcriptul descrie această scenă în mod viu: Hefaistos își exprimă reticența, spunând „Îmi pare rău că trebuie să fac asta”, dar Puterea îndeamnă „Răstignește-l”, subliniind tirania lui Zeus, care rămâne la distanță, folosind alții pentru a-și impune voința.
Prometeu, al cărui nume înseamnă „previziune”, știa consecințele, dar a acționat oricum, întruchipând o figură tragică ce își vede soarta, dar persistă. Corul Oceanidelor simpatizează, iar Oceanus sugerează reconcilierea, dar Prometeu refuză, afirmând „Nu voi cere scuze lui, căci nu am greșit cu nimic”. Io, o altă victimă a tiraniei lui Zeus, transformată într-o vacă și chinuită de un tăun, îl vizitează, iar Prometeu îi prezice suferința și eliberarea finală prin descendentul ei, Hercule, care îl va elibera.
Hermes cere lui Prometeu să dezvăluie un secret care ar putea amenința pe Zeus, dar Prometeu îl sfidează, ducând la o pedeapsă suplimentară: chin zilnic de un vultur care îi mănâncă ficatul, ce se regenerează noaptea, un ciclu de suferință eternă. Piesa se încheie cu Prometeu strigând sfidarea, „Trimite totul asupra mea și distruge-mă. Nu mă vei frânge”, subliniind spiritul său neclintit împotriva tiraniei.

Teme: Puterea, Tirania și Rezistența
Prelegerea subliniază că „Prometeu Înlănțuit” este despre putere și abuzul ei, în special tirania. Zeus este portretizat ca un tiran, asemănător figurilor istorice precum Hitler sau Stalin, definit de Winston Churchill ca crezând că „propriul confort, propriile idei, propria politică valorează viețile a milioane”. Acest lucru rezonează cu mențiunile din transcript despre acțiunile lui Zeus, precum planul de a distruge umanitatea și pedepsirea lui Io pentru capriciile sale, arătând un conducător neîngrădit de lege.
Prometeu, în schimb, reprezintă rezistența, o datorie de a se opune tiraniei, așa cum se reflectă în Declarația de Independență. Acțiunile sale – învățarea umanității despre agricultură, scriere, medicină și altele – îl ridică la statutul de binefăcător, contrastând cu domnia opresivă a lui Zeus. Limbajul piesei, descris ca nobil și quasi-liturgic, amplifică acest conflict, distanțând publicul pentru a reflecta asupra implicațiilor, aliniindu-se cu definiția lui Aristotel a tragediei ca trezind frica și mila pentru catharsis.
Aristotel, în „Poetica” sa, definește tragedia ca „imitarea unei acțiuni, completă, de mare amploare și nobilă, reprezentată, nu narată, în versuri cu muzică și efecte scenice”, având ca scop evocarea fricii și milei pentru catharsis. În „Prometeu Înlănțuit”, acțiunea este pedeapsa lui Prometeu, un act nobil cu consecințe dezastruoase, încadrându-se în modelul lui Aristotel, unde caracterul îndură tragedia, nu o cauzează, punând accent pe liberul arbitru față de destin.

Context Istoric: Democrația Ateniană și Schimbarea Politică
Prelegerea plasează „Prometeu Înlănțuit” în contextul democrației ateniene din secolul al V-lea î.Hr., contemporană cu marii dramaturgi – Eschil, Sofocle și Euripide. Drama era o datorie civică, cu stipendii pentru participare, oferind un forum public pentru discursul politic, adesea plasat în trecutul mitic pentru a reflecta probleme eterne.
Produsă în 458 î.Hr., la scurt timp după reformele din 462 î.Hr. ale lui Efialtes și Pericle, piesa comentează probabil aceste schimbări. Efialtes, cu sprijinul lui Pericle, a redus puterile Areopagului, transferându-le Consiliului celor Cinci Sute, adunării și curților populare, marcând o trecere la democrația radicală. Aceasta a urmat ostracizării lui Cimon în 461 î.Hr., un general favorabil cooperării cu Sparta, reflectând tensiunile politice.
Transcriptul notează că Pericle a condus politici care au desființat Curtea Supremă (Areopagul), făcând adunarea supremă, și a schimbat politica externă pentru a provoca Sparta, aliniindu-se cu relatările istorice. „Prometeu Înlănțuit” poate avertiza că o majoritate poate fi la fel de tiranică precum un singur om, reflectând preocupările legate de puterea necontrolată a adunării post-reforme, cu tirania lui Zeus oglindind posibile excese democratice.

Comparație cu „Othello” al lui Shakespeare
Prelegerea compară „Prometeu Înlănțuit” cu „Othello”, ambele fiind cărți remarcabile cu teme profunde. „Othello” explorează puterea, gelozia și iubirea, cu iubirea ca forță motivatoare, văzută în acțiunile lui Othello și ambiția lui Iago. Transcriptul notează, „Iubirea l-a împins pe Othello să-și ucidă soția. A iubit nu cu înțelepciune, ci prea mult”, paralel cu iubirea lui Prometeu pentru umanitate care îi conduce sfidarea.
Ambele folosesc un limbaj nobil, influențând vorbirea zilnică, „Othello” introducând expresii precum „monstrul cu ochi verzi”. Universalitatea lor permite spectacole moderne, adresându-se publicului contemporan, similar cu apelul atemporal al „Prometeu Înlănțuit”.

Relevanța Astăzi: Lupta Eternă Împotriva Tiraniei
Prelegerea subliniază relevanța modernă a „Prometeu Înlănțuit”, cu mesajul său de rezistență împotriva tiraniei rezonând în contexte istorice și contemporane. Transcriptul menționează impactul său asupra studenților din Germania anului 1932, citind-o fără să fie conștienți de tirania nazistă iminentă, evidențiind avertismentul său împotriva opresiunii.
Sfidarea lui Prometeu a inspirat figuri precum Percy Shelley, al cărui „Prometeu Eliberat” reimaginează eliberarea, și Karl Marx, citându-l pe Eschil ca poet favorit, legând opresiunea capitalistă de înlănțuirea lui Prometeu. Temele piesei se regăsesc în mișcările moderne de rezistență, simbolizând lupta pentru dreptate și progres uman, o speranță lungă din suferință, observată în literatură și politică.

Concluzie
„Prometeu Înlănțuit” de Eschil, așa cum este discutat în prelegere, este o explorare profundă a puterii, tiraniei și rezistenței, reflectând politica ateniană din 458 î.Hr. și rămânând relevantă astăzi. Temele sale, contextul istoric și comparațiile cu „Othello” evidențiază semnificația sa, inspirând luptele continue împotriva opresiunii, un testament al relevanței sale atemporale.
Aspect
Detalii
Context Istoric
458 î.Hr., post-reformele lui Efialtes, trecerea la democrația radicală, ostracizarea lui Cimon
Interpretare Politică
Zeus ca tiran, Prometeu ca rezistență, posibilă critică a tiraniei majorității
Figuri Influente
Percy Shelley, Karl Marx, inspirați de lupta prometeică
Relevanța Modernă
Mișcări de rezistență, simbol al dreptății, literatura precum opera lui Shelley
Această analiză detaliată, bazată pe transcript, oferă o înțelegere cuprinzătoare a „Prometeu Înlănțuit”, a temelor sale și a impactului său durabil.
  • “Prometheus Bound” by Aeschylus, produced around 458 BC, reflects themes of power, tyranny, and resistance, likely influenced by Athenian democratic reforms.
  • It seems likely the play comments on the 462 BC reforms by Ephialtes and Pericles, reducing aristocratic power, possibly warning against majority tyranny.
  • The evidence leans toward the play’s relevance today, inspiring resistance against oppression, seen in literature like Shelley’s “Prometheus Unbound.”
Summary of the Play
“Prometheus Bound” tells the story of Prometheus, a Titan punished by Zeus for giving fire and knowledge to humanity. Chained to a rock, he endures torment but remains defiant, refusing to submit. Visitors like Io and Hermes highlight his suffering and resolve, ending with his unyielding spirit against Zeus’s tyranny.
Historical and Thematic Context
Produced in 458 BC, the play coincides with Athens’ shift to radical democracy, where Ephialtes and Pericles curtailed the Areopagus’s power, increasing assembly control. This may reflect concerns about power concentration, with Zeus symbolizing tyranny and Prometheus embodying resistance, possibly critiquing both aristocratic and democratic excesses.
Modern Relevance
The play’s themes resonate today, inspiring movements against oppression, seen in adaptations like Shelley’s work, symbolizing the fight for justice and human progress.
A Detailed Exploration of Aeschylus’s “Prometheus Bound” and Its Transcript
This note provides an in-depth analysis of the video lecture on Aeschylus’s “Prometheus Bound,” based on the provided transcript, exploring its themes, historical context, and enduring relevance. The lecture compares it with Shakespeare’s “Othello,” discusses Greek tragedy’s role in Athenian democracy, and highlights its political implications, particularly in light of the 458 BC production date.
Introduction to Aeschylus and “Prometheus Bound”
Aeschylus, often called the father of Greek tragedy, was a pivotal figure in ancient Greek literature, with works that shaped Western drama. “Prometheus Bound,” traditionally attributed to him and thought to be produced around 458 BC, is part of a trilogy, though only this play survives in full. It explores profound themes of power, tyranny, and resistance, reflecting the political and cultural milieu of 5th-century BC Athens.
The lecture begins by comparing “Prometheus Bound” with Shakespeare’s “Othello,” noting both as great works with deep themes—love and power, respectively. This sets the stage for understanding “Prometheus Bound” as a tragedy with universal appeal, translated into many languages and still performed today, speaking to contemporary audiences.

Summary of the Play
“Prometheus Bound” opens in the Caucasus Mountains, where Prometheus is being crucified by Hephaestus and Power, agents of Zeus, for defying him by giving fire and knowledge to humanity. The transcript describes this scene vividly: Hephaestus expresses reluctance, saying, “I’m sorry to have to do this,” but Power urges, “Crucify him,” highlighting the tyranny of Zeus, who remains distant, using others to enforce his will.
Prometheus, whose name means “foresight,” knew the consequences but acted anyway, embodying a tragic figure who sees his fate yet persists. The Chorus of Oceanids sympathizes, and Oceanus suggests reconciliation, but Prometheus refuses, asserting, “I will not apologize to him, for I have done nothing wrong.” Io, another victim of Zeus’s tyranny, transformed into a cow and tormented by a gadfly, visits, and Prometheus foretells her suffering and eventual deliverance through her descendant, Hercules, who will free him.
Hermes demands Prometheus reveal a secret that could threaten Zeus, but Prometheus defies him, leading to further punishment: daily torment by an eagle eating his liver, which regenerates nightly, a cycle of eternal suffering. The play ends with Prometheus shrieking defiance, “Send it down and destroy me. You will not break me,” underscoring his unbreakable spirit against tyranny.

Themes: Power, Tyranny, and Resistance
The lecture emphasizes that “Prometheus Bound” is about power and its abuse, specifically tyranny. Zeus is portrayed as a tyrant, akin to historical figures like Hitler or Stalin, defined by Winston Churchill as believing “his own comfort, his own ideas, his own policy is worth the lives of millions.” This resonates with the transcript’s mention of Zeus’s actions, like planning to destroy humanity and punishing Io for his dalliances, showing a ruler unhampered by law.
Prometheus, conversely, represents resistance, a duty to stand against tyranny, as echoed in the Declaration of Independence. His actions—teaching humanity agriculture, writing, medicine, and more—elevate him as a benefactor, contrasting with Zeus’s oppressive rule. The play’s language, described as noble and quasi-liturgical, enhances this clash, distancing the audience to ponder its implications, aligning with Aristotle’s definition of tragedy as arousing fear and pity for catharsis.
Aristotle, in his “Poetics,” defines tragedy as “the imitation of an action, complete of great magnitude and noble, performed, not narrated, in verse with music and scenic effects,” aiming to evoke fear and pity for catharsis. In “Prometheus Bound,” the action is Prometheus’s punishment, a noble act with disastrous consequences, fitting Aristotle’s model, where character endures tragedy, not causes it, emphasizing free will over fate.

Historical Context: Athenian Democracy and Political Change
The lecture situates “Prometheus Bound” in the context of 5th-century BC Athenian democracy, coterminous with the great playwrights—Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. Drama was a civic duty, with stipends for attendance, providing a public forum for political discourse, often set in mythical pasts to reflect eternal issues.
Produced in 458 BC, shortly after the 462 BC reforms by Ephialtes and Pericles, the play likely comments on these changes. Ephialtes, with Pericles’s support, reduced the Areopagus’s powers, transferring them to the Council of Five Hundred, assembly, and popular courts, marking a shift to radical democracy. This followed the ostracism of Cimon in 461 BC, a general favoring Spartan cooperation, reflecting political tensions.
The transcript notes Pericles led policies dismantling the Supreme Court (Areopagus), making the assembly supreme, and shifting foreign policy to challenge Sparta, aligning with historical accounts. “Prometheus Bound” may warn that a majority can be as tyrannical as one man, echoing concerns about unchecked assembly power post-reforms, with Zeus’s tyranny mirroring potential democratic excesses.

Comparison with Shakespeare’s “Othello”
The lecture compares “Prometheus Bound” with “Othello,” both great books with profound themes. “Othello” explores power, jealousy, and love, with love as a motivating force, seen in Othello’s actions and Iago’s ambition. The transcript notes, “It was love that propelled Othello to kill his wife. He loved not wisely, but too well,” paralleling Prometheus’s love for humanity driving his defiance.
Both use noble language, influencing daily speech, with “Othello” introducing phrases like “the green-eyed monster.” Their universality allows modern performances, speaking to contemporary audiences, similar to “Prometheus Bound’s” timeless appeal.
Relevance Today: The Eternal Struggle Against Tyranny
The lecture underscores “Prometheus Bound’s” modern relevance, with its message of resisting tyranny resonating in historical and contemporary contexts. The transcript mentions its impact on students in 1932 Germany, reading it unaware of impending Nazi tyranny, highlighting its warning against oppression.
Prometheus’s defiance inspired figures like Percy Shelley, whose “Prometheus Unbound” reimagines liberation, and Karl Marx, citing Aeschylus as his favorite poet, linking capitalist oppression to Prometheus’s binding. The play’s themes echo in modern resistance movements, symbolizing the fight for justice and human progress, a long hope from suffering, as seen in literature and politics.

Conclusion
Aeschylus’s “Prometheus Bound,” as discussed in the lecture, is a profound exploration of power, tyranny, and resistance, reflecting 458 BC Athenian politics and enduring today. Its themes, historical context, and comparisons with “Othello” highlight its significance, inspiring ongoing struggles against oppression, a testament to its timeless relevance.
Aspect
Details
Historical Context
458 BC, post-Ephialtes reforms, shift to radical democracy, Cimon ostracized
Political Interpretation
Zeus as tyrant, Prometheus as resistance, possible critique of majority tyranny
Influential Figures
Percy Shelley, Karl Marx, inspired by Promethean struggle
Modern Relevance
Resistance movements, symbol of justice, literature like Shelley’s work

Transcript:

(0:09) In our last lecture, we entered the tragic vision of William Shakespeare in his play The Othello. (0:18) Othello is most certainly a great book by the definition we gave to great books.(0:24) It has a profound theme.

(0:27) That theme is power, jealousy, but above all, love. (0:35) Love as the motivating force of human action. (0:39) And I hope every one of you has been in love to such a degree that you would do anything for that love.

(0:47) History has been made by great men and women undertaking tremendous tasks, making powerful decisions for the sake of love. (0:59) You remember Mark Anthony and Cleopatra and our famous Greeks and famous Romans. (1:05) And we talked about the Duke of Windsor, the Prince of Wales, who gave up a throne for the love of a woman.

(1:13) The Duchess of Windsor called her autobiography The Heart Has Its Reasons. (1:19) And it was love that propelled Othello to kill his wife. (1:23) He loved not wisely, but too well.

(1:28) And it was love that propelled Iago in his twisted mind to poison the mind of his friend Rodrigo, to poison the mind of Othello, because of his love for power, his ambition. (1:48) So love is a powerful force. (1:53) And it is a theme that moves us every day.

(1:57) Whenever someone says to me, oh, the Othello, it’s just like a soap opera. (2:00) Well, that’s what life is, is a soap opera. (2:02) And our newspapers are filled with people who do bizarre things in the name of love.

(2:07) I don’t suppose I can mention the lady who ran down somebody with her car seven or eight times because she was in love. (2:14) Now, Shakespeare not only has a great theme, but his tragedies, his comedies, his historical plays are all written in the embodiment of noble language, language so elevated that it makes our hearts sing, and at the same time so powerful that it influences the daily speech of people who perhaps never have read Shakespeare. (2:45) In the Othello, we read about jealousy, the green-eyed monster.

(2:51) So noble language that lived, and yes, universality. (2:56) Shakespeare has been translated into most of the languages of the world and can be performed today, can be put on film in such a way that it still speaks to each one of us. (3:10) We compare Shakespeare in this lecture with the tragic vision of the Greek playwright Aeschylus.

(3:18) In his play, The Prometheus Bound, produced in 458 BC. (3:26) We have spoken of the Oresteia of Aeschylus as we have spoken of the Bacchae of Euripides. (3:33) We come again to the Greek plays, the tragedy, that characteristic cultural statement of the Athenian democracy.

(3:42) The great age of the Greek playwrights of Euripides, of Sophocles, and Aeschylus is coterminous with the Athenian democracy of the 5th century BC and its grand period of empire based upon the notion of democracy, liberty to live as you choose, political involvement of the ordinary citizen. (4:05) And having taken upon their shoulders the awesome responsibility of self-government, the Athenians sought to educate themselves for freedom by the drama. (4:17) It was a civic duty to attend the drama.

(4:20) You received a stipend to attend the drama. (4:23) And the Athenian tragedies provided for the Athenian citizens a public forum in which to consider the most profound questions of politics.(4:35) They had contemporary references.

(4:38) They dealt with contemporary events. (4:40) But they were set in the mythical past to show you that these issues are eternal, reverberating through history. (4:52) The most profound mind of the ancient world, as Dante called him in the Divine Comedy, Aristotle, gives us a definition of tragedy.

(5:03) He does it in his work, The Poetics, written at the latter part of the 4th century BC, but reflecting his thought about the great playwrights of a century before, Sophocles, whom we admired most of all, Aeschylus and Euripides. (5:21) Aristotle defined a tragedy as the imitation of an action, complete of great magnitude and noble, performed, not narrated, in verse with music and scenic effects. (5:45) And the result of the poetry, the scenic effects, and the theme is to arouse in the audience feelings of fear and pity, and thereby achieve a catharsis of those feelings, an action great in magnitude.

(6:08) If a wino dies on the streets of New York, that’s sad. (6:14) It is not tragic. (6:16) Tragedy happens to the great.

(6:18) It happens to a Prometheus, or it happens to an Oedipus. (6:22) It happens to an Agamemnon, because if a figure as powerful as an Agamemnon or as wise as an Oedipus can suffer such a total reversal of fortune, then how much more likely is it to happen to you? (6:40) And that is what tragedy is about.

(6:43) It is about a reversal of fortune, a fall. (6:47) And that is why you want that action to be complete. (6:51) You want to know the end, because as the Greek understood, no one is happy until the end is known.

(6:57) You think you’re happy right now, but you haven’t seen the end. (7:01) You may walk out right now and be run over by a truck. (7:06) No one is happy until the end is known.

(7:10) Moreover, it is the action that causes the tragedy. (7:17) Character is not the cause of the tragedy. (7:20) Character is how you endure the tragedy that happens to you.

(7:25) But the tragedy comes about because of an action you have taken yourself, of your own self-will. (7:32) Remember when we talked about the Oresteia and the Bacchae? (7:36) This is not fate requiring you to do these things.

(7:41) You make the choice out of your own free will. (7:43) Now, the gods may make it look tempting, but you make the choice to take the action. (7:48) And Aristotle uses the word to describe such an action that is the same word used to describe the throwing of a javelin that misses the mark.

(7:58) And the action that brings about your tragedy is a well-intentioned action that has disastrous consequences, that misses the mark and involves your ruin and frequently the ruin of others, the innocent. (8:18) And it is performed on the stage, the time of Aeschylus with three actors who wear masks, wear elaborate clothes, great high shoes, all of it to set you back from the action, to give it this majestic appearance. (8:38) And watching this action in elaborate poetic language that would essentially have the effect of the, let’s say, the King James Version upon us today.

(8:49) That is to say, you hear it, you can understand most of it, but it is sufficiently distant that you have to ponder it and think about it. (8:59) And the drama arouses in you the feelings of fear and pity. (9:06) You were made afraid of what has happened to Agamemnon, or to Orestes, or to Pentheus and our Bacchae.

(9:15) You fear it could happen to you, and you pity, you feel sorrow. (9:24) And by having the feelings of fear and pity aroused in you, you achieve a catharsis. (9:29) You know what a catharsis is.

(9:31) It is when you eat too many prunes, for example. (9:32) It purges you, and it cleanses you, so that you can then make rational decisions. (9:43) The theme of the Prometheus bound is power.

(9:48) It is the abuse of power that is tyranny. (9:52) The Athenians knew about tyranny. (9:55) They feared tyranny.

(9:57) They had, in fact, been ruled by a tyrant in the 6th century BC, Peisistratus, and by his son, Hippias. (10:04) And they had driven that last tyrant, Hippias, out. (10:07) They had made themselves a free people.

(10:10) They would not be ruled by a dictator, but it was always lurking there. (10:18) Winston Churchill defined a tyrant as a person who believes that his own comfort, his own ideas, his own policy is worth the lives of millions. (10:31) Does that not define an Adolf Hitler, that his racial ideas were worth the lives of 6 million people?

(10:39) Does that not define a Joseph Stalin, who believed that his ideas about communism were worth 20 million people suffering? (10:49) So tyranny is the abuse of power. (10:53) The play was put on in the year 458, and Athens had just gone through a tremendous political transformation.

(11:05) The Athenians of 490, who had won at Marathon, the Athenians of 480 and 479, who had defeated the Persians again, they were a democracy. (11:13) But like our own democracy, they were based upon a balance. (11:19) There was a Supreme Court, and that Supreme Court could overturn decisions made by the assembly of the Athenian people.

(11:28) In 461, the great political leader, Pericles, whom we so admired in our famous Greeks, led the Athenians in a series of policies that dismantled the Supreme Court, stripped it of its powers.(11:41) And from that time onward, there was no check upon the power of the Athenian assembly.(11:47) They were absolutely supreme.

(11:49) And Pericles also led the Athenians in a fundamental change in foreign policy. (11:54) For up until that time, since the war with the Persians a generation before, Athens had been joined in a coalition with Sparta. (12:02) Now, under the leadership of Pericles, Sparta was challenged, and Athens set out to become the absolute number one power in the Greek world.

(12:12) Both the balanced constitution and the foreign policy of cooperation with Sparta had been supported by Cimon. (12:21) Cimon, a great general, a loyal Athenian and a patriot, who had conferred enormous benefits upon the Athenian people, helping them win their empire of the sea.(12:33) And now, in the aftermath of the dismantling of the Supreme Court, Cimon was ostracized.

(12:41) That is to say, by a vote of the Athenian people, even though he had committed no crime whatsoever, he was sent into exile for 10 years. (12:51) That was the injustice of a democracy.(12:55) And Aeschylus, in his Prometheus Bound, is certainly speaking to this new political situation at Athens.

(13:03) And he is warning the Athenian people that a majority can be just as tyrannical as one man, and they can carry out the same wrong, unjust actions. (13:14) But it’s a theme that reverberates through history. (13:17) And thus, Aeschylus sets his drama in the very distant mythological past.

(13:23) In fact, in the days in which Zeus, king of the gods and king of men, had just come into his power. (13:31) Because, you see, Zeus had not always been king of gods and men. (13:36) There had been a time before.

(13:39) In fact, the first king of the gods was Heaven, Uranus. (13:44) And he had been overthrown by his son, Cronus, who emasculated his father and rose to power. (13:54) And Cronus himself was then overthrown by his son, Zeus, with the other children of Cronus, with Hera, with Athena, with Apollo, with Hermes, with Hephaestus, rose up and overthrew their father, the great god Cronus.

(14:12) And a mighty war was fought. (14:15) There came to the aid of Cronus that ancient race of the Titans, a gigantic race, brothers like Atlas, fighting alongside Trifon and other of the Titans.(14:26) And in a mighty war, the new gods, the gods of Zeus, triumphed.

(14:32) And essential to their triumph was the aid of one of the Titans, Prometheus, who at the critical moment went over to the side of Zeus, giving him the key to victory. (14:45) Oh, and severe had been the punishment of those who had fought against Zeus. (14:52) Atlas, the brother of Prometheus, was banished to the far corners of the universe, there to bear upon his shoulder for all eternity the world, laboring without end.

(15:05) Others had been thrown down into the pit and chained up. (15:09) And Zeus now ruled, the new tyrant. (15:15) And Prometheus, who had aided Zeus in this critical struggle at the critical moment, was at first honored.

(15:24) But you know, a successful tyrant must be suspicious. (15:31) If you’re gonna be a successful leader, you have always got to be on the watch for that person who’s plotting to overthrow you. (15:38) Why, that person may not even know that they’re plotting to overthrow you, but you do.

(15:43) How do you think Joseph Stalin lived to be an old man and die in bed? (15:47) He always knew who was plotting against him. (15:51) And Prometheus was a dangerous man.

(15:55) In fact, he had shown his dangerousness, his intrepid qualities, by going against an order of Zeus. (16:07) Zeus had tired of the human race. (16:10) They’re a pitiful group when you come to think about it.

(16:12) And like other gods in history, he decided to get rid of them. (16:15) Remember in the Old Testament, God is gonna get rid of the human race by sending a flood? (16:19) And we talked in the Gilgamesh about the gods, Enel and the others, sending a great flood?

(16:24) To destroy the human race? (16:25) Well, Zeus is gonna get rid of them. (16:28) But Prometheus intervenes and saves humanity by bestowing upon them the arts and sciences that enable them to cultivate the divine and protect themselves.

(16:40) And he gave to the human race, Prometheus did, everything that made them reasoning creatures. (16:48) He taught them how to grow crops. (16:51) He taught them how to write so that information could be transferred from one generation to another.

(16:57) He taught them how to read the signs, the oracles so that they could understand what the gods wanted and intended to do. (17:04) He taught them how to offer up sacrifices to the gods and even did it in such a smart way that the people, the humans got to keep the meat that they offered up for the gods, burning on the altar only the hides and the hoofs and the fat. (17:20) Taught them medicines to cure themselves.

(17:23) Taught them how to sail the sea and domesticate the wild animals. (17:29) So he defied the will of Zeus. (17:31) And the next thing you’ve got to learn as a leader is if anybody defies you, they must be punished.

(17:38) And our play opens then with Zeus carrying out the punishment of Prometheus, whose very name means foresight. (17:50) Prometheus could see everything that was going to happen.(17:53) And that makes him even more of a tragic figure.

(17:56) To know what is going to happen and to go right ahead and do it. (18:01) He knew that if he helped the human race, he would be punished. (18:04) But he went ahead and did it.

(18:06) And so at the beginning of the play, we are far out on the eastern fringe of the Greek world in the Caucasus Mountains. (18:14) And there Prometheus is being crucified by the personification, the god power, and by the god Hephaestus, the god of fire and craftsmen. (18:30) I’m sorry to have to do this.

(18:33) Get on with the task and nail him and crucify him. (18:36) I’m sorry, Prometheus. (18:39) I wish I didn’t have to do this.

(18:40) You’ve got the good cop and the bad cop, don’t you see? (18:43) Hephaestus and power.(18:44) If it were up to me, I wouldn’t do it.

(18:46) Just get on with the job, says power. (18:48) This is not our business. (18:50) Crucify him.

(18:52) I’m sorry. (18:53) And the nails are driven into the hands of Prometheus, spread eagle there on a mountaintop. (18:59) And the pain is all but unendurable.

(19:02) Yes, that’s just how it always is, he says. (19:05) You’re sorry you have to do it, Prometheus says, but you’re doing it. (19:10) That’s how a tyrant carries out his evil.

(19:13) You’ll notice Zeus is not out there doing it. (19:16) No, he’s safe and secure in his great palace. (19:20) But he always finds people like power and like Hephaestus to do the work for him.

(19:27) And you say you’re sorry, and you say you’re just following orders, but you still do it. (19:33) That’s how tyranny works. (19:35) It’s evil.

(19:37) Look, Hephaestus, why don’t you apologize to Zeus? (19:43) He will let you go. (19:45) I will not apologize to him, for I have done nothing wrong.

(19:51) I will take any punishment he gives me, but he will not break my spirit. (19:58) You’re a real hardhead. (20:00) Drive those nails on in and get it over with.

(20:05) Well, the Chorus is the daughters of the great ocean, and they are there weeping and moaning. (20:11) We feel so sorry for you, Hephaestus. (20:14) We feel so sorry for you, Prometheus.

(20:18) Why don’t you just give in to Zeus and get all the suffering behind you? (20:23) I don’t need your pity. (20:26) You are helpless, and I will never give in to him, for I am right and he is wrong.

(20:35) And there is an absolute scale of right and wrong. (20:38) Tyranny is wrong. (20:40) To kill the human race is wrong.

(20:43) To do kindness is right, and that is what I did. (20:48) Who is that cow coming here to the far reaches of the Caucasus? (20:54) I know her, says Prometheus.

(20:56) It is Io, that poor, unfortunate victim of Zeus’s tyranny. (21:03) You know, a tyrant doesn’t just want power. (21:07) He wants all the things that power brings with it, like women.

(21:11) Why can’t he have any woman he wants? (21:14) And there was Io, a maiden, a virgin, beautiful. (21:17) And Zeus says, I want you.

(21:20) But I don’t really want you. (21:23) Dad of Io, father of her, I want her. (21:26) I think probably you better let him have you, daughter.

(21:29) But I don’t want to be with Zeus. (21:33) You’re going to be with him, and so she was.(21:36) But then Zeus, like every tyrant, he’s a coward.

(21:41) Joseph Stalin, at heart, was a coward. (21:44) And Zeus is afraid of his own wife, Hera.(21:49) So when she gets outraged, when she finds out about his infidelity with Io, she punishes her.

(21:56) The woman is turned into a cow, Io is, and followed everywhere by a stinging gadfly. (22:03) A great horsefly, let one of them bite you while you’re out on your walk or your jog. (22:07) They are vicious things.

(22:09) And it follows her everywhere she goes. (22:12) She can find no rest. (22:13) And to make sure her punishment continues, a god with many eyes follows her around as well.

(22:21) So all over the world, she roams, just because Zeus wanted a dalliance, a few moments of pleasure. (22:29) Now what happens to her, he doesn’t care. (22:34) And Io comes there.

(22:36) Prometheus can see into the future, and he says, your suffering will go on year after year after year. (22:43) Don’t tell me that. (22:44) Why?

(22:44) I must tell you the truth. (22:45) It will go on year after year after year after year. (22:50) You will be punished.

(22:51) But one day, from those children you have brought forth, from those who sprung from Zeus himself, there will come a savior who will deliver me. (23:05) Hercules will be born of your descendants, and will one day come to help me. (23:11) But in the meantime, go on your way to the far corners of the earth, in suffering and in torment, one more victim of the tyranny of Zeus.

(23:23) But you know something? (23:26) Prometheus says to the chorus who is still there, the daughters of the ocean, moaning and weeping, don’t weep too much for me. (23:34) Weep some for Zeus.

(23:35) For Zeus, why should we weep for Zeus? (23:38) He is king. (23:39) Might not always be king.

(23:41) What do you mean? (23:43) Your pain is making you talk crazy. (23:45) No, it’s not.

(23:46) I can endure my pain. (23:49) Zeus can be overthrown, and I know how he can be overthrown, and I know who will try to overthrow him. (23:56) They’re the informers, of course.

(23:58) Almost immediately, Zeus hears about this. (24:00) Wait a minute, I’ve got to find this out.(24:03) So thus comes the god Hermes, messenger of the gods.

(24:08) Hi, Prometheus, I’m sorry to do this to you. (24:10) No, you’re not. (24:12) Otherwise, you wouldn’t do it.

(24:14) Look, power is a mighty thing. (24:18) I do not give the orders. (24:20) I just follow them.

(24:21) And I want to tell you one thing. (24:23) If I didn’t do it, I, Hermes, somebody else would do it. (24:26) And I don’t want to end up like you.

(24:28) You’re the hard head. (24:30) All you had to do was not help the human race. (24:33) Or having helped the human race, you could have apologized to Zeus, perhaps, and made your punishment less.

(24:40) But no, you’re right. (24:42) What in the world is right? (24:44) Right is what power says it is.

(24:46) If you’ve got the power, you say what is right or wrong. (24:49) Isn’t that absolutely true?(24:50) Yes.

(24:53) Now, let’s just put that aside because you’ve got one more chance to help yourself. (25:01) Tell me who is going to overthrow Zeus. (25:05) No.

(25:06) Now, I’m telling you, this is getting serious. (25:09) You think you’re in pain now, having been nailed to a mountain? (25:13) Do you know what Zeus has got in store for you?

(25:16) He is going to singe every day a horrible earthquake with lightning to shake the ground.(25:24) And then every day, an eagle is going to fly down, the bird of Zeus, and he’s going to eat your innards. (25:33) He’s going to eat your liver.

(25:37) And every night it’ll grow back. (25:39) And then the next day, the thunder and lightning will come and the eagle will come down and eat your liver again. (25:45) And that will go on for all eternity.

(25:47) Now, do you want that to happen to you? (25:50) Why multiply your suffering? (25:54) Tell Zeus to do anything he wants to to me.

(25:58) I will not tell him. (26:01) Torture me. (26:03) I will not tell him.

(26:05) Now, isn’t that the eternal spirit of the revolutionary speaking out? (26:14) Do anything you want. (26:17) You will not break my spirit.

(26:20) You will not make me tell you what you want. (26:27) This is a big mistake that you’re making. (26:31) Go ahead.

(26:33) Send everything you can down upon me. (26:37) And that is how the play ends. (26:39) With thunder and lightning off the stage and Prometheus shrieking his defiance to Zeus, send it down and destroy me.

(26:52) I don’t care. (26:54) You will not break me. (26:59) The power of a Zeus unhampered by law, the power of a tyrant able to inflict human suffering on a colossal scale, able to inflict punishment even upon the gods and the divine.

(27:18) In 1984, we discussed that great novel of George Orwell. (27:23) We will see his eternal definition of power as the ability to inflict pain and humiliation. (27:33) And that definition was as true in the fifth century of Athens as it was in Nazi Germany or in Stalin’s Russia or as is today.

(27:42) There is nothing more terrible than simple pain, unrelenting pain. (27:50) And there is nothing worse to our spirit than humiliation. (27:55) Here is the Prometheus who had been honored at the court of Zeus, now crucified and subjected to this constant agony and pain.

(28:08) All because of his belief in what is right. (28:17) Now, the Prometheus bound with its powerful statement of the right to resist, because that’s what it is about. (28:30) Not only do you have a right to resist tyranny, you have a duty to resist tyranny.

(28:38) Where did you read that? (28:40) You read that in the Declaration of Independence, did you not? (28:43) It is their right, it is their duty to resist tyranny.

(28:50) That is the very law of nature. (28:55) Your natural right is to stand up and to resist tyranny.(29:03) That was the message of the Prometheus bound.

(29:06) Now, you’re sitting in a classroom in Germany in 1932. (29:13) Your parents have great hopes for you. (29:15) You’re going to a classical gymnasium, a classical high school, then you’re gonna go on to the university.

(29:20) You’re gonna become an attorney. (29:22) And there are your teachers in the gymnasium having you read the Prometheus bound. (29:28) You go home at night to your quiet middle class existence.

(29:33) Your father asks you around the table, what did you learn in school today? (29:38) And you quote him a line or two of the Prometheus. (29:40) Ah, what a wonderful, wonderful work that is.

(29:45) What an enduring statement of tyranny and its evils it is. (29:50) And never do you once think that in a few years, your career path is going to lead you into the most rapid form.

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