A very brief summary for a reader's diary
Prometheus stole fire from the sacred Mount Olympus and gave it to people. He taught them crafts, writing, and counting. But he did all this against the will of the main Olympian god Zeus. For this, he doomed him to suffering - he ordered the titan to be chained to a rock.
Power and Strength began to rush Hephaestus to chain his friend to the top of the rock. He had to submit and do it, but from now on he hated his craft.
Strength and Power began to laugh at Prometheus, saying that let people save him now. Only when they left did a groan escape from the titan's chest.
Prometheus knew who would overthrow Zeus, since he had the gift of foresight. Hermes conveyed to him Zeus' demand to reveal this secret, but he did not obey. Zeus brought down the rock, and Prometheus fell underground.
Prometheus chained summary
The tragedy “Prometheus Bound” by Aeschylus, presumably written in 444-443 BC. e., is one of the most famous ancient works that had a great influence on world literature. Despite the fact that the book was written hundreds of years ago, it still remains relevant today. For a reader's diary, we recommend reading online a summary of “Prometheus Chained” by episode .
The main characters are Prometheus - a brave, uncompromising, determined titan who sacrificed himself for the happiness of people. Other characters Zeus is the main god of Olympus, cruel and despotic. Power and Strength are the faithful servants of Zeus. Oceanids are beautiful nymphs, daughters of the Ocean. Ocean is a titan, a powerful river deity. Io is the former lover of Zeus, turned into a cow. Hermes is the faithful assistant of Zeus, the god of cunning, dexterity and eloquence. Summary
Prologue By order of the great thunderer Zeus, his faithful servants - Power and Strength - brought the chained Prometheus to the remote Scythian lands to the very edge of the earth in order to “be firmly chained to the rocky local steeps with iron chains forever.” Prometheus’s offense is very serious - “he stole fire for mortals.”
Against his will, Hephaestus chained the willful titan to a high cliff. Left alone, Prometheus “in chains, homeless, disgraced” began to mourn his bitter fate. The Oceanids appeared from the sea and began to console the martyr. Episode One The Oceanids asked Prometheus to tell them the reason why Zeus punished him so severely. He told them how he helped Zeus gain the upper hand in the battle with the Titans, and “through his efforts, the ancient Cronus disappeared without a trace in the black mouth of Tartarus.” However, Zeus forgot about this invaluable service and severely punished Prometheus when he decided to help people.
Having learned that Zeus wanted to completely destroy people “in order to raise a new race,” Prometheus became the only one who stood up for them. In addition, he “took away the gift of foresight from mortals,” giving them blind hopes. But the most important thing is that from Prometheus people received the greatest gift - fire, with the help of which they mastered many knowledges, crafts and arts.
The Oceanids asked how long the cruel punishment would last, and Prometheus replied: “Only one term: until Zeus relents.” Old man Ocean flew in from the sea on a winged horse and also wanted to console the martyr. He advised Prometheus to humble himself and repent before Zeus, and not to get into trouble when “an unyielding and cruel king is in power.”
The oceanids began to sing a mournful song, and with them all people mourned the unenviable fate of Prometheus.
Episode two Chained Prometheus assured that he “has neither arrogance nor boasting.” He was tormented not only by physical torment, but also by the consciousness of the injustice of the gods, to whom he “assigned honor and power as their inheritance.” Prometheus’s fault was that he dared to awaken “intelligence and ingenuity” in hitherto stupid people. Previously, they lived like ants, swarming in their underground caves. People were deprived of reason and feelings, and only thanks to Prometheus they acquired untold wealth: the ability to create, learn, think, sail the seas, tame wild animals, heal, and extract various treasures from the bowels of the earth. “Wealth, knowledge, wisdom” - all this was acquired by the human race thanks to the compassionate Prometheus.
Deciding to help people, Prometheus knew that he would inevitably incur the punishment of Zeus. He also knew the duration of his punishment - “Only after thousands of torments and after thousands of tortures will my captivity end.” However, this did not stop him.
Episode Three Io ran up to the rock on which Prometheus was crucified. She was once a beautiful girl, the lover of Zeus himself. However, the jealous wife of the almighty - the goddess Hera - turned the girl into a heifer, while retaining her human mind. Since then, Io has wandered around the world, pursued by the gadfly, whose painful bites caused her unbearable suffering.
The girl’s undeserved torment made Prometheus forget about his own fate. He felt sorry for Io and decided to reveal the secret of what all “her wanderings would be and how long they were destined.” Prometheus said that Zeus’s beloved was destined to travel a long way from Europe to Asia. In addition, she still had to endure “a raging sea of inescapable torment.” Hearing this, unfortunate Io was ready to commit suicide. However, Prometheus reassured her, saying that their torment would end as soon as Zeus lost his power.
The secret of the fate of the Almighty was well known to Prometheus, and Zeus, fearing for his future, sent Hermes to him to find out. The titan chained to the rock listened to the messenger with contempt and did not answer any of his questions. Hermes tried to find out the fate of his master both by cunning and threats, but nothing worked out for him.
Then Zeus brought down all the elements under his control on the stubborn man: thunder rumbled, lightning flashed, and a strong wind rose. The rock to which Prometheus was chained was struck by lightning, and the titan fell underground.
Conclusion The idea of Aeschylus's tragedy is the fight against cruel and unjust power that suppresses any dissent. Prometheus becomes an example of a brave fighter against tyranny, a model of courage and loyalty to his own ideals.
After reading the brief retelling of “Prometheus Bound,” we recommend reading the tragedy in its full version.
Brief summary (more detailed than summary)
Hephaestus, the Strength and Power of the titan Prometheus chained in chains, are brought to the deserted land of Scythia.
Power tells Hephaestus to chain Prometheus tightly to the rock. The main Olympian god Zeus came up with such a punishment for the Titan because he did not recognize his supremacy and for helping people by stealing fire for them.
Hephaestus had to chain his friend to a rock because he was afraid of disobeying Zeus. The authorities mockingly asked the titan which of the people could save him, but he did not utter a single word, did not utter a single sigh. When the enemies left, he turned to the heavens, winds, sea waves, Earth and Sun with a complaint that Zeus had doomed him to a shameful execution.
The Oceanid maidens appeared in the winged chariot. They consoled Prometheus and told him to take heart. The Titan told the Oceanids that he had the gift of foresight and that Zeus would ask him to reveal the conspiracy. But he will not reveal the secret until his shackles are removed and Zeus pays in full for his captivity.
The oceanids asked the titan why the supreme ruler of the gods punished him. Prometheus said that in the struggle of the gods for power, he sided with Zeus, but he turned out to be a tyrant. Having become the main Olympian god, Zeus wanted to exterminate the human race in order to raise another.
No one dared to contradict him, only Prometheus arbitrarily saved people. For this he is now suffering merciless torture.
Zeus also considered the titan guilty of giving people hope and bringing them fire so that they could learn various arts.
The old titan Oceanus appeared on a winged horse and asked Prometheus what he could do to help him. Ocean advised the prisoner not to speak freely, since he could pay for impudent words, and promised that he would try to save him from torment. But he said that Zeus was deaf to requests and advised Oceanus to be careful not to incur the wrath of Zeus. The ocean went back on its way.
Prometheus told the Oceanids about his benefits to people, that he instilled in people a love of life, taught them crafts and sciences, and helped to tame animals.
Io ran up to the rock - a beautiful girl, turned by the jealous wife of Zeus Hera into a cow, forever driven from one end to another by blind madness. Io asked Prometheus to tell her what awaited her in the future. He said that her journey on Earth would be long, difficult, painful. He predicted that in the future one of her descendants would return his freedom (other myths actually say that Hercules cut the chains that bound Prometheus).
When Io ran away, Zeus' messenger Hermes appeared at the rock. He demanded submission from Prometheus. He said that the supreme god ordered the titan to tell more clearly, and not in hints, who would deprive him of power. But he did not agree, since Zeus repaid him with evil for good. He said that he would reveal the secret of who would take away power from Zeus only if the supreme god himself broke his chains.
Hermes described the Titan's terrible future. First, Zeus will crush this cliff with lightning and hide the prisoner’s body under the rubble. Millennia later, he will release the titan into the world, and the liver of the chained Prometheus will be tormented by an eagle every day.
The prisoner could have avoided these new torments if he had submitted to Zeus. But the implacable titan did not agree to become a servile slave.
There was thunder and underground rumble. Lightning struck, and the rebellious Prometheus fell underground.
Summary
Zeus ordered his loyal subjects of Power and Strength to catch Prometheus, bring him to the ends of the earth and not free him from iron chains. The hero greatly angered the god of Olympus by stealing fire for mortals .
The willful Prometheus was chained to a high cliff. Finding himself in chains, alone with himself, the hero began to mourn his difficult fate. Suddenly the Oceanids came to him from the sea and began to console him.
Imprisonment of Prometheus
The sea nymphs asked the martyr to tell him why Zeus was so angry with him. The hero told them about how at one time he helped God win the battle with the Titans and it was thanks to his efforts that they managed to escape from the scourge of Kron. Zeus quickly forgot about the help provided and seriously punished him for deciding to save ordinary people.
When the main character knew about the plans of the god Olympus to destroy all people, he became the only one who decided to protect them. The most important thing that Prometheus did for human life was to give the gift of fire . With its help, people were able to acquire new knowledge and began to actively apply it.
The oceanids asked the hero how long he should be punished, but he did not know the exact answer to the question. Having said this, there is only one time limit: until Zeus relents.
Suddenly the old man Ocean himself rose from the sea to support the martyr. He gave the hero advice - to repent of what he had done before Zeus and no longer enter into conflicts with him. It’s easier to accept and do nothing while such a cruel ruler is in power. The nymphs began to sing a sad song and mourn the tragic fate of Prometheus and the entire people.
Helping people
Prometheus was tormented not only by physical torment, but also by spiritual torment. The hero understood how unfair the gods he had previously worshiped were. Prometheus was guilty of daring to awaken intelligence and justice in ordinary people.
Only with the help of a compassionate god did man acquire unearthly wealth. People learned to create, think, began to domesticate animals, swim on water and extract useful things from the bowels of the earth.
When the hero did this, he understood that Zeus would be angry and punish him. Despite this, he was not afraid and saved people.
