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simplexitly's review
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
joshnew10987's review
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
amjwarburg's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.25
e_m_f_reads's review
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
steveatwaywords's review
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
We don't read Aeschylus today for dramatic depth or nuance. In Prometheus Bound, for instance, there is nothing like subtlety or character growth. Instead, like most of classical drama, the works are exercises in mythology and pedagogical theme. Even so, digging a bit into these remains far more enlightening than any Wikipedia article or contemporary blogger is likely to offer.
Prometheus, for instance, is portrayed as the noble victim (a role Milton will later grant Lucifer) against a cruel tyrant whose justice is absolute and arbitrary. Zeus's loyal subjects are devoted through fear alone; their morality is purely transactional. The idea that one could hold principles above one's own life is--in Aeschylus's time (and ours)--a quaint and impotent virtue of a past era. Thus the Titans have fallen or gone into hiding with only Prometheus publicly displayed as immortal pariah, not spared even the mercy of death for his suffering. Along the way, near kin, sympathetic family, and fellow cursed victims visit him.
Prometheus has much to say, of course, about his devotion to mankind, and we can also see him as proud, defiant, and devoted to a justice which may return generations later after still more have cruelly suffered. His arguments are straightforward and oft-repeated; the strategies offered by his visitors are also simple and poorly-reasoned, but we aren't looking for nuance. In the classical theater, the message feels hammered, the tragedy wrought in extremes.
Even so, reading it today still feels oddly apropos as morality and principle seem harder to come by, as transactional values seem more prevalent. Prometheus gave mankind fire, but with it the entirety of art and craft, of learning and culture. What must be done with it?
Prometheus, for instance, is portrayed as the noble victim (a role Milton will later grant Lucifer) against a cruel tyrant whose justice is absolute and arbitrary. Zeus's loyal subjects are devoted through fear alone; their morality is purely transactional. The idea that one could hold principles above one's own life is--in Aeschylus's time (and ours)--a quaint and impotent virtue of a past era. Thus the Titans have fallen or gone into hiding with only Prometheus publicly displayed as immortal pariah, not spared even the mercy of death for his suffering. Along the way, near kin, sympathetic family, and fellow cursed victims visit him.
Prometheus has much to say, of course, about his devotion to mankind, and we can also see him as proud, defiant, and devoted to a justice which may return generations later after still more have cruelly suffered. His arguments are straightforward and oft-repeated; the strategies offered by his visitors are also simple and poorly-reasoned, but we aren't looking for nuance. In the classical theater, the message feels hammered, the tragedy wrought in extremes.
Even so, reading it today still feels oddly apropos as morality and principle seem harder to come by, as transactional values seem more prevalent. Prometheus gave mankind fire, but with it the entirety of art and craft, of learning and culture. What must be done with it?
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Violence
miguelito_juanito's review
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
bergenslabben's review
dark
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
casparb's review
3.0
2.5 - though more so due to a modern complaint than a criticism of dear Mr. Aeschylus.
Four Plays! I did not read the Penguin Classics translation here, which I'm sure is very accomplished and better than the musty translations I had for The Persians, Seven Against Thebes, and Suppliants. This is my complaint-not-critique. The translator took it upon himself to render the entirety of The Persians and all the lines of the Chorii elsewhere into rhyming couplets. Please don't do this when translating from Greek! It's grim. My version of Prometheus Unbound was from a different translation - to its benefit.
They're an interesting set of four, though I think more so from a scholarly perspective than by entertainment. The Oresteia is undefeated as Aeschylus' best, for me. Go to that first. But Prometheus Bound and The Suppliants are the highlights here.
So the language is deliciously rugged and Aeschylean and it would be a shame if it weren't because there's not an awful lot of action here. A consequence of its time I suppose, but if you're looking for action then again, Oresteia.
Four Plays! I did not read the Penguin Classics translation here, which I'm sure is very accomplished and better than the musty translations I had for The Persians, Seven Against Thebes, and Suppliants. This is my complaint-not-critique. The translator took it upon himself to render the entirety of The Persians and all the lines of the Chorii elsewhere into rhyming couplets. Please don't do this when translating from Greek! It's grim. My version of Prometheus Unbound was from a different translation - to its benefit.
They're an interesting set of four, though I think more so from a scholarly perspective than by entertainment. The Oresteia is undefeated as Aeschylus' best, for me. Go to that first. But Prometheus Bound and The Suppliants are the highlights here.
So the language is deliciously rugged and Aeschylean and it would be a shame if it weren't because there's not an awful lot of action here. A consequence of its time I suppose, but if you're looking for action then again, Oresteia.
nenich19's review
4.0
Very quick, very light to read. Of course, Greek mythology often is.
I'm studying this book as a part of my university course in English, called "The Tragedy of Knowledge". And what is there to be derived from the tale of Prometheus? Perhaps, the very cliche conclusion that "knowledge is might". However, some would say, Prometheus is far from mighty strapped with chains on a rock, doomed to be tortured in the worst way possible for eons to come. God of knowledge, the benefactor of man kind, sharing his knowledge with creatures that "live for a day" has caused him to lose his standing. What, are we to make then?
Like a teacher, Prometheus did his best to teach his pupils how to advance. But, as it is evident even in our times, no party in power wants the people beneath them to be educated. Because then they would rebel. Against the gods, against authority in general. Therefore, Zeus acts like every other tyrant or king or person-in-power has acted over history and punishes the one who attempts to educate people and, thus, threaten his authority. Prometheus is a rebel. To him, mortals are not insignificant, but rather they are those who give the Olympian gods their power.
Therefore, my conclusion is that knowledge must be shared. Even if it will have dire consequences for the sharer.
I'm studying this book as a part of my university course in English, called "The Tragedy of Knowledge". And what is there to be derived from the tale of Prometheus? Perhaps, the very cliche conclusion that "knowledge is might". However, some would say, Prometheus is far from mighty strapped with chains on a rock, doomed to be tortured in the worst way possible for eons to come. God of knowledge, the benefactor of man kind, sharing his knowledge with creatures that "live for a day" has caused him to lose his standing. What, are we to make then?
Like a teacher, Prometheus did his best to teach his pupils how to advance. But, as it is evident even in our times, no party in power wants the people beneath them to be educated. Because then they would rebel. Against the gods, against authority in general. Therefore, Zeus acts like every other tyrant or king or person-in-power has acted over history and punishes the one who attempts to educate people and, thus, threaten his authority. Prometheus is a rebel. To him, mortals are not insignificant, but rather they are those who give the Olympian gods their power.
Therefore, my conclusion is that knowledge must be shared. Even if it will have dire consequences for the sharer.
zajtrajsok's review
3.0
Interesting but also dull at the same time. This is going to sound ridiculous because each play is only about 30 pages, but I felt like if they had been shorter, I would have enjoyed them more.