Greek plays began with an ‘argument’, an explanation of the plot of the play. They continue with dialogue and speeches interrupted by a chorus.
When Cronus, the son of Uranus, was king in heaven, revolt against his rule arose among the gods. The Olympians strove to dethrone him in favour of Zeus, his son; the Titans, children of Uranus and Earth, championing the ancient order of violence, warred against Zeus and his partisans. Prometheus, himself a Titan, forewarned by his oracular mother Earth or Themis (for she bore either name) that the victory should be won by craft, whereas his brethren placed their sole reliance on brute force, rallied with her to the side of Zeus and secured his success. His triumph once assured, the new monarch of heaven proceeded forthwith to apportion to the gods their various functions and prerogatives; but the wretched race of man he purposed to annihilate and create another in its stead. This plan was frustrated by Prometheus, who, in compassion on their feebleness, showed them the use of fire, which he had stolen in their behoof, and taught them all arts and handicrafts. For this rebellion against the newly–founded sovereignty of Zeus, the friend of mankind was doomed to suffer chastisement—he must pass countless ages, riveted to a crag on the shores of Ocean in the trackless waste of Scythia.
But suffering of body or of mind might not quell his spirit, though he is possessed of the sad privilege of immortality. Conscious that he had erred, he is nevertheless fortified by indignation that he had been made the victim of tyranny and ingratitude. Nor is he unprovided with a means to strengthen his resistance and to force the hand of his oppressor, whose despotic Power has one point of attack. The Titan is possessed of a fateful secret which must be revealed to Zeus if he is not to be hurled from his dominion as his father had been before him. The despot contemplates marriage with Thetis, and should it be brought to pass, the son to be born to him is to prove mightier than his sire. This secret, told Prometheus by his mother, he will not disclose till, in the lapse of ages, Zeus consents to release him from his ignominious bonds; rather than part with it on other terms he defies the thunder and lightning of the lord of Olympus and, amid the crashing world, is hurled to Tartarus, to the last protesting against the injustice of his doom.
Power†† Power (and Force) are henchmen of Zeus.
To earth’s remotest limit we come, to the Scythian land, an untrodden solitude. And now, Hephaestus†† Hephaestus was the smith of the gods, son of Hera, but not Zeus., yours is the charge to observe the mandates laid upon you by the Father—to clamp this miscreant upon the high craggy rocks in shackles of binding adamant†† Adamant was a fictional, very hard metal. that cannot be broken. For your own flower, flashing fire, source of all arts, he has purloined and bestowed upon mortal creatures. Such is his offence; for this he is bound to make requital to the gods, so that he may learn to bear with the sovereignty of Zeus and cease his man–loving ways.
Hephaestus
Power and Force, for you indeed the behest of Zeus is now fulfilled, and nothing remains to stop you. But for me—I do not have the nerve myself to bind with force a kindred god upon this rocky cleft assailed by cruel winter. Yet, come what may, I am constrained to summon courage to this deed; for it is perilous to disregard the commandments of the Father.
Lofty–minded son of Themis who counsels straight, against my will, no less than yours, I must rivet you with brazen bonds no hand can loose to this desolate crag, where neither voice nor form of mortal man shall you perceive; but, scorched by the sun's bright beams, you shall lose the fair bloom of your flesh. And glad you shall be when spangled–robed night shall veil his brightness and when the sun shall scatter again the frost of morning. Evermore the burden of your present ill shall wear you out; for your deliverer is not yet born.
Such is the prize you have gained for your championship of man. For, god though you are, you did not fear the wrath of the gods, but you bestowed honors upon mortal creatures beyond their due. Therefore on this joyless rock you must stand sentinel, erect, sleepless, your knee unbent. And many a groan and unavailing lament you shall utter; for the heart of Zeus is hard, and everyone is harsh whose Power is new.
Power
Well, why delay and excite pity in vain? Why do you not detest a god most hateful to the gods, since he has betrayed your prerogative to mortals?
Hephaestus
A strangely potent tie is kinship, and companionship as well.
Power
I agree; yet to refuse to obey the commands of the Father; is this possible? Do you not fear that more?
Hephaestus
Yes, you are ever pitiless and steeped in insolence.
Power
Yes, for it does not good to bemoan this fellow. Stop wasting your labor at an unprofitable task.
Hephaestus
Oh handicraft that I hate so much!
Power
Why hate it? Since in truth your craft is in no way to blame for these present troubles.
Hephaestus
Nevertheless, i wish it had fallen to another's lot!
Power
Every job is troublesome except to be the commander of gods; no one is free except Zeus.
Hephaestus
I know it by this task; I cannot deny it.
Power
Hurry then to cast the fetters about him, so that the Father does not see you loitering.
Hephaestus
Well, there then! The bands are ready, as you may see.
Power
Cast them about his wrists and with might strike with your hammer; rivet him to the rocks.
Hephaestus
There! The work is getting done and not improperly.
Power
Strike harder, clamp him tight, leave nothing loose; for he is wondrously clever at finding a way even out of desperate straits.
Hephaestus
This arm, at least, is fixed permanently.
Power
Now rivet this one too and securely, so that he may learn, for all his cleverness, that he is a fool compared to Zeus.
Hephaestus
None but he could justly blame my work.
Power
Now drive the adamantine wedge's stubborn edge straight through his chest with your full force.
Hephaestus
Alas, Prometheus, I groan for your sufferings!
Power
What! Shrinking again and groaning over the enemies of Zeus? Take care, so that the day does not come when you shall grieve for yourself.
Hephaestus
You see a spectacle grievous for eyes to behold.
Power
I see this man getting his deserts. Come, cast the girths about his sides.
Hephaestus
I must do this; spare me your needless ordering.
Power
Indeed, I'll order you, yes and more—I’ll hound you on. Get down below, and ring his legs by force.
Hephaestus
There now! The work's done and without much labor.
Power
Now hammer the piercing fetters with your full force; for the appraiser of our work is severe.
Hephaestus
The utterance of your tongue matches your looks.
Power
Be softhearted then, but do not attack my stubborn will and my harsh mood.
Hephaestus
Let us be gone, since he has got the fetters on his limbs.
Exit
Power
There now, indulge your insolence, keep on wresting from the gods their honors to give them to creatures of a day. Are mortals able to lighten your load of sorrow? Falsely the gods call you Prometheus, for you yourself need forethought to free yourself from this handiwork.
Exeunt Power and Force
Prometheus
It is painful to me to tell the tale, painful to keep it silent. My case is unfortunate every way.
When first the heavenly powers were moved to wrath, and mutual dissension was stirred up among them—some bent on casting Cronus from his seat so Zeus, in truth, might reign; others, eager for the contrary end, that Zeus might never win mastery over the gods—it was then that I, although advising them for the best, was unable to persuade the Titans, children of Heaven and Earth; but they, disdaining counsels of craft, in the pride of their strength thought to gain the mastery without a struggle and by force. Often my mother Themis, or Earth (though one form, she had many names), had foretold to me the way in which the future was fated to come to pass. That it was not by brute strength nor through violence, but by guile that those who should gain the upper hand were destined to prevail. And though I argued all this to them, they did not pay any attention to my words. With all that before me, it seemed best that, joining with my mother, I should place myself, a welcome volunteer, on the side of Zeus; and it is by reason of my counsel that the cavernous gloom of Tartarus now hides ancient Cronus and his allies within it. Thus I helped the tyrant of the gods and with this foul payment he has responded; for it is a disease that is somehow inherent in tyranny to have no faith in friends.
However, you ask why he torments me, and this I will now make clear. As soon as he had seated himself upon his father’s throne, he immediately assigned to the deities their several privileges and apportioned to them their proper powers. But of wretched mortals he took no notice, desiring to bring the whole race to an end and create a new one in its place. Against this purpose none dared make stand except me—I only had the courage; I saved mortals so that they did not descend, blasted utterly, to the house of Hades. This is why I am bent by such grievous tortures, painful to suffer, piteous to behold. I who gave mortals first place in my pity, I am deemed unworthy to win this pity for myself, but am in this way mercilessly disciplined, a spectacle that shames the glory of Zeus.
Chorus
Iron–hearted and made of stone, Prometheus, is he who feels no compassion at your miseries. For myself, I would not have desired to see them; and now that I see them, I am pained in my heart.
Hermes
To you, the clever and crafty, bitter beyond all bitterness, who has sinned against the gods in bestowing honors upon creatures of a day—to you, thief of fire, I speak. The Father commands that you tell what marriage you boast of, whereby he is to be hurled from power—and this, mark well, set forth in no riddling fashion, but point by point, as the case exactly stands; and do not impose upon me a double journey, Prometheus—you see Zeus is not appeased by dealings such as yours.
Prometheus
Bravely spoken, in truth, and swollen with pride is your speech, as befits a minion of the gods. Young you are, as young your power, and you think indeed that you inhabit heights beyond the reach of grief. Have I not seen two sovereigns cast out from these heights? A third, the present lord, I shall live to see cast out in ruin most shameful and most swift. Do you think I quail, perhaps, and cower before these upstart gods? Far from it—no, not at all. But scurry back the way you came; for you shall learn nothing about which you question me.
Prometheus
Indeed, now it has passed from word to deed—the earth rocks, the echoing thunder–peal from the depths rolls roaring past me; the fiery wreathed lightning–flashes flare forth, and whirlwinds toss the swirling dust; the blasts of all the winds leap forth and set in hostile array their embattled strife; the sky is confounded with the deep. Behold, this stormy turmoil advances against me visibly, sent by Zeus to frighten me. O holy mother mine, O you firmament that revolves the common light of all, you see the wrongs I suffer!
[Amid thunder and lightning Prometheus vanishes from sight; and with him disappear the daughters of Oceanus.]
(Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound, translated by H.W. Smyth)