Content: With the titan Prometheus, the benefactor of mankind, we have already met in Hesiod's poem "Theogony". There he is a clever trickster who arranges the division of sacrificial bull meat between people and gods so that the best part goes to people for food. And then, when the angry Zeus does not want people to be able to boil and fry the meat they got, and refuses to give them fire, Prometheus steals this fire secretly and brings it to people in a hollow reed. For this, Zeus chains Prometheus to a pillar in the east of the earth and sends an eagle to peck out his liver. Only after many centuries the hero Hercules will kill this eagle and free Prometheus.

Then this myth began to be told differently. Prometheus became more majestic and exalted: he is not a cunning and thief, but a wise seer. (The very name "Prometheus" means "Provider".) At the beginning of the world, when the older gods, the Titans, fought with the younger gods, the Olympians, he knew that the Olympians could not be taken by force, and offered to help the Titans by cunning; but those, arrogantly relying on their strength, refused, and then Prometheus, seeing their doom, went over to the side of the Olympians and helped them win. Therefore, the massacre of Zeus with his former friend and ally began to seem even more cruel.

Not only that, Prometheus is also open to what will be at the end of the world. The Olympians are afraid that just as they overthrew the Titan fathers in their time, the new gods, their descendants, will someday overthrow them. They don't know how to prevent it. Knows Prometheus; then Zeus torments Prometheus to learn this secret from him. But Prometheus is proudly silent. Only when Zeus's son Hercules is not yet a god, but only a hero-worker - in gratitude for all the good that Prometheus has done to people, kills the tormenting eagle and eases Prometheus's torment, then Prometheus, in gratitude, reveals the secret of how to save the power of Zeus and all the Olympians. There is a sea goddess, the beautiful Thetis, and Zeus seeks her love. Let him not do this: it is destined by fate that Thetis will have a son stronger than his father. If it is the son of Zeus, then he will become stronger than Zeus and overthrow him: the power of the Olympians will come to an end. And Zeus refuses the thought of Thetis, and Prometheus, in gratitude, frees him from execution and takes him to Olympus. Thetis, on the other hand, was given in marriage to a mortal man, and from this marriage the hero Achilles was born to her, who was indeed stronger than not only his father, but also all people in the world.

It is from this story that the poet Aeschylus made his tragedy about Prometheus.

The action takes place on the edge of the earth, in distant Scythia, among the wild mountains - maybe this is the Caucasus. Two demons, Power and Violence, introduce Prometheus onto the scene; the fire god Hephaestus must chain him to a mountain rock. Hephaestus feels sorry for his comrade, but he must obey the fate and will of Zeus: "You were sympathetic to people beyond measure." The arms, shoulders, legs of Prometheus are shackled, an iron wedge is driven into the chest. Prometheus is silent. The deed is done, the executioners leave, the Power throws contemptuously: “You are the Providence, so provide for how to save yourself!”

Only left alone, Prometheus begins to speak. He addresses the sky and the sun, the earth and the sea: “Look what I endure, God, from God’s hands!” And all this for the fact that he stole fire for people, opened the way for a life worthy of a person.

There is a choir of nymphs - Oceanid. These are the daughters of the Ocean, another titan, they heard in their sea distances the roar and clang of the Promethean shackles. “Oh, it would be better for me to languish in Tartarus than to writhe here in front of everyone! exclaims Prometheus. “But this is not forever: Zeus will not achieve anything from me by force and will come to ask me for his secret humbly and affectionately.” "Why is he executing you?" - "For mercy to people, for he himself is merciless." Behind the Oceanids comes their father Ocean: he once fought against the Olympians along with the rest of the Titans, but he reconciled, resigned, forgiven and peacefully splashes around all the corners of the world. Let Prometheus also humble himself, otherwise he will not escape even worse punishment: Zeus is vengeful! Prometheus contemptuously rejects his advice: “Do not worry about me, take care of yourself:

no matter how Zeus punished you yourself for sympathizing with the criminal! “The ocean is leaving, the Oceanids sing a compassionate song, remembering in it the Prometheus brother Atlanta, who is also tormented at the western end of the world, supporting the copper firmament with his shoulders.

Prometheus tells the choir how much good he has done for people. They were unreasonable, like children - he gave them mind and speech. They were languishing with worries - he inspired them with hope. They lived in caves, frightened of every night and every winter - he forced them to build houses from the cold, explained the movement of heavenly bodies in the change of seasons, taught writing and counting in order to pass on knowledge to descendants. It was he who pointed out for them the ores underground, harnessed the oxen to the plow for them, made carts for earthly roads and ships for sea routes. They were dying of diseases - he opened them healing herbs. They did not understand the prophetic signs of the gods and nature - he taught them to guess by the cries of birds, and by sacrificial fire, and by the entrails of sacrificial animals. “Truly you were a savior for people,” says the chorus, “how did you not save yourself?” “Fate is stronger than me,” Prometheus replies. "And stronger than Zeus?" - "And stronger than Zeus." - "What is the fate of Zeus?" - "Do not ask: this is my great secret." The choir sings a mournful song.

In these memories of the past, the future suddenly breaks in. The beloved of Zeus, Princess Io, who has been turned into a cow, runs onto the stage. (At the theater, it was an actor in a horned mask.) Zeus turned her into a cow to hide from the jealousy of his wife, the goddess Hera. Hera guessed this and demanded a cow for herself as a gift, and then sent a terrible gadfly to her, who drove the unfortunate woman around the world. So she got, exhausted by pain to the point of madness, and to the Prometheus mountains. Titan, "the defender and intercessor of man", pities her;

he tells her what further wanderings she will have in Europe and Asia, through heat and cold, among savages and monsters, until she reaches Egypt. And in Egypt she will give birth to a son from Zeus, and the descendant of this son in the twelfth generation will be Hercules, an archer who will come here to save Prometheus - even against the will of Zeus. "And if Zeus won't allow it?" "Then Zeus will die." - "Who will destroy him?" - "Himself, having planned an unreasonable marriage." - "Which?" "I won't say another word." Here the conversation ends: Io again feels the sting of the gadfly, again falls into madness and rushes away in despair. The Oceanid Chorus sings: "Let the lust of the gods blow us away: their love is terrible and dangerous."

It is said about the past, it is said about the future; now it's the turn of the scary real. Here comes the servant and messenger of Zeus - the god Hermes. Prometheus despises him as a hanger-on of the hosts of the Olympians. “What did you say about the fate of Zeus, about an unreasonable marriage, about threatening death? Confess, or you will suffer bitterly! - “It is better to suffer than to be a servant, like you; and I am immortal, I saw the fall of Uranus, the fall of Kron, I will also see the fall of Zeus. - "Beware: you will be in the underground Tartarus, where the Titans are tormented, and then you will stand here with a wound in your side, and the eagle will peck at your liver." - “I knew all this in advance; let the gods rage, I hate them!" Hermes disappears - and indeed Prometheus exclaims: “The earth really trembled around, / And lightning curls, and thunders rumble ... / O Heaven, O holy mother, Earth, / Look: I suffer innocently!" This is the end of the tragedy.

This tragedy was included in the tetralogy along with the tragedies "Prometheus Liberated", "Prometheus the Fire-bearer" and some other satyr drama unknown to us. There is an opinion among scientists that the tragedy “Prometheus the Fire-bearer” occupied the first place in the tetralogy. At the end of the trilogy (tetralogy) is the reconciliation of Zeus and Prometheus.

Conflict: The fate of the human race. The main content of this tragedy is, therefore, the clash of the power of the tyrant, the bearer of which is Zeus himself, with the fighter and sufferer for the salvation and good of mankind - Prometheus.

Tragedy images:

1) Prometheus: Main qualities: courage, steadfastness, love of freedom, strong will, humanism, self-sacrifice. Aeschylus gave the image of Prometheus a completely new meaning. He has Prometheus - the son of Themis-Earth, one of the titans. When Zeus reigned over the gods, the titans rebelled against him, but Prometheus helped him. When the gods decided to destroy the human race, Prometheus saved the people by bringing them fire stolen from the heavenly altar. By this he incurred the wrath of Zeus. Even greater power reaches Aeschylus in the form of Prometheus. This can best be seen by comparing the image of tragedy with its mythological prototype, for example, in the poems of Hesiod, where he is presented simply as a cunning deceiver. In Aeschylus, this is a titan who saved the human race by stealing fire from the gods for people, although he knew that a cruel punishment would befall him for this; he taught them social life, giving them the opportunity to gather at a common, state hearth; he invented and created various sciences; he is a brave fighter for the truth, a stranger to compromise and protesting against all violence and despotism; he is a god-fighter who hates all gods, an innovator who seeks new ways; in the name of his lofty idea, he is ready to accept the most cruel execution and with full consciousness he carries out his great work. Not the thought of a primitive man, but the high consciousness of people of the 5th century. could bear such an image. This is how the genius of Aeschylus created him, and we now call people of this warehouse titans. The image of Prometheus is what it will be for centuries: noble, sufferer. Appeared here. metaphor "fire of knowledge".

2) Zeus: The ruler of the gods in "Chained Prometheus" is given the features of the Greek "tyrant": he is ungrateful, cruel and vindictive.

3) Oceanids - weak, but empathize with Prometheus

4) Io - weak, pathetic, another victim of Zeus.

5) Hephaestus is one of those resigned "slaves of Zeus", impudent, impudent. Aeschylus draws the meanness and servility of the gods who have humbled themselves before Zeus and the love of freedom of Prometheus, who prefers his torments to the slave service of Zeus, despite all the persuasion and threats

6) Hermes - shows his feelings for his friend, the author depicts his doubts, bitterness and pain, but he cannot resist the will of Zeus.

The tragedy "Prometheus Chained" is the most famous tragedy of the Greek playwright Aeschylus, who lived at the turn of the 6th-5th centuries BC in Athens, whom the ancient Greeks called "the father of Greek tragedy."

Aeschylus, like other artists in ancient Greece, always used mythical subjects in his works. This is explained by the fact that myth played a very important role in the life of the ancient Greeks. All ideas about the world, its origin, development, future, all the hopes, aspirations, unfulfilled dreams of the ancient Greeks, their understanding of such complex concepts as life and death, man and fate, evil and justice - all this was etched in myths.

Prometheus is one of the favorite mythical heroes of Ancient Greece. The myth about him gives the history of the development of mankind, as it was imagined in antiquity. According to the myth, people were weak and could neither think, nor speak, nor understand what they saw around. Prometheus had a noble heart, he was the first to condescend to people and began to help them. Having nothing to do, other gods undertook to teach people, but demanded respect and rich gifts for this. Prometheus killed the sacrificial bull and divided the carcass into two parts. He only folded the bones to a larger pile, but covered them with good fat, and folded the meat in a dirty skin, and also covered them with giblets. He then asked Zeus to choose which part the people would give to the gods and which part they would keep for themselves. Zeus chose a large pile. Since then, people have been eating meat and sacrificing bones to the gods. Enraged Zeus forbade Prometheus to climb Mount Olympus, and refused to give people life-giving fire. But Prometheus, with the help of cunning, stole fire from the gods and gave it to people. For this, Hephaestus, on the orders of Zeus, chained Prometheus to the edge of the earth to a rock; an eagle flew every day and pecked at the liver of Prometheus, which grew back overnight. After many centuries of such torture, Hercules killed the eagle and freed Prometheus.

This myth was well known to all the ancient Greeks. The tragedy presents only those events from the myth that corresponded to the creative intention of the author, which excited Aeschylus the artist and Aeschylus the man.

Power and Strength, servants of Zeus - lead Prometheus to the desert, where Hephaestus shackles him. With the development of events, it turns out that Prometheus not only transmitted fire to people, but also began human civilization: he taught how to process wood and build housing, showed healing herbs, was the first to harness bulls, freeing people from hard work, taught horses to walk harnessed, and ships - also his invention, taught people to identify stars, count and write, showed the treasures of the earth: copper, iron, silver, gold.

The image of Prometheus reflects the ethical problem that worried Aeschylus throughout his career: a person's own responsibility for the decision made. Prometheus is a god who has the gift of foresight, he knew in advance about the suffering that would fall to his lot, but did not evade them. Moreover, already chained, he has a remedy that can deprive him of his torment: in order to gain freedom, it is enough for him to name the woman who will give birth to Zeus a child that will overthrow Zeus, as he once overthrew his father Cronus. And Prometheus refuses to reveal the secret and is ready for even more cruel torture. The rock, together with the chained Prometheus, from the lightning and thunder that Zeus sends, falls into the terrible underworld of Tartarus. The image of Prometheus is the image of a person who does not change his fate, which is responsible for his decisions and actions. Aeschylus believes in the possibilities of man, as does his hero.

The tragedy of Aeschylus is marked by faith in the progress and development of mankind.

» Ancient drama

© Dmitry Lobachev

An analysis of an ancient drama.
Aeschylus, "Prometheus Bound"

Antique (especially Greek) drama is in itself a unique phenomenon - for more than five centuries it dominated the theatrical stage. This drama was the language of its time: from Aeschylus to Seneca, it was the basis for literature, philosophy, for the transmission of mythological plots and the special worldview of ancient people.

Antique drama is a haven for the minds, souls and thoughts of an entire historical era, when humanity was still young. This is more than a monument of the era - it is the heart of the whole world, the meaning of which for us is forgotten, but not exhausted, not to mention the fact that it was antiquity that laid the foundations of the world that we know today. And, despite the fact that I am against any deification and exaggeration of antiquity in the history of Europe, it is worth recognizing that this basis is real, and its influence is significant, at least as a determining factor in the development of culture, thanks to which we have become who we are Today.

But the ancient drama interested me not only because it is a historical monument and the “soul of the time”, but also because the roots of this phenomenon go beyond the boundaries of the textbook Greek literature and culture. The foundations of the plays of Aeschylus, Euripides, Sophocles should be looked for in much earlier, archaic times. It is from this archaic, pre-classical era that the complex mythological, cultural and psychological foundations of ancient Greece originate.

Initially, the drama was only an action - the worship of the god Dionysius. To each of the gods, the Greeks find their own form of worship and conversion. Dionysius was the god of viticulture and a symbol of life-giving nature, and therefore the worship of him often became more like a drink than a worship service. However, over time, worship took on its own features, such as an obligatory choir, or actors, accompanied by costumed satyrs who were supposed to accompany Dionysius.

Even in itself, this tradition is already very eloquent - it testifies to the relationship that was established between the Greeks and their gods. I'll underline the word relationships, because unlike the late Roman and Christian tradition, it was a relationship people to gods, and gods to people when the deities directly took part in people's lives, not being an abstract and sublime value.

In this special "style" of the ancient Greek religion, the root of the peculiarities of worship lies - the desire to become like God, to become equal to him. For example, the Olympic Games, which were held as religious festivals, where the pursuit of perfection was a way of likening the gods, or the same festivities in honor of Dionysius, where a person tried to become as carefree and intoxicated as the god of the vineyards himself. Actually, a person always wants to become a god, at least through one or two "divine" features: omnipotence, infallibility, immortality, etc. And if Christianity erected the divine on an inaccessible pedestal, where a person can hope for proximity to God only after death, and therefore often feels a sense of his own insignificance, the Greeks, like other pagans, acted more sparingly: their gods are closer to people, they are more “accessible”. » for people with the same weaknesses and features. The ancient Greek, striving for perfection, did not experience such strong disappointment. A unique pantheon of "compromised" gods, which the simplest person certainly surpassed in moral qualities.

Another very important point of any appeal to a higher power: be it a cult, prayer, ceremony or confession. Man, turning to God, first of all, turns to himself.. In this case, God, or any higher power, is just an intermediary between the thoughts of the same person. It is difficult for a person to admit something to himself; often that is why people go to church or to a psychotherapist. But in the face of God, a person is able to open up, because he admits something not to himself, but to Him, God, to someone else who hears him. Therefore, any appeal to a higher power is an appeal, first of all, to oneself.

The Greeks, of course, were not the first to teach us this psychological law, which is as obvious as it is denied, because it exposes a person at the moment of his greatest vulnerability - when turning to God.

But what is the paradox - that believing in the omnipotence of the gods, a person doubted his own greatness - he forgot that he himself was the creator of his god. Would there be a god without faith in him? Does God forgive until a person voluntarily endures the burden of awareness of transgression and sin? In this process, everything primarily depends on the person. The seeker - let him find, the thirsty - let him seek.

Man is the fundamental principle of everything religious and mystical, but in order to realize this, to understand and accept the breed of the divine coming from the very personality of the believer, many need a whole life, or, like Pascal, for example, a meeting with death. In his "Memorial" he writes wonderful lines: "(My) God of Abraham, God of Jacob, God of Isaac - but not the god of philosophers and scientists." Pascal speaks of God as a subjective-personal one, such that it is not understood at the level of towering blocks of philosophy, theology or sciences. To shove God into a bookshelf, to define one's place in a complex hierarchy - isn't this a major assault on the very essence of the divine - leading us straight to Nietzsche's "God is dead". This killed the mortal god.

However, let us leave the gods for a while and return to the ancient drama.

The tragedy of the ancient Greek playwright Aeschylus, presented in 444-443 BC. e. For the theft of fire, Hephaestus chains Prometheus at the behest of Zeus to a rock under the supervision of Power and Strength. The prisoner is visited by the Oceanids, their father Ocean, Princess Io (beloved of Zeus), who, in her wanderings around the world, accidentally came to a rock. Prometheus tells them what he did for people by stealing fire from the gods, curses Zeus and prophesies.

Characters:

Power and Strength- servants of Zeus.

Hephaestus- the god of fire, the patron of blacksmithing and the most skilled blacksmith of Olympus.

Prometheus- in ancient Greek mythology, one of the titans, the protector of people from the arbitrariness of the gods, the king of the Scythians.

Ocean- in ancient Greek mythology, a deity, the element of the greatest world river, washing the earth and the sea, giving rise to all rivers, springs, sea currents; shelter of the sun, moon and stars.

And about- the daughter of the Argive king, the priestess of the Argive Hera, she was seduced by Zeus, and then to hide from his wife.

Hermes- the god of trade, profit, intelligence, dexterity and eloquence, and the god of athletes. The patron saint of heralds, ambassadors, shepherds, travelers.

Oceanids - nymphs, three thousand daughters of the titan Oceanus and Tethys.

[The text is cited in: Antique Drama, ed. T.Blanter - M., 1969, translated by S.Apt]

From the first lines we are met by an almost funeral procession - Power and Strength(servants of Zeus) lead Prometheus to a lonely rock so that the Olympian blacksmith god Hephaestus chained him to the rock, following the order of Zeus.

From the very beginning, Hephaestus has very big doubts about the execution of the sentence of Zeus. Despite the crime - Prometheus stole the fire and gave it to people - he honors the hero: “And I - am I really a god like me, I dare to chain these harsh rocks?”. Respect for Prometheus appears in Hephaestus, not because he stole, but because he remained true to his convictions - "Here is the fruit of your love of mankind" Hephaestus says. But Zeus is equally stubborn and adamant - "You will hang forever."

Prometheus became like the gods by the magnitude of his act and the magnitude of his truly "divine" punishment - "it must hang forever" And "There will not be an hour that you do not languish with new torment."

Let me immediately draw a parallel with which the reader must have already outstripped me - namely, the torment of Christ, it was they who “made” him the “Son of God”, allowing him to rise on the third day. Christ became the Son of God, the Savior, only having stepped over torment and Death: right now, Prometheus is preparing to do the same, literally “acquiring” divinity through hardships.

To this it is worth adding a philosophical remark that a person is tested “for strength” not by the magnitude of the committed or action, but by the willingness to bear retribution for him, no matter how terrible and fatal it may be. For example, to take out a wounded man without a threat to his own life is one thing, but to do the same thing, but already under fire, is another, already a feat and a willingness to part with life, i.e. to such, even the most unfair "retribution" - determines the strength of the individual.

This point brings us to the limits of a very important question, the question of responsibility and choice - i.e. our freedom. Prometheus solves the issue of freedom and choice unequivocally - going to the end, albeit dooming himself to torment, actual Death.

He is free, because in his choice he preferred to bring fire and did not stop in the face of punishing Zeus. And right now, being chained to a rock - paradoxical as it may seem, he is more free than the same Hephaestus, who obeys Zeus, but does not follow his own freedom. For Prometheus - Death is actually a conscious retribution - for Hephaestus Prometheus flour - an order. In his torment, Prometheus is psychologically free, ultimately, more than Hephaestus himself, although it is he who chains him to the rock.

Before chaining Prometheus, Hephaestus exclaimed: "How I hate my craft!" The authorities answer quite logically: “It (craft - D.L.) - what does it have to do with it? After all, your mind tells you that it is not your art that will give birth to this pain. Hephaestus, guided by the Force and Power (literally) of Zeus, is just an instrument, an executor of someone else's will. But at the same time, he cannot remain indifferent, he sympathizes, sympathizes with Prometheus. And now a new question arises, as they say, between the lines: is the performer guilty? Is the one who carries out the criminal order guilty? Obviously, yes, because Hephaestus feels guilty, not only Zeus is guilty, giving Prometheus to torment, but also the performer, in fact, the executioner. Can we judge the performer who fulfills his duty, is the instrument that plays only its role guilty? .. But Hephaestus also had a choice, like Prometheus.

This picture is completed by Power, which says: "Do not scold me for my stern, hard and cruel disposition." In other words: for Zeus and his power (here it is simply personified) it is natural to be tough and demanding by nature. The law is harsh, but it is the law - said the Romans. Power has no choice, it is faceless, it a priori cannot be different, while Hephaestus had a choice in front of her = Zeus's face. And in fact, Hephaestus does it, but not in favor of his authentic desire. However, the tragedy is also in the fact that Hephaestus will have to live with this, which in reality would lead to neuroses and obsessive states.

Throughout the prologue, while Power, Strength and Hephaestus are nearby, Prometheus is silent. But as soon as they are out of sight, he immediately “comes to life” and, at first, begins to scold the sky and all living things - "Look what the gods have done to God!" But very soon Prometheus shows miracles of self-control, and says very "existential" things: "In vain murmur! Everything that is to be demolished is well known to me. There will be no unexpected pain." He knew the torment that he deliberately went through. And if it's a conscious choice, then “There will be no pain. With the greatest ease I must accept my lot.

From the point of view of psychology, this phrase is the standard for taking responsibility. If Hephaestus, turning to a psychotherapist, would talk about the pangs of conscience, that I was protesting against his choice, then Prometheus at a group therapy session would serve as a support for all patients, showing that a choice made consciously and meaningfully - even in the face of Torment and Death - means real and genuine life.

In a long monologue, another quality of Prometheus is revealed: his choice is not just “His”, his choice is meaningful. His present torment is thus also meaningful - and this is his greatest support - the torment is not meaningless! The spark he surreptitiously carried away became "of all art teacher" And " beginning of blessings. But, despite the existential authenticity of his life, Prometheus is not alien to all other feelings, and fear, feelings, resentment breaks out. And this is a special heroism, when Prometheus prefers torment and torture (although he is afraid, like any other), and consciously went to her, making a Choice that gives his life Purpose and Meaning, which, ultimately, is worth more than fear. Of death.

Prometheus has mixed feelings: he gloats, dreaming that Zeus will pay for this humiliation, he does not lose his temper: “You are impudent, you do not give up ... is it not better to hold your tongue?” the oceanids tell him. What is this? The courage of the doomed? Courage in the face of possible Death? A protective reaction that provides the psyche in a critical situation or a secret hope for a better outcome? - “To soften, give in, need will force. Then he will subdue his insane anger.

But the anger of Prometheus has another reason. Punishment - and he knows this, although unfair, however, accompanies the crime, from the point of view of Zeus. Those. Zeus is just about his logic. But what is really true, regarding the logic of both - both Zeus and Prometheus - is the betrayal of the first. After all, according to Prometheus, Zeus: “The great lord of the gods is obliged to me!” - he fought for Zeus against Kronos, thanks to him, the hero chained to the rock, Zeus came to power. And after all this, the martyr asks about his deeds and punishment.

Let us turn, at least in part, to the position of Zeus. Despite the fact that Zeus does not directly appear in the drama, he is present invisibly, in the role of some kind of a priori force, fate, fate. Zeus really "neglected the unfortunate human tribe", and wanted "grow a new kind". Naturally, you cannot call it a moral act, but it has a supreme deity - its own morality - and its boundaries are much wider; and therefore Prometheus, worrying about people, looks in his eyes, if not stupid, then clearly not understandable. Zeus, overthrowing his father Kronos into Tartarus, in fact - parricide - crossed the "forbidden line".

[The struggle of Zeus and Kronos - when the son takes revenge on his father, who literally wanted to eat him - is indicative. The motive of the son's struggle against the "unjust" father is typical and the first example is the rebellion of Lucifer; whose motives for revenge were similar, although the reasons were different. In any case, it is a rather important point that revenge, no matter how noble and justified it may be, is not a guarantee of justice. As Winston Churchill said: "Killing a murderer does not change the number of murders." This is the same motive that revenge alone cannot satisfy. Only the ability to forgive, and not to take revenge, can bring spiritual satisfaction and peace. How often the avengers became even worse than the dictators he overthrew and punished. But the ability to forgive does not cancel, of course, the need for justice. But the words "revenge" and "justice" are different words.]

What is the punishment for Prometheus? Earlier we said that this torment is identical with death (symbolic death): but the main thing is that Death has many guises. We speak of Death assuming a physical end, which is only half true. After all, "death" is an artificial concept "introduced" into culture to designate and explain the phenomenon of Non-Being - a state opposite to Being. Secondly, even at a simple, philistine level, it is very difficult to explain what death is. Death is the eternal unknown, and it is this unknown that we fear the most.

But the problem is that death is different: and for many it has opposite properties and meanings. So, someone will prefer physical death to spiritual (spiritual) death (for example, to betrayal of someone or something). We can talk about death in three dimensions - mental (spiritual), personal or physical (bodily). Prometheus is free to make a choice - between spiritual and personal death (which would mean allowing Zeus to kill people) and physical death - suffering and torture.

Hephaestus, for example, as I said above - makes his own choice - between corporal punishment and pangs of conscience, he chooses the latter. But spiritual, personal death has one difference from physical death - it is actually endless. A spiritually “killed” person is capable of experiencing the deepest torments of conscience and torture of the soul all his life. Hephaestus, who preferred to carry out the order of Zeus, knows about his guilt and responsibility for the evil he has done; he will have to “die” mentally again and again, eating himself from the inside.

Physical death - the god Prometheus does not threaten. But it is not even death that saddens him, but impotence, helplessness: "It's torture for me to wither on a stone cliff." Inaction, when Prometheus only passively watches the world around - true torture. The business of God is to create, to accomplish deeds - and this opportunity was taken away from Prometheus. But what is this sufferer calling us to?

Does he call for revenge? Is he ready to fulfill it? No! He knows, he believes that Zeus will be punished, but he does not want to take revenge himself. Prometheus urges us to be compassionate: "Seeing someone else's misfortune, because tirelessly, misfortune roams from one to another." Remember, “For whom does the bell toll? He's calling for you." Prometheus recalls the responsibility of the individual, the individual - in this case, the Oceanid - about the responsibility for the general goodness or injustice. To be compassionate means to share one's own responsibility for grief, for pain, for catastrophes. Almost a Sartrean thought… After all, we are all, to some extent, responsible for the “evil” in this world, just as we all are responsible for the “good”. And compassion is a step towards such responsibility, it is the sharing of common grief, taking on the cross of another's torment. And while responsibility cannot become decisive in the eradication of all injustices, but evil, like good, with which a person sympathizes, from that becomes a personal matter, a matter for everyone. And in ourselves we can fight evil; we ourselves can nurture the good.

The ocean, which goes to Prometheus, is hard to look at his torment. But realizing that slandering misfortune is the lot of the weak, the Ocean says: "Do not persist in anger, poor martyr." Anyone can slander their misfortune, but not everyone can take responsibility for it and find meaning in it. The ocean reminds "do not persist in anger" because the wrath of Prometheus is meaningless. He is only able to burden the mind.

The ocean wants to help Prometheus, but the latter, against all odds, does not want new victims: "I won't bring trouble on others" And "Empty zeal, stupid innocence." But the sea god is stubborn, he wants to understand why Prometheus refuses possible help. Perhaps the reason for the fear of the chained martyr is not only in the words about the danger to the Ocean? Maybe he himself seems to long for punishment, because deep down he hopes to find the desired meaning of life. Suffering as a path to consciousness, suffering as a gift, not as a tragic posture, as part of a person and his worldview.

“I am broken by shameful torment, you are confused, and you have fallen in spirit, like a bad enemy, before your own illness” he says. The leader of the Horus encourages him with thoughts about the benefits that he gave to people, as if reminding him of the cause of which Prometheus, chained to the rock, suffers. He doomedly replies that "any skill is nothing before fate." Fate is seen by him as a suffering path, full of fatal turns, uncertainty, meaninglessness and grief. Thinking almost like Schopenhauer, who saw a happy fate - that she was less unhappy than others. But it is through overcoming these disasters that it is possible, perhaps, to confirm one's truly divine principle. And probably Zeus will have to go through something similar, as Prometheus says - "Zeus will not escape a predetermined fate."

Then one of the beloved Zeus, Io, comes to Prometheus, turned by the Hero into a cow. “Who chained you to this cliff?” she asks. In response, she hears a laconic: "The hand of Hephaestus, but the decision of Zeus." Io knows that Prometheus can tell her about the future, but he avoids answering in every possible way: “I’m not sorry to say, I’m just afraid to upset.” Io is expected to travel and suffer, she regrets that she did not commit suicide. But Prometheus notices that she is still freer than him, because death was not given to me by fate, and death would free me from torment.

The value of existence is to be able to make one's own choice, and even in the face of death to remain free - this phenomenon of moral freedom is very important for the context of the drama. Prometheus still values ​​this moral freedom more than the freedom of non-freedom of Hephaestus or other servants of Zeus.

Io suffers, her torment is too strong, and Prometheus, seeing this, decides to help her. What follows is an almost therapeutic intervention in which Prometheus, chained to the rock, prophesies about its future: so Zeus will be overthrown, “Who will do this against the will of Zeus?” - "One of your descendants, my deliverer." “What are you saying? Will my offspring save you?" Naturally, this does not distract much from the thought of future suffering, but at least Io now knows why for the sake of her to endure deprivation and violence from Zeus. She acquires some purpose, and the meaninglessness of her position acquires its value. The child born from Zeus and Io will become the one who will overthrow Zeus, i.e. Zeus will suffer from himself, from his stupid passion.

This meaning, found by Prometheus in her suffering, as a therapeutic strategy for dealing with the hardships of fate, is very effective. Yes, fate, like death, cannot be defeated, but it is always possible to find your own unique meaning of being in this struggle. Only in this way, a girl turned into a cow - into a disenfranchised pet ready for slaughter, can not lose the human appearance of the soul.

But with his revelation, Prometheus attracts the attention of Zeus. As before, he does not appear directly, but other gods obey his will - and Hermes appears before us. - "a faithful servant, a new autocrat."

Hermes is the same servant of Zeus as Hephaestus; but if the blacksmith at least showed his displeasure, then Hermes zealously fulfills the orders of the supreme god and arranges a real interrogation for Prometheus about his predictions.

Prometheus frankly despises Hermes - his diligence, his attitude towards Zeus. Yes, and Hermes does not honor the prisoner : “to you the most sly and grumpy grubby, the traitor of the gods ...” It would seem that two gods - a blacksmith and a messenger - both equally fulfill the will of Zeus, and both share responsibility for the perfect injustice - but one of them at least internally resists evil, while the other turned service into a goal, putting it above all other moral and ethical dilemmas .

We see that Prometheus despises the gods who appeared before him - Hephaestus, Hermes - lost their own divine essence, becoming servants. As mentioned above, the essence and beginning of the divine is not to follow orders, but to create, to create. And it was precisely this art that Prometheus taught people, the possibility of the act of creation formed the basis for the preservation of the human tribe, this spark, free creation, which he stole from the gods, now passed to people. But did the gods themselves stole this symbolic element, or did they trample it down, having gone into the service of Zeus?

“Do you mean you blame me for your troubles?”- Hermes is interested in a detached way, who does not fully understand what exactly his fault is, because he did not even chain Prometheus to a rock. He still did not understand that he shared the responsibility for what he had done with everyone. “To tell the truth, I hate everyone, the gods, that they repaid good with evil”. He despises the servants of Zeus who traded divinity for service.

We give away our freedom often and voluntarily, we sacrifice it, because freedom means choice, and choice means responsibility, and responsibility means anxiety for one's own existence. That is why, for us, no matter how "divine" we were, it is easier to give up our own freedom in favor of an existence without anxiety.

All further narration is actually a dialogue between Prometheus and Hermes . They are both similar and opposite to each other - two extremes of being, driven into one place, chained - one by chains, the other by order - to the same rock. "What use is that to you, you thought?", and to the question of the enemy, Prometheus replies: “Everything has been weighed and thought out for a long time.” This is part of his choice. He knew what he was getting into. But now the question concerns not only the actual torment, but also that Prometheus's unwillingness to reveal the secret of prophecy to Zeus, and this is part of his little triumph - God can conquer his body, but not his mind, not his will. Zeus will not know anything and will languish in ignorance. At the same time, Hermes is calm - all this does not directly concern him, he is just a tool in the hands of Zeus, and the “powerless fury” of the martyr chained to the rock is nothing more than the problem of confrontation between two principles: “reasonable” (to which, apparently, , he refers to himself) and "careless" (i.e. Prometheus). " Spread your mind, - says Hermes, - do not think that a stubborn disposition is more worthy and better than a cautious one. Again, the choice before Prometheus, to which he doomed himself - to aggravate his situation by silence and concealment of secrets, or to tell everything he knows. The choice is difficult, but not for chained to the rock - “Let him go to the underworld, let Tartarus, cast my body into darkness.” And again - it is the body, but not the soul, not the will - which no god can break and punish.

Hermes warns that for refusing to speak, Prometheus will suffer the blow of Zeus himself. He turns to Horus, but they refuse to leave the hero at such a difficult hour: "To say that Zeus unexpectedly brought down a blow on you, now you have no right." The choir, without acting as any direct character, nevertheless expresses the correct idea: "beware of the indifferent." They will not be indifferent to the torments of Prometheus, they are ready to sympathize and not leave him in the hour of trial. Hermes leaves the unbroken Prometheus. Immediately, a roar is heard, and Prometheus falls into the ground. His last words were: “I suffer without guilt - look!”. But his spirit is adamant, and he defended his absurd freedom, because his second choice was between torment and ... torment.

It is at this hour that we learn the true nature of loneliness - when no one can share the torment of Prometheus, despite compassion and sympathy, and no one can help him. Just as no one can fully understand the anguish and grief of another person. At the moment of Zeus's blow, he is alone - alone in rocky confinement, although there were many in front of them: the choirs, and Hephaestus, and Hermes, and Io ... But it is at this moment that real (“existential”) loneliness is realized, in the face of symbolic Death.

So, that's where the drama ends. And although the story of Prometheus himself is far from over, we are presented here with the most important episode of his fate. Not at all the theft of fire, and not the battle with the titans of Kronos - namely, this unfair retribution is his main and fateful accomplishment. He is confronted with an understanding of his own freedom and the lack of freedom of others; he sees what choice and the meaning of life means, and how meaningless the life of other gods is. Would he ask him - in the name of what does Hermes serve Zeus? .. Prometheus sees what death and life are, and what the latter is worth without understanding the finiteness and meaning. Finally, Prometheus also meets loneliness - understood by everyone, but not realized by anyone.

And as much as I would like to say that the drama teaches us something, however, the moment of “learning” is completely absent here, rather, we want to see some kind of morality, some kind of conclusion and teaching. However, Chained Prometheus is only a sample, like a picture, or rather, like a sketch of it in a sketchbook. The fate of a hero is no example at all; and we have to live our own unique destinies, except that the givens that Prometheus encountered are the same, both for us and for the heroes of the ancient story.

© Dmitry Lobachev, 2016
© Published with the kind permission of the author

greek literature lyrics tragedy

Unlike the "Persians", in the rest of the tragedies of Aeschylus, mythological heroes act, majestic and monumental, conflicts of powerful passions are captured. Such is one of the famous creations of the playwright, the tragedy "Prometheus Chained".

There is reason to believe that it is only part of the vast plan of Aeschylus and is included in the tetralogy, i.e. cycle of four dramatic works. In addition to the above-mentioned tragedy, the composition of the tetralogy also included "Prometheus Unbound" and "Prometheus the Firebearer", as well as a fourth work, the name of which is unknown. The plot of "Prometheus Chained" is based on the ancient myth about the titan Prometheus, the benefactor of mankind, who rendered invaluable services to people, and about his confrontation with the all-powerful Zeus.

The action begins among the desert rocks, in Scythia, on the seashore. Hephaestus, the god of blacksmithing, and two allegorical figures - Power and Strength, lead the chained Prometheus and, piercing his chest with an iron wedge, nail him to a rock. Already in the first replica of the Force, personifying the uncomplaining service to the supreme deity, it is explained to the viewer why the titan is tortured:

He stole for mortals. For your fault

Let him now settle accounts with the gods,

To finally recognize the supremacy of Zeusovo

And to swear to boldly love people.

While Hephaestus expresses sympathy for Prometheus, "weeps" about his "trouble", Zeus's servants, rude and unceremonious, perform their executioner's work with apparent pleasure. The body of the titan becomes "all entangled with iron." While the execution is being carried out, Prometheus keeps a stoic silence. And only when his tormentors leave, he gives vent to feelings:

I don't see the end of the pain. In vain murmur!

All that is to be demolished

I am well aware. unexpected

There will be no pain. With the greatest ease

I must accept my lot. After all, I know

That there is no stronger force than the all-powerful rock.

And neither be silent nor talk about fate

I can't have mine. I'm languishing in the yoke of trouble

Because people were honored.

Aeschylus calls Prometheus a word he invented: philanthropist. Literally, it means: one who loves people. Or maybe more accurately: a friend of people. Loving humanity, the titan is irreconcilable to the "tyranny of Zeus".

Prometheus is separated from loved ones, from people. He is alone with nature, which sympathizes with him. Hearing his groans, the Oceanids fly to him, twelve nymphs, daughters of the Ocean. The nymphs sympathize with Prometheus, but they are weak and shy, afraid of the wrath of Zeus. Turning to them, Prometheus recalls how he has benefited mankind.

During the struggle of Zeus with the older generation of the gods, Prometheus rendered an invaluable service to the "great lord of the gods." But he repaid him with black ingratitude, for:

Such a disease, apparently, to all the rulers

Inherent - never trust friends.

Zeus in tragedy is the embodiment of cruelty, as Prometheus bluntly reports:

exterminate people

He even wanted to raise a new kind.

No one but me to resist

Didn't. And I dared. I am a mortal tribe

From death in Hades arbitrarily saved.

This is why I am crying so hard.

Prometheus lists the good deeds that he did in relation to people. Before us passes, as it were, the history of mankind, its spiritual and intellectual growth, the development of its material culture. Addressing the choir, Prometheus says:

You better listen

About the troubles of people. Mind and ingenuity

I dared to awaken in them, hitherto stupid.

To the shadows of dreams

People were similar, all their long life

I don't make sense of anything. Solar was not built

Houses made of stone, did not know how to carpentry,

And in the dungeons, ants scurried.

They lived without light, in the depths of caves.

The faithful did not know that winter is coming,

Or spring with flowers, or plentiful

The fruits of summer - there was no understanding

They have nothing as long as the stars rise

And the hidden path of sunsets did not tell them.

The wisdom of numbers, the most important of the sciences,

I invented for people the addition of letters,

The essence of all arts, the basis of all memory.

I am the first who accustomed animals to the yoke,

And to the collar, and to the pack, to save

They are people from the most exhausting Work.

And the horses, obedient to the occasion.

The beauty and brilliance of wealth, I harnessed to the wagons,

None other than me with flaxen wings

He supplied the ships and boldly drove the seas.

That's how many tricks for earthly people

How to save yourself from these sufferings.

Prometheus also turned out to be a skilled healer, a manufacturer of medicines for diseases, "pain mixtures", an interpreter of signs, a discoverer of riches hidden in the underground bowels: gold, iron, copper.

The tyranny of Zeus, who decided to "destroy the entire human race and plant a new one," manifests itself in the episode with Io. This is one of those beings that visit Prometheus. Io was a priestess of Hera. Unfortunate, she was seduced by Zeus, the "terrible lover". Hera found them, but Zeus, in order to avoid scandal, turned Io into a white cow with a wave of his hand. In fact, he abandoned Io. Hera sent a horsefly to the cow, which constantly stings Io, forcing her to wander around the world, not finding peace. Prometheus predicts Io "the future sea of ​​inescapable torment", she groans away.

But the power of Zeus has a limit. Above Zeus - Moira, personifying Fate, even the gods are subordinate to them. Prometheus makes it clear that he knows the future of Zeus. He planned to enter into a new marriage, but his wife "will deprive him of the heavenly throne." "He is threatened with torment," harder than his, the Prometheus. "It won't be long for him to rule over the gods," the titan is convinced. Prometheus does not reveal his secret to the end, does not name the woman who could destroy Zeus. But the all-powerful Olympia is not used to restricting himself in desires and passions.

And yet, having heard the word of Prometheus, Zeus is alarmed. He sends Hermes with an offer to tell him the secret in exchange for the release of the chained titan. The conversation between Prometheus and Hermes is one of the climactic episodes of the tragedy. The servant of Zeus, Hermes, tries in every possible way to persuade Prometheus to reconcile. He alternates threats with promises. But invariably runs into the inflexibility of Prometheus:

So will I really become afraid of the new Gods, tremble, shy?

No matter how! Dear, on which you

Came here, come back soon:

I won't answer any of your questions.

In the clash of two characters, in the face of the "servility" of Hermes, Prometheus acquires the features of a god-fighter:

To tell the truth, I hate everyone

Gods that for good I was repaid with evil.

In vain does Hermes exhort Prometheus to bow before the Father, to renounce "madness", "to take a reasonable, sober look at one's misfortune", to exchange the discovery of a secret for freedom. But nothing shakes the inflexibility of Prometheus, who exclaims with pride: Still, they cannot kill me.

Having achieved nothing, Hermes flies away. This is followed by the revenge of Zeus. There is thunder and underground roar. The final monologue of Prometheus begins with the words:

Already the deeds have gone, not the words. The earth shook

Thunder rumbles, in the depths of her deaf

The last words of the titan: "I suffer without guilt - look!" The final remark of the playwright: "A lightning strike. Prometheus falls through the earth" - puts an end to this dramatic situation.

The tragedy was permeated with tyrannical pathos. Prometheus grew into a truly heroic figure, not only a benefactor of people, but a fighter against the absolute power of the Father, capable of any crime.

Unlike the Persians, the tragedy of Prometheus represents a step forward in the development of dramatic technique. Tragedy contains the main elements of a dramatic work: plot, conflict, images that are monumental. Through the whole work there is a confrontation between the friend of the people Prometheus and the tyrant Zeus. It is significant that the antagonist of Prometheus never appears on the scene. His name constantly sounds, his orders are in a hurry to fulfill his henchmen, his will determines the development of the conflict. But the viewer never sees it with his own eyes. Aeschylus' unmistakable artistic taste affected this technique. The playwright seems to be appealing to the imagination, the fantasies of the audience, inviting everyone to imagine the image of the supreme god, this embodiment of tyrannical self-will. Let us recall that the Iliad also lacks a description of the beauty of Helen, the most beautiful of the Hellenic women. However, it is shown what impression she makes on those around her, on the elders of Troy.

Following Aeschylus, the image of Prometheus inspired a number of great word artists. He is the hero of one of Goethe's early poems. Byron's Prometheus, written in Switzerland in 1816, is a passionate call to resist all forms of oppression. This ancient myth interested Byron since childhood. Under his pen, titanium appeared as a symbol of "fate and power." For another great romantic poet, Byron's contemporary and friend, Shelley, author of the dramatic poem "Prometheus Unbound" (1819), the image of the titan was, on the contrary, painted in life-affirming, optimistic tones. His liberation from torment meant for Shelley the beginning of the "golden age" of mankind, the emancipation and harmonious development of all the creative forces of people in unity with nature. Inspired by the image of Prometheus and composers: Liszt, Scriabin.

Only in Russian poetry of the XIX-XX centuries. the image of Prometheus was sung by many poets: among them Baratynsky, Kuchelbeker, Ogarev, Benediktov, Ya. Polonsky, Fofanov, Bryusov, Vyach. Ivanov and others.

Aeschylus (525-456 BC). His work is associated with the era of the formation of the Athenian democratic state. This state was formed during the Greco-Persian wars, which were fought with short breaks from 500 to 449 BC. and were for the Greek states-policies of a liberating character. It is known that Aeschylus took part in the battles of Marathon and Salamis. He described the Battle of Salamis as an eyewitness in the tragedy "Persians". The inscription on his tombstone, composed, according to legend, by himself, does not say anything about him as a playwright, but it is said that he proved himself a courageous warrior in battles with the Persians. Aeschylus wrote about 80 tragedies and satyr dramas. Only seven tragedies have come down to us in full; small fragments of other works survive.

The tragedies of Aeschylus reflect the main trends of his time, those huge shifts in socio-economic and cultural life that were caused by the collapse of the tribal system and the formation of the Athenian slave-owning democracy.

Aeschylus' worldview was basically religious and mythological. He believed that there is an eternal world order, which is subject to the action of the law of world justice. A person who voluntarily or involuntarily violated a just order will be punished by the gods, and thus the balance will be restored. The idea of ​​the inevitability of retribution and the triumph of justice runs through all the tragedies of Aeschylus.

Aeschylus believes in fate-Moira, believes that even the gods obey her. However, this traditional worldview is mixed with new views generated by the developing Athenian democracy. So, the heroes of Aeschylus are not weak-willed beings who unconditionally fulfill the will of the deity: a person in him is endowed with a free mind, thinks and acts quite independently. Almost every hero of Aeschylus faces the problem of choosing a course of action. The moral responsibility of a person for his actions is one of the main themes of the playwright's tragedies.

Aeschylus introduced a second actor into his tragedies and thereby opened up the possibility of a deeper development of the tragic conflict, strengthened the effective side of the theatrical performance. It was a real revolution in the theater: instead of the old tragedy, where the parts of the only actor and the choir filled the entire play, a new tragedy was born in which the characters collide with each other on stage and directly motivate their actions.

The external structure of the tragedy of Aeschylus retains traces of proximity to the dithyramb, where the parts of the lead singers interspersed with the parts of the choir.

Of the tragedies of the great playwright that have come down to us, it stands out: "Prometheus Chained" - perhaps the most famous tragedy of Aeschylus, which tells about the feat of the titan Prometheus, who gave fire to people and was severely punished for it. Nothing is known about the time of writing and staging. The historical basis for such a tragedy could only be the evolution of primitive society, the transition to civilization. Aeschylus convinces the viewer of the need to fight against all tyranny and despotism. This struggle is possible only through constant progress. The benefits of civilization, according to Aeschylus, are primarily theoretical sciences: arithmetic. Grammar, astronomy, and practice: construction, mining, etc. In tragedy, he paints the image of a fighter, a moral winner. The human spirit cannot be overcome by anything. This is a story about the struggle against the supreme deity Zeus (Zeus is depicted as a despot, traitor, coward and cunning). In general, the work is striking in the brevity and insignificant content of the choral parties (deprives the tragedy of the oratorical genre traditional for Aeschylus). Dramaturgy is also very weak, the genre of recitation. The characters are also monolithic and static, as in other works of Aeschylus. There are no contradictions in the characters, they each act with one trait. Not characters, general schemes. There is no action, the tragedy consists exclusively of monologues and dialogues (artistic, but not at all dramatic). The style is monumental and pathetic (although the characters are only gods, pathetism is weakened - long conversations, philosophical content, rather calm character). The tone is a eulogistic-rhetorical declamation addressed to the only hero of the tragedy, Prometheus. Everything exalts Prometheus.

The development of the action is the gradual and steady intensification of the tragedy of the personality of Prometheus and the gradual growth of the monumental-pathetic style of the tragedy.

Aeschylus is known as the best spokesman for the social aspirations of his time. In his tragedies, he shows the victory of progressive principles in the development of society, in the state system, in morality. Creativity Aeschylus had a significant impact on the development of world poetry and drama. Aeschylus is a champion of enlightenment, this tragedy is educational, the attitude towards mythology is critical.