Fighting with the Gods against his own kind, he was spared a punishment, yet fair share of wrongdoing sets his penalty. The Titan Prometheus experienced torture as his liver prevailed through the beaks of an eagle on top of Mount Caucasus. He could not escape, because of the impenetrable chain that confined him to a rock. Each day his liver would grow back, and he would experience the torture again because of his immortality. In Lord Byron's poem "Prometheus", he describes Prometheus' crime and punishment. After researching Prometheus in Greek mythology, I reread the poem to find out the point. The poem focuses on the reasoning for Prometheus’ crime and punishment. In this blog I will review and evaluate some of the lines from the poem "Prometheus".
In lines five through 11 it explains how Prometheus gained nothing but pride, when helping mankind. Heaven symbolizes Zeus, ruler of the sky, rain God, and the supreme ruler of Gods. Zeus punishes those who commit crimes, lie, or break oaths. In the end he controls one’s fate, and no one can persuade him otherwise; therefore explaining lines 17 and 18. Zeus thought suffering for all eternity held a better punishment rather than death for Prometheus clarifies lines 23 and 24. To clear up lines 26-29, “the Thunderer” also symbolizes Zeus. Prometheus means “forethought”; thus having the ability to foretell the future, and signifying he knew what Zeus would do to him. Before Prometheus’ punishment, Zeus ordered Prometheus to create mankind, explaining lines 47-50.
I enjoy Greek mythology, so this poem caught my eye. Although Lord Byron presented the purpose behind the crime and punishment, the poem lacked a variety of techniques. Byron did use symbolization of Zeus. Similes and metaphors could define the way Prometheus felt after the punishment as well as Zeus’ feeling about Prometheus and the crime. Byron described what Prometheus gained from helping mankind, yet he did not express what mankind gained from Prometheus. Little to no visual representation presented itself in the poem; therefore holds as a great disappointment to my taste. Overall Byron did an admirable job outlining Prometheus’ act of crime in Zeus’ eyes and his consequence.
I too enjoy Greek mythology. What I don’t get is if the only way to receive punishment is if you commit crimes, lie, or break oaths, then why did Prometheus receive any sort of punishment? Was it because Zeus was threatened by Prometheus’s ability to foretell the future and his ability to help mankind? In line 12 it states, “And then is jealous lest the sky”, could this be Byron’s way of saying that Zeus was jealous of Prometheus’s way of thinking? What it could be, is that if Prometheus feels he could help mankind and go against his own kind then Zeus is thinking that Prometheus is trying to replace him and attempting to prove his strength against his own. That could be why before Prometheus is sentenced, Zeus has him try to create mankind. It’d be interesting to know how Prometheus was thinking when we chose to fight against the other Titans, and how he felt about his punishment. Was Zeus fair in how he punished the Titan?
ReplyDeleteI like how you were able to pick out the main details throughout the poem. This poem by Bryon was semi-complex considering how he took a Greek myth and put it in poetic form. For me reading this poem became very confusing with his use of language. In some lines I feel as though it’s saying one thing then the next line is saying something in the complete opposite direction as the first. Considering that Greek mythology is one of my favorite topics, this poem really caught my eye. After reading this poem it gave a complete different meaning to the actual Greek myth. Instead of just reading the simple form of the Greek myth, Byron took it deeper and picked out the main details throughout the myth and put it in poetic form so then the reader is reading straight facts and hidden messages they cannot read in the myth. I enjoyed both the Greek myth and Bryon’s poem about the myth. Between the two I continue to like the Greek myth compared to Byron’s “Prometheus”.