Volume 19, 2007 - Brown University

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18 Lindsey Brett Meyers sublimate his passion to his reason. Intriguingly, this is the very message of Prometheus’ prophecy to Zeus. As Zeus will be deposed by a lust-begotten son, he self-evidently must permit his reason to control his passion if he is to maintain his political order. However, if he moderates his passions, he will fundamentally transform the nature of his rule. Recall that that the Aeschylean Zeus defines political justice as that which serves his tyrannical desire. However, as that unchecked desire will result in his destruction, he must re-define political justice in terms of reason if he is to survive. Thus he imprisons Prometheus and seduces Io. While the idea of a morally evolving Zeus may be foreign to our modern understanding of a supremely perfect God, for Aeschylus both the human and the divine seem to evolve as fate reveals itself in history. For Zeus will sow the seeds of his own destruction if he couples with Thetis, since the child born of their sexual union will depose Zeus just as Zeus overthrew Cronus. In this sense, Zeus’ survival will be a product of his sexual sublimation, as his reason will control his passion to ensure the continuance of his political rule. However, this sublimation intriguingly suggests an evolution in the idea of political justice, one that bases morality on the principle of reason rather than the application of force. And if this was the case, perhaps Prometheus brought illumination to Zeus just as he provided the light of fire to humanity. Just as Prometheus transformed mankind with skill when he presented it with fire, one wonders whether Aeschylus, in the final act of his missing trilogy, allowed Prometheus to transform Zeus’ tyranny in telling his prophecy. It is fated that on the day when Zeus grants Prometheus’ freedom, Prometheus will tell Zeus that he must not couple with the goddess Thetis, lest he produce a son who would overthrow him. In this prophecy of Zeus’ doom, Prometheus held the promise of Zeus’ political salvation. Because Zeus’ conception of political justice is based on the satisfaction of his will to power, Zeus must understand that the passionate pursuit of power will be his political undoing. Zeus can only survive if he curbs his passion, for if he falters he will literally sow the seeds of his own destruction. That is, if he does not halter his tyrannical rule, in his coupling with Thetis, Zeus will produce a son who will overthrow him, just as he deposed his father Cronus. Because Prometheus can foresee the future, he has great power. That is, he can grasp the progressive march of political history in a way that Hermes cannot understand. Though Hermes tells Prometheus that “Time has not taught you self-control or prudence-yet” (Prom. 982), the truth is that Prometheus’ understanding of the future gives him a privileged position to act as a political hero. For example, he will “drink the painful cup to the dregs until Zeus relaxes from his angry mood” because no one can “soothe the spirit” of Zeus until “the moment is ripe” (Prom. 374-378). So, just as Atlas bears the weight of the world, Prometheus heroically exercises his freedom to bear the political responsibility for the development of divine political justice. Thus, while Prometheus’ refusal to talk to Zeus may appear hubristic, it is really a recognition that history must evolve before Zeus will grant him political
The Historical Necessity of Political Justice in Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound 19 freedom. He knows that if Zeus comes to him that he will be able to bring illumination to the gods just as he provided it to humanity. References Aeschylus. 1961. Prometheus Bound. Trans. Philip Vellacott. London: Penguin Group. Wutrich, Timothy Richard. 1995. Prometheus and Faust: The Promethean Revolt in Drama from Classical Antiquity to Goethe. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
Page 2 and 3: Faculty Editor Joseph Pucci Managin
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