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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
Aeschylus, the first of the three great Athenian tragic poets, lived 525–456. Seven of his nearly one hundred tragedies are preserved complete, and we have fragments of several dozen others. His most complex work, the Oresteia trilogy (458), raises many of the social, political, and ethical issues of contemporary Athens, such as the nature of justice, the origins of law and order, and the relations between the sexes. Some modern scholars doubt the authenticity of Prometheus Bound and would date the play after 450, because it shows the apparent influence of sophistic ideas, especially in the passages translated here.
Prometheus Bound
In the excerpts from the Prometheus Bound (1–3), Prometheus addresses the chorus, who are generally sympathetic to him. Cf. Hesiod's treatment of the same myth (Hesiod, 1–2), and Protagoras, 8. “Prometheus” means “Forethought”
Prometheus (228–241)
As soon as he [Zeus] assumed his father's throne,
he distributed different prerogatives
to the various gods and set up
his rule. On wretched mortals
he put no value at all, but wished to obliterate
the entire race and plant another one anew.
No one opposed this plan save I;
I dared to rescue mortals
from destruction and an end in Hades.
Therefore I am bowed down by these woes,
painful to endure and pitiable to behold. […]
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