Prometheus Bound

This review is concerns the Heritage Press edition of 1966. Housed in a matte, pumpkin-colored slipcase. Black machine-tooled cloth with gold details with a sewn binding. Preface and translation of the Aeschylus by Rex Warner. End Note by Mrs. Shelley. 161 pp on ivory paper with 16 full page Farleigh illustrations. An understated yet impressive design.

I always find the prospect of reading ancient literature daunting, but this play was very easy to understand. I would definitely recommend this as a supplement for those studying ancient Greek Mythology. It really added depth to my understanding of Prometheus, Zeus and the mind set of the Ancient Greeks.

This is a stunningly modern translation of The Prometheus Bound. James Scully, the poet-translator, has done the impossible, he's turned one of the world's oldest dramas into a can't-put-it-down pageturner. If you've never read the Prometheus or read it and found it dull and archaic, read this translation. Additionally, there's a fascinating discussion at the end of what territory the next two plays in the Prometheus trilogy probably covered and this includes all the fragments of the other two plays that have been found. It was a great loss to Western Civilization when the rest of the trilogy failed to survive the Dark Ages for all the fragments hint that, where the play we have is pure defiance, Prometheus as the lone rebel against tyranny, the trilogy as a whole was about reconciliation, the ability for irreconciliable opposites to come to terms with each other without surrender or compromise. Still, even without that, the play we have gives an overwhelming image of the unbreakable human spirit and that alone makes it well worth reading. Prometheus Bound in a good translation is a must read.

While most people enjoy Prometheus Bound as a fable of Greek mythology, much lies in this tragedy. Prometheus Bound is one of the earliest surviving tragedies, written by the man, Aeschylus, who created the classical Greek style of drama. Outside of Sophocles' Oedipus cycle, there is not tragedy to compare with this. There is here an exploration of the nature of man, of the universe around him, and of the fate that binds him. In Prometheus is the ultimate classically tragic figure: complete self-knowledge, yet bound by fate to suffer interminably. I recommend this work as highly as I am able. Aeschylus is my favorite tragedian, one of the most difficult authors I have ever encountered, and as brilliant as any I have found. Read Prometheus Bound now. And if you can't do it now, do it tomorrow.