How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #4
CHORUS. the waves of the sea cry out in unison , the depths groan, Hades' dark subterranean recesses rumble in response, and the flowing streams of holy rivers lament your piteous pain. (431-435)
"The sky is crying/ The cruel trees turn their leaves/ I am so alone." Bad adolescent poetry? Yes. Also, a fancy literary device called pathetic fallacy, when the landscape appears to reflect human emotions. Talk about man and the natural world. Here, the earth mourns along with Prometheus. But then again, Prometheus isn't really human, is he? Would we expect a mere mortal to earn a similar reaction from the earth and sea, in the world of this play? Or are humans more separate from nature than a godlike Prometheus?
Quote #5
PROMETHEUS. In the beginning, though they had eyes and ears they could make nothing of what they saw and heard; like dream-figures they lived a life of utter random confusion all their days. They knew nothing of brick-built, sun-warmed houses, nor of wooden construction; they dwelt underground, like tiny ants, in the sunless recesses of caves. Nor had they any reliable indicator of winter, or of flowery spring, or of fruitful summer; they did everything without planning, until I showed them the hard-to-discern risings and settings of stars. I also invented for them the art of number, supreme among all techniques, and that of combining letters into written words, the tool that enables all things to be remembered and is mother of the Muses. (442-461)
Okay, so it's Prometheus who invented writing. (And therefore the SAT? Thanks, dude.) But the point is, Prometheus's inventions took man away from the natural world—which, in Prometheus Bound, seems like a good thing.
Quote #6
PROMETHEUS. And I was the first to bring beasts under the yoke as slaves to the yoke-strap and the pack-saddle, so that they might relieve humans of their greatest labours; and I brought horses to love the rein and pull chariots, making them a luxurious ornament for men of great wealth. (462-471)
Technology changes humans' relationship to nature—which includes subjugating animals to human purposes. But we also see humans being subjugated to other humans; how can there be "men of great wealth" if there aren't also "men of great poverty"? Could Prometheus's actions be changing the relationship of humans to each other, as well as the relationship between humans and nature? These are the big questions, Shmoopsters.