How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #1
POWER. We have reached the land at the furthest bounds of earth, the Scythian marshes, a wilderness where no mortals live. (1-11)
Way to open the play, right? Right from these first lines, we know that the play takes place on a remote part of the world—someplace so inhospitable that no one can live there.
Quote #2
HEPHAESTUS. Here you will hear no mortal voice, see no mortal form; you will lose the bloom of your skin, grilled by the brilliant flames of the sun; welcome to you will be Night of the gaudy apparel when she hides the daylight, but welcome too the return of the sun to disperse the early morning frost; and you will be continually worn down by the burden of one or another kind of suffering, for he who can relieve it is not yet born. This is what you have gained for your human-loving ways. (18-28)
Here, nature itself seems to be part of Prometheus's punishment, (so maybe one of the these should be "Gods and the Natural World"?), but also his relief. Without other gods or humans to rely on, Prometheus has to look to the natural world for healing.
Quote #3
PROMETHEUS. I did: I stopped mortals foreseeing their death.
CHORUS. What remedy did you find for that affliction?
PROMETHEUS. I planted blind hopes within them.
CHORUS. That was a great benefit you gave to mortals.
PROMETHEUS. And what is more, I gave them fire.
CHORUS. You mean those short-lived beings now possess flaming fire? (248-256)
The Chorus seems to see humans as simply part of the natural world, "short-lived being" that just, you know, die all the time. But now they've got fire—watch out, Olympus.
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.
Quote #7
PROMETHEUS. If anyone fell sick, there was no means of aiding him, neither by food nor ointment nor potion: they withered and decayed for want of remedies, until I showed them how to mix gentle curative drugs, with which they can now defend themselves against all kinds of diseases. (478-499)
One major separation between humans and the natural world is that humans can heal themselves (sometimes) when they're sick. We may not have tricorders (yet), but we can still cheat death in a lot of fantastic ways.
Quote #8
PROMETHEUS. So much for that; but as for the things hidden beneath the earth that benefit humanity—copper, iron, silver, and gold—who can claim to have discovered them before I did? No one, I know for sure, unless he wanted to spout pointless drivel. To sum everything up in a short sentence: know that all the skills that mortals have come from Prometheus. (500-506)
So, if everything humans know they know from a god, that clearly suggests that humans are on a slightly higher level than nature (in the world of this play, that is). But they're below nature in another sense: without the immortality of the gods, they will still have to endure the natural processes of birth and death. C'mon, Prometheus, couldn't you have stolen that gift while you were at it?
Quote #9
PROMETHEUS. Now hear about the future, what sufferings this young woman is destined to endure at Hera's hands. And you, child of Inachus, take my words to heart, so that you may learn how your journey will end. In the first place, starting from here, turn towards the sunrise and travel over the uncultivated plains. You will come to the nomad Scythians, who dwell in wicker homes, off the ground, on strong wheeled wagons, armed with far-shooting bows. Do not go near them: go on through and out of their country, keeping your path close to the rocky coast of the groaning sea. (703-713)
As she passes through different regions of the earth, she will encounter one distinctive group of people after another, each seemingly more crazy than the last. That makes this speech a cool kind of travelogue, revealing the diversity of human behavior. Is that nature? Or does the land make the people?
Quote #10
PROMETHEUS. Next, on your left hand, dwell the Chalybes, workers in iron: beware of them, for they are savage and not safe for strangers to approach. You will then come to the Violent River, not inaptly named; do not cross it—it is not easy to cross—until you come to Caucasus itself, the highest of mountains, where the river pours its strength off from the very summit. After crossing over those peaks close to the stars, you must take the way to the south, where you will come to the man-hating host of the Amazons, who will one day settle at Themiscyra on the Thermodon, where is the savage cape of Salmydessus, inhospitable to sailors, the stepmother of ships. They will be very glad to guide you on your way. (714-728)
Prometheus is really fixated on the way that people use technology to dominate nature. The Chalybes, for example, are known for being iron-workers. The Amazons are separate from nature in another way: as an all-female community ("man-hating" as Prometheus calls them), they've separated themselves from the reproductive cycle. Is this diversity of human behavior unnatural, or does it reflect some part of human nature itself?