How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #1
PROMETHEUS. O bright Sky, and you swift-flying winds, and river-springs, and you countless twinkling waves of the sea, and Earth mother of all, behold what I, a god, am suffering at the hands of the Gods! (88-100)
These are the first words that Prometheus speaks in the play, and he doesn't pipe up until well after his captors are gone. Is it a coincidence that he waits until Hephaestus, Power, and Violence are gone before complaining about his sufferings? Or do you think he kept his mouth shut while they were around out of pride—so that they wouldn't be able to see how much they were hurting him?
Quote #2
PROMETHEUS. Would that he had cast me below the earth, below Hades who welcomes the dead, into boundless Tartarus, and cruelly fixed me there with unbreakable chains, so that no god nor any other being could gloat over these afflictions! As it is, I wretchedly endure the buffeting of the winds high up, to my enemies' delight. (152-159)
Prometheus may be enduring unimaginable suffering, but at least he's still got his pride. The fact that he's exposed in a position where even a few people—the daughter of Oceanus—can see him, makes his punishment that much worse. Instead, he would rather be hidden away in the depths of the earth, where no one can see him. By the end of the play, he gets his wish. Do you think he's happy about that?
Quote #3
CHORUS. You are audacious and unyielding in the face of these bitter pains, and you speak too freely. (178-185)
Here, the Chorus criticizes Prometheus for not keeping his mouth shut, since he's just going to make things worse for himself. And he does. Eventually, Zeus gets so ticked off that he plunges Prometheus into a black pit in the depths of the earth—there to remain for centuries, until he's finally hauled up again, only to have his liver mauled by a vulture. Ouch. So why does Prometheus keep running his mouth? Pride.
Quote #4
PROMETHEUS. Here, what is this? Have you too come to be a spectator of my sufferings? How did you dare to leave the stream that bears your name, and your self-built, rock-roofed cavern, and come to this land, the mother of iron? Have you come to see what has happened to me, and to share my distress? Behold the spectacle, then—me, the friend of Zeus, who helped establish his autocracy, what torments I am now racked with at his hands! (284-206)
Oceanus offers his advice amicably enough, but Prometheus interprets his presence as one more torment he will have to put up with. After all, who wants your frenemy to come gloat about your detention?
Quote #5
OCEANUS. What I am going to say may seem to you rather hackeneyed, but these, Prometheus, are the wages of an over-arrogant tongue. Are you still not humbled, not yielding to your troubles? Do you want to get more of them, on top of what you have? Well, if you accept me as your adviser, you won't kick out against the goad, being aware that we have a harsh monarch holding irresponsible power. (307-324)
The gist of Oceanus's message is a diagnosis of Prometheus's problems: the old human-lover is too full of pride. If he would only give up his pride and stop raging against Zeus, he could find himself in a better state. Does the play encourage the audience to see things Oceanus's way or Prometheus's way? How does our view on pride—and whether it's a good thing or a bad thing—relate to our sympathies for one or the other character?
Quote #6
OCEANUS. Allow me to suffer from that affliction: to be sensible while being thought stupid is the best policy.
PROMETHEUS. That shortcoming will be thought to be mine.
OCEANUS. Your words are plainly meant to send me back home.
PROMETHEUS. Yes: by lamenting for me, you risk incurring enmity.
OCEANUS. You mean the enmity of him who has lately come to sit on the almighty throne?
PROMETHEUS. Take care that his heart never becomes aggrieved with you.
OCEANUS. Your misfortunes, Prometheus, serve to instruct me. (381-396)
Okay, Oceanus may be right: you probably wouldn't send Prometheus to a self-esteem course. But isn't this a bit of the pot calling the kettle black? Oceanus certainly seems to have some pride of his own at stake here. Why else would he get so offended by Prometheus rejecting his help? If nothing else, just look at the lame way he quits the scene, giving Prometheus the oldest excuse in the book: "Uh, yeah, my… horse needs to… rest a bit. OK, gotta go!" This guy is clearly trying to save face.
Quote #7
PROMETHEUS. Do not think that my silence is due to vanity or arrogance. No, my heart is eaten up with brooding, when I see myself treated so outrageously. After all, who was it but I that did all the distributing of privileges to these new gods? (436-442)
Here, Prometheus contrasts two types of pride. On the one hand, he says that he isn't acting the way he is out of "vanity or arrogance." On the other hand, he says that he is angry and finding himself "treated so outrageously." Gee, that sounds a lot like wounded pride. Prometheus's point seems to be that some pride is unjustified and some is based on actual accomplishments. Which kind does Prometheus have?
Quote #8
IO. In my maiden chamber I was persistently visited by nocturnal visions which coaxed me in smooth words: "Most greatly blessed maiden, why do you remain a virgin so long, when you could have the greatest of unions? Zeus has been struck by a dart of desire coming from you, and wishes to partake of Cypris with you. Do not, my child, spurn the bed of Zeus, but go out to the deep meadow of Lerna, among the flocks and cow-byres of your father, so that Zeus's eye may be assuaged of its desire." (640-657)
You might think that Io would be bragging about how the most powerful god in the universe has the hots for her, but you'd be wrong. Io's just embarrassed—and, actually, we see why. Not such a great thing to have Zeus take an interest in you.
Quote #9
CHORUS. Those who bow to Necessity are wise.
PROMETHEUS. Revere and pray and truckle to whoever is currently in command! To me, Zeus matters less than nothing. Let him rule and act as he likes for this short time: he will not be ruling the gods for long. (936-940)
Here, the Chorus tries to convince Prometheus to be less prideful. But Prometheus sees their attitude as itself shameful. Is there any way out of this predicament, or is this a case of agree to disagree?
Quote #10
HERMES. This is just the kind of arrogant behavior by which you landed yourself in this trouble in the first place.
PROMETHEUS. I can tell you for sure, I wouldn't exchange my misfortunes for your servitude.
HERMES. Oh, I suppose it's better to be in servitude to this rock than to be the trusted messenger of my father Zeus!
PROMETHEUS. < >! That is how one ought to insult the insolent. (964-979)
The part of this quotation that is enclosed in "< >" diamond brackets shows a passage that is missing in the original manuscript of the play. The translator of the edition we're using, Alan H. Sommerstein, says in his footnote (p. 549) that the missing passage must be some extremely offensive insult against Hermes. This passage certainly presents the climax of Prometheus's hostile attitude toward Hermes. Hermes accuses Prometheus of being needlessly prideful; Prometheus replies by saying that he'd rather be prideful than be a stooping suck-up like Hermes. Once the debate has sunk to this level, there's really nowhere else for it to go. That means it's time for the audience to judge. So, who do you think wins? Does Hermes carry the day with his suggestion that Prometheus is just pigheaded, or does Prometheus, with his argument that pride is sometimes worth it?