How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #1
PROMETHEUS. Look, with what indignities I am tormented, to endure these trials for endless years!
Prometheus is a god, so it's hard to say what suffering is like for him. We get the impression here that what he hates is the "indignity." Sure, he talks about torments—but it seems like he's way more bitter about being humiliated.
Quote #2
PROMETHEUS. I thank you for that, and I shall never cease to be grateful; you are certainly not short of zeal. But don't make the effort. Any effort you make for me, if you do make one, will be wasted and will do no good. Keep quiet, and keep yourself out of harm's way. Even if my fortunes are poor, I wouldn't for that reason want suffering to strike as many others as possible! (340-346)
This is how we know Prometheus is a good guy. He may be chained to a rock, but he's still looking out for the people around him. Gee, wouldn't you rather worship him?
Quote #3
IO. What land, what people are these? Who should I say this that I see, wind-battered, harnessed to the rocks? For what crime are you thus being murdered? (562-563)
Io's been driven on stage by a gadfly, and the first thing she does is express sympathy for Prometheus. That, friends, is how to win friends and influence people.
Quote #4
IO. Oh, oh! ah, ah! A gadfly is stinging me again, wretched me! […] Keep him off! Ah, dah! I fear, seeing the myriad-eyed cowherd! He is on the move, keeping a crafty eye: […] to hunt me—wretched me!—and makes me wander starving along the sands of the seashore […]. (565-573)
So, not only has Io been turned into a cow, but she is also being pursued over the face of the earth. Her pursuers are (a) a gadfly and (b) the dead ghost of a herdsman named Argos. On top of it all, she doesn't seem to be getting enough to eat, as you can see in her reference to how she is "starving." But hey—she was asking for it, right? Out in the woods all alone?
Quote #5
IO. What crime, son of Cronus, what crime is it you have found me guilty of, that you have yoked me to these sufferings—ah, ah and torment me out of my mind like this, wretched that I am, ever driven by the fearful gadfly? Burn me with fire, or bury me in the earth, or give me as prey to the monsters of the sea (578-588)
So, Io's main beef is that she doesn't understand what she has done wrong to be punished in this way. Is that part of why she suffers so much?
Quote #6
IO. Tell me, miserable that I am, who are you, who are you, suffering one, that can address me, who suffer too, so correctly, and can name my god-sent affliction, which withers me and pricks me with stings that force me to wander—ah, ah? (593-598)
Io calls herself "miserable" while addressing Prometheus as "suffering." Does suffering bring people together? Or does it just drive them apart?
Quote #7
IO. What means of escape, what cure for my affliction? Reveal it, if you know it: speak and tell it to the wretched wandering maiden. (600-608)
It's a lot easier to endure suffering if you know when it's going to end. Want an idea of what Io feels like? Imagine sitting underground in an unairconditioned subway car, with no idea what's going on or when you're going to move again. Yeah. You're scared now.
Quote #8
PROMETHEUS. You are groaning, and full of fear, so early? Wait until you have learned the rest as well!
CHORUS. Speak, tell us all. For the afflicted, you know, it is pleasant to understand clearly in advance the pain they have still to suffer. (696-699)
Prometheus seems to think that it's worse to know what you still have to go through. The Chorus takes the opposite view: they think it's better to know, clearly, what you're going to have to go through. Hm. Maybe if it's only a little suffering ahead, it's better to know about it (making the Chorus right). But maybe, if there's a lot of suffering ahead, it's better not to know (making Prometheus right). Or, hey, maybe it's just better not to suffer at all!
Quote #9
IO. What good does life do me? Why do I not straight away throw myself from this rugged rock, so that I can crash to the ground and be rid of all my troubles? It is better to die once and for all than to suffer terribly all the days of my life. (741-751)
So, when Io does find out how much suffering she still has to endure, she considers suicide. (Do you blame her?) Prometheus talks her out of it, but it almost proves his point: sometimes it's better not to know how much suffering is in store.
Quote #10
PROMETHEUS. When he announced this message to me, I tell you, I already knew it; and there is no disgrace in an enemy suffering ill-treatment from his enemy. (1014-1042)
So, this follows Hermes's meticulous description of all the suffering that Prometheus is going to undergo. Prometheus's response? He knows it—and he doesn't care. Enemies punish each other; that's just the way of the world. The suffering is for a good cause.