A Long & Storied (Mythical) Tale of Tyranny, Revisiting Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound
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Hello, this is Let's Talk About Myths, baby, and I am your host, Liv. Here today with a voice that sounds weird, unless I'm completely mistaken in listening to myself.

So I'm going to be totally upfront with you guys. I had every intention of having a Liv Reads the Thebiad episode for today. I was going to record it yesterday and then, well, it turns out the Odyssey has taken over my entire life. I've been so caught up in working on the initial bits of this children's retelling of the Odyssey and quite frankly, I am so excited about it that it...

I've kind of let it take things over. And so that alongside trying to build this collective and bring in new shows and figure out what on earth we're all doing. And well, I didn't have time. And if I'm going deeper into this explanation, I was then going to do it really early in the morning and just like first thing when I woke up. And then a thunderstorm hit last night that kept me awake.

Like, the whole night. And so I woke up this morning and I was like, you know, I could, like, try my best to read something that is...

tough, even at the best of times, because I'm always translating words like thy and thou for like in the moment so that it doesn't sound wild to you. And I was like, or, or I could take that absolutely incredible and wild thunderstorm where, by the way, I just lay in my bed, unable to sleep and then watched lightnings

lightning hit the CN Tower, which was kind of a surreal experience, I would take that as inspiration for a re-air episode. And so today, today I'm sharing the two-part episode I did a few years back on Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound, because it's about Zeus being a tyrant and generally...

How tyranny is bad and the type of people who fall in line with the tyrant and how they kind of become just as bad as these tyrannical leaders. And, you know, I mean, I just don't think this play is relevant in any other way other than the thunderstorm. So...

That sarcasm, it's crazy relevant. These are the episodes I did on Prometheus Bound, and I'm honestly really excited to share them with you again. So enjoy. This is the whole play of Prometheus Bound just tucked into this one re-air episode. This is episode 144. All this over a bit of fire? Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound.

Before we can dive right into the play itself, The Prometheus Bound, we need to cover a little bit of background. Like so many Greek tragedies, Prometheus Bound jumps right into the action and expects the theater-goers of the ancient world to have a good idea of what exactly is going on.

Since you're not ancient Greeks attending the great Dionysia in maybe, maybe not 479 BCE and thus not expected to have an intricate understanding of the general story of Prometheus and the Olympian gods, I will remind you what the situation is.

Prometheus is the Titan god of foresight. He sided with the Olympian gods in their war with the Titans, the Titanomachy. But Prometheus became a bit disenchanted with Zeus' choice of rulership style after the war. That is, Zeus was being an enormous dick to the early humans of Earth, and Prometheus felt for them.

There's a whole mess of confusing stories when it comes to the origin of humanity according to Greek myth, so I won't go into that whole deal here. There's a lot of maybe they had different ages of humanity that were time after time wiped out for being shitty or before the final stage of humanity as we know it was brought into existence. Again, it's confusing as hell, but the point is that Prometheus had a thing for defying Zeus when it came to humanity and Zeus was trying to kill off humanity.

Where we find him in the story, you can imagine that humanity, as we know it, exists. As do women. We won't go into the whole Pandora creation story as it relates to Prometheus and Epimetheus here. I've told that one before. Where we find Prometheus now, humanity exists, and he's given them fire. Very, very much against Zeus's wishes.

Zeus, you see, was being his usual self and was generally being shitty to humanity. He may have wanted to wipe them out all entirely and start again, or he just wanted to keep them under his thumb, completely beholden to the gods, and so that they would basically be lost without them.

Namely, he did not want them to have fire. That would give them too much power, it would give them too much freedom. With fire, humanity could craft necessary things. They could craft weaponry, they could eat better, and generally just exist as much, much, much happier people. So, Prometheus gave them fire. Again, very much against Zeus's wishes. Prometheus stole fire from Hephaestus's forge and brought it to humans down on Earth.

And this, well this really angered Zeus. It angered him so much that he sent two of his divine forces to punish Prometheus for what he'd done. Zeus sends two demons, daemon gods, that exist as personifications of worldly forces and concepts. I've mentioned these types of gods before, but the two in question are Kratos, divine power, and Bea, divine force or might.

A lot of translations just use their concepts as their names because that's what the ancient Greek words mean in English, literally power and force or might. But I really enjoy their Greek names and it makes them feel a bit more mythological and less allegorical. So I'm calling them Kratos and Bea. Along with Kratos and Bea is Hephaestus, the god whose fire Prometheus stole, but definitely not a god who was keen to punish Prometheus in the way that Zeus hoped.

Interestingly, it seems that in this take on the gods, Hephaestus is not the stepson of Zeus, but actually his son. This, of course, only adds to the drama that's about to unfold.

And so this is where we find ourselves in the play, The Prometheus Bound, with Kratos and Bea dragging Prometheus to his punishment in far-off lands to the east in Scythia, with a reluctant Hephaestus in tow. We're dropped right into the action, or rather, the punishment for the action. 🎵

To earth's remotest limits we come, to the Scythian land an untrodden solitude. And now, Hephaestus, yours is the charge to observe the mandates laid upon you by the Father, to clamp this miscreant upon the high, craggy rocks in shackles of binding adamant that cannot be broken.

For your own flower, flashing fire, source of all the arts, he has purloined and bestowed upon mortal creatures. Such is his offense. For this he is bound to make requital to the gods, so that he may learn to bear with the sovereignty of Zeus and cease his men-loving ways. That is how Kratos begins this play.

Ultimately, this play is about the gods in a truly fascinating way. It's about the power of the various gods, but it's also about the long-term hierarchy of the gods. Prometheus is ancient. In this play, he's meant to be maybe even more ancient than in the more traditional mythology that we have. Here, Prometheus is the son of Themis, the primordial Titan goddess who basically is justice.

And that's saying something. He's also connected here with Gaia, Mother Earth and the source of prophecy before Apollo became the source of prophecy. He's meant to be primordial, old, ancient, from the absolute beginning of things. And in the name of humanity, he's going up against Zeus, the current ruler and a god who is absolutely being painted as a tyrant.

Zeus has come in as this new ruler. He's taken out much, much older beings than him, the Titans, in a horrible war that pitted Titan against Titan. And now he's immediately become tyrannical, something the ancient Greeks felt very strongly about.

This is also why the question of who wrote this play and when is particularly interesting, because its content and message about Zeus's tyranny is particularly appropriate in light of the period during the end of Aeschylus' life and after. Because we're talking the Peloponnesian War, we're talking Athenian democracy versus the tyrannical way the Athenians saw their adversaries, the Spartans,

That Athenian democracy was a direct response to, yes, you guessed it, tyranny. This message of tyranny is so intentional that the word used earlier by Kratos that's translated here as sovereignty, and in other translations it's rule, was the ancient Greek word tyrannis, which means those things, sovereignty and rule, but it means rule or sovereignty that was taken by force.

It's related to the word tyrannos, which was an ancient Greek word for king, but specifically the type of king that's, well, a tyrant. They had other words for kings that had more positive connotations. It's fascinating, which is why I'm rambling on about it instead of going into the play.

It's fascinating because all of those historical aspects I just rambled on about, but it's also fascinating for divine reasons. Primarily because of how we view religious worship now, with the supremacy of these monotheisms where the god figure is the most ancient thing there is. There's nothing older than God. But here, there are so many beings older than Zeus. And the only reason Zeus is the supreme leader is because he won a war.

That in itself is so fascinating. And it's also a nudge at people who like to yell at me for shit-talking Zeus because, you know, he's the god of everything. And I mean, I guess that means I should respect him. But let's look at this play and the ancient Greek people and their mythology broadly. They also thought he was a shit sometimes, and there's a play to prove it.

So certain modern Hellenists, I respect you, but you've got to also respect my right to talk the truth about Zeus, because the ancient Greeks that came before you saw him as a shit too. Anyway, back to this ancient and primordial Prometheus who's going up against the new king of the gods and god much, much, much Prometheus's junior, Zeus.

Right from the start, we're meant to understand just how deep in shit Prometheus is. Kratos and Bea are meant to serve, pretty obviously, as the tyrannical henchmen of Zeus. They are brutish and grotesque. They're meant to be scary and daunting as they introduce the play and what the audience is about to see. Prometheus bound.

that is prometheus getting what will be a horrible horrible punishment all in the name of zeus and all because he brought humanity the gift of fire

So unlike so many of my favorite Greek tragedies, we're not meant to feel for or understand the traditional villains here. There is no Clytemnestra or Medea, no Dionysus, where we know what the characters are about to do is wrong, but we're also meant to feel for them anyway, to at least understand their motivations and their intentions. No, here, the titan who gave humanity fire is being punished for it.

The Greeks watching, whether they believed this origin or not, they are meant to appreciate Prometheus, to consider him a kind of savior of humanity. Prometheus is a good guy. As Rachel Smyth brought up in my episode with her last week, Prometheus really is one of the only good guys. I certainly can't think of a bad thing he's done, at least when it comes to an audience of humans.

As Kratos announced in that opening, Hephaestus is there to be the one to actually chain Prometheus up. He's the one who's meant to perform the act of imprisoning the Titan for giving his fire to the humans. But Hephaestus isn't angry with Prometheus. He doesn't have any skin in the game when it comes to whether or not the humans have fire. It seems to be Zeus who's the one who's really concerned with keeping the humans sufficiently subjugated.

Hephaestus, meanwhile, is actually quite fond of Prometheus. The two share a love of craftsmanship. It's something that Prometheus is associated with in addition to Hephaestus, particularly because of this association with fire. They're pals. They're friends. They've got a lot of things in common, in a way that neither of them has much in common with the rest of the Olympians or even other deities.

You remember, Hephaestus has never been a particular fan of the Olympian gods, nor has he been treated particularly well by them. They've been pretty big assholes to him, actually. He really had to work to get back on their good graces, and it seems like he kind of respects Prometheus for just doing what he wanted by giving the humans fire.

Still, as much as Hephaestus doesn't seem to want to punish Prometheus, he recognizes that he kind of has to. Because the alternative is, well, Zeus's wrath, and that would kind of suck, as is evidenced by Prometheus being punished at all. Hephaestus comes in to begin chaining up Prometheus with his unbreakable chains.

Only Hephaestus can do this job. He's the only one who can forge these types of constraints, and he is beholden to Zeus, the new and all-powerful ruler. Zeus isn't in this play at all, but it is simultaneously about him.

Basically, everything is happening because of him and his wrath, his tyranny, his power over everyone involved is constantly being emphasized. According to the Rom translation, Hephaestus ends his first lines about Prometheus' punishment with, "...the mind of Zeus cannot be overturned by pleas. Harsh is the ruler when rule is new begun."

In Aeschylus' take on the physical imprisonment of Prometheus, the experience itself is more about isolation than it is about the horror of his more traditional punishment. Here, there is no eagle flying in to peck out Prometheus' liver every day while it grows back overnight so that the whole mess can begin again the next day.

in aeschylus prometheus bound as hephaestus explains to the titan as he's doing it the punishment that zeus is inflicting upon the high-minded and lofty titan prometheus

is that he will be chained up in the mountains far far away from the humans that he cares so deeply for where he will be scorched and aged by the sun all day before the cycle repeats itself again the next day

It's a darker punishment than the one we know. It's more about yanking him away from his precious humanity than it is about pain or gore. It's sadder. It's more depressing. It makes Zeus seem just a bit more evil. Kratos, meanwhile, is watching Hephaestus commiserate with Prometheus, and he questions why the god cares. Why he feels bad for Prometheus at all.

Kratos is really meant to be a true henchman of Zeus, there just to signify Zeus's power and the fear other gods have of him. Honestly, this is a super interesting take on the gods. Like I said, there aren't a lot of plays that include gods so explicitly as the main characters throughout. They're usually just there to finish things up or fuck shit up, just to provide some kind of divine mess.

But here we get an insight into the behavior of the gods outside epics and hymns. This is just a playwright of the early classical period painting a picture of how the gods saw each other, and particularly how they saw Zeus. No one is free except Zeus, Kratos says explicitly.

This suggests that the Greeks didn't really fear the gods for themselves, you know? Or at least they didn't fear them like Christianity often expects one to fear God. Like, Aeschylus is out here being like, okay, so this titan Prometheus gave us fire, he's super important to humanity, and he gave us awesome shit. And here's Zeus, the literal king of the gods, fucking shit up for Prometheus. Like, it is definitely not kind to Zeus.

Hephaestus begins the process, chaining Prometheus up, and Kratos taunts him as he does. Again, he's a stand-in for Zeus, who's calling out Hephaestus for feeling bad for the titan, telling him it's pointless and that he should, quote, strike harder, clamp him tight, leave nothing loose, for he is wondrously clever at finding a way out of even desperate straits.

Kratos taunts both the men, but he turns his focus to Prometheus now, telling him that he's nothing compared to Zeus, and he tells Hephaestus to really make the punishment hurt. As Ash said in their notes, What a dick. Meanwhile, Hephaestus gets it. The Rom translation has him saying, Aye, aye, Prometheus, now I groan for your pains.

Kratos goes on and on, he's being really fucking obnoxious and horrible, just over the top, before Hephaestus finally snaps at him. Like, dude, I fucking know what I'm doing, you don't have to make every moment of this torture. Fucking personification of power god trying to tell the god of fire how to do his job, I am embarrassed for you, Kratos. But finally, Hephaestus is done, Prometheus has been chained up, and so he leaves.

Prometheus is, just briefly, alone with Kratos and Bea. As he stands there, chained to a mountainside with unbreakable chains, Kratos tells Prometheus, quote, falsely the gods call you Prometheus, for you yourself need forethought to free yourself from this handiwork. 🎵

Prometheus is left alone, exactly the intention of the punishment. He can't move, he's left to solitude and the elements of the far-off, desolate Scythian mountains, the harsh, burning sun of the day, and the cold, frosty nights. This location is more about how far it is and less about the actual location. It's the farthest place one could imagine, the farthest away from the humanity that Prometheus loves.

And now that he's alone, it's time Prometheus has his own monologue. He begins, quote, "'Oh, you bright sky of heaven, you swift-winged breezes, you river waters and infinite laughter of the waves of ocean, oh, universal mother earth, and you, all-seeing orb of the sun, to you I call, see what I, a god, endure from the other gods.'"

Prometheus goes on, lamenting the horror and loneliness he's found himself in. Of course, he knows he's in the right, but that doesn't stop him from lamenting where he's found himself. He's calling out to those Titan gods who came before him, the ones who are objectively more important and more powerful than Zeus, even if they aren't in the grand scheme of divine rulership over the Earth.

Still, they're the right people to call upon in your hour of need. Prometheus relives his theft of fire for the audience, reminding them what he's done to deserve this punishment. How he stole the fire hidden in a fennel stalk and brought it down to earth to help every mortal alive.

But then he hears something in the distance. He imagines himself being found by the other gods, mocked and stared at for his punishment. But no, it isn't another god. It isn't anyone there to mock him or to make light of his situation. It's the chorus. Oceanids, second-generation titans, the daughters of Earth-encircling Oceanus, fly in on a winged chariot, there to speak with and reassure Prometheus.

They're there for him. They heard of what's happening to him and they rushed off to see him to let him know he isn't alone. The Oceanids tell Prometheus that they flew to his side so quickly that they didn't even have time to put on their sandals. The Oceanids agree with Prometheus. There's a reason it's Oceanids sent to see him, sent in as his chorus rather than some group of goddesses more closely aligned with Zeus.

The Oceanids, like Prometheus, are primordial and ancient. They're from the time before. They knew the world before Zeus took over and began implementing his tyranny. The Oceanids announced, "'For there are new rulers in heaven, and Zeus governs with lawless customs. That which was mighty before he now brings to nothing.'"

The Oceanids and Prometheus go on to discuss Zeus and his rule. They speak of the Titans that had fallen, those primordial beings that have either been imprisoned by Zeus or simply bowed before him, relinquishing their power to this new ruler. Prometheus laments that he's not locked away with the other Titans deep in Tartarus, where his punishment wouldn't be so shameful, where he wouldn't be alone.

They speak of Zeus's power. It's all about Zeus and this new rule over the world and what it's brought with it. And what Zeus and his rule has brought is certainly nothing good. This is episode 145, The Tyranny of Zeus and Prometheus Bound.

Prometheus, from his place on stage, bound at the hands and feet to the side of a mountain, reminds the audience all that has come before. The Oceanids ask him what's happened, and so he retells the story of the Titanomachy,

I won't do that. I've covered it pretty recently on the podcast. It was quite the war. What's notable, though, is Prometheus is reminding the audience that while there was a war between gods and titans, he was on the side of the gods. It wasn't as though he'd sided with his fellow titans in their fight with Zeus. No, he'd thought about it thoroughly, and he'd decided to side with Zeus and the Olympians. He explains that, quote,

It is by reason of my counsel that the cavernous gloom of Tartarus now hides ancient Cronus and his allies within it. Thus I helped the tyrant of the gods, and with this foul payment he has responded. For it is a disease that is somehow inherent in tyranny to have no faith in friends. Harsh words once more for that tyrannical king of the gods.

Prometheus goes on to explain that when Zeus became ruler, he immediately planned to kill off the mortals, to just let them all die out and then start anew. But that Prometheus had had pity for them. He's definitely being a bit showy here, really emphasizing how heroic he was in saving the mortals from Zeus's wrath.

He explains to the Oceanid Chorus, quote, Against this purpose none dared make stand except me. I only had the courage. I saved mortals so that they did not descend, blasted utterly, to the house of Hades.

He does not, however, explain how exactly he saved the mortals. That he gave them fire is a key point, but it doesn't come up until the Oceanids press him for what exactly he did to save the mortals and incur Zeus's wrath. So finally, Prometheus does explain that he'd given the mortals fire, that he did it so that they could learn crafts and arts from it. That's why he's being punished, he tells the Oceanids.

And how long will your punishment last, they ask him. There's no end to it, he explains, only whenever he chooses. That is Zeus. Still, earlier, Kratos made a pointed comment about that, that no one had yet been born who could free him.

That is, we're supposed to realize that it will be Heracles who finally does the job, but until Heracles is born and grows up and goes to save Prometheus, he is trapped there by the will of Zeus. "Don't grieve for me," Prometheus asks the chorus. He knows what he did. He knew he would be punished for it, even if he didn't think it would be quite so bad as this.

Still, Prometheus wouldn't take back his helping of the mortals. He's proud of what he's done. No, instead of grieving, he asks the chorus to listen to him, to keep him company, to share his burden. The chorus agrees wholeheartedly. They're on his side and they want to do all they can. The Oceanids fly up to perch next to him. They want to continue listening to all the stories he has to tell.

But it isn't the time for his stories just yet, because there's another titan who has come to visit Prometheus during his punishment.

The primordial titan god Oceanus, the earth encircling ocean itself, flies onto the stage now. That's right, he flies. Oceanus flies onto the stage riding an enormous bird. Maybe even a fucking griffin. 🎵

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Oceanus flies in on a fucking griffin, really stealing the show at this moment. Fuck, imagine being in the audience for this. Perched on your marble seat in the enormous amphitheatre, and then somehow they've got yet another god flying in, this time riding a monstrous bird creature.

Oceanus is there to tell Prometheus that he has another god on his side, that while Oceanus is meant to side with Prometheus purely out of familial obligation , he would do it anyway because he can't think of another god he'd rather side with than Prometheus. And, well, Prometheus now elacts not to just appreciate the sympathy, the friendship, the companionship in his punishment.

No, he's going to be a drama queen instead. Uh, he says, you're here to gawk at me then? To laugh at my punishment? And I want to say Oceanus is like, no, dude, I just fucking told you I'm here because you're a good guy and I want to help you.

But no, we kind of gloss over Prometheus' woe-is-me drama queen energy. He is, after all, being punished by the king of the gods. Still, take what you can get, Prometheus. He's there to be a friend. Ugh. Instead, Oceanus basically confirms that Prometheus should have known what he was doing, but he'd chosen to taunt Zeus to explicitly go against his rule in a pretty powerful way, and thus, the punishment isn't surprising.

I want to help you, Prometheus, Oceanus tells him, but until I can sort out how to help you, you should hold your tongue. You are, as Ash rightfully summarized in their incredible notes, playing with fire. Ha ha ha ha. For real, that's a good one. Oceanus goes so far as to tell Prometheus that he will personally go to Zeus and ask him to release Prometheus from his punishment, and that he is certain that Zeus will listen.

One would think that this offer would be met with thanks and excitement, but again, Prometheus is, at this point, really just enjoying his role as martyr. He doesn't want to give it up just yet, and he explicitly tells Oceanus not to bother asking Zeus to free him, not to bother helping. Honestly, drama queen energy, martyr complex.

As much as I enjoy the Zeus is a tyrant talk, Prometheus is making it all a bit too much about himself, and we're left to wonder just how unreasonable and awful Zeus actually is. I mean, he is awful. But still, Prometheus is clearly also prone to exaggeration. So, no, don't help me, he tells Oceanus, before launching into yet another of what Ash calls Prometheus monologue hour.

Prometheus claims that he doesn't want Oceanus' help because he doesn't want to see him punished too. He laments for himself for his own punishment, and he recalls others who have faced punishment by Zeus. My brother, Atlas, he recalls, is forced to hold the very heavens upon his shoulders as though he's a pillar. And that weight is a horrible thing to bear. Atlas is Prometheus' brother in this version. Don't worry about sorting it out. There are so, so many versions of everything.

And, he recalls, I pity not just Atlas, but even the monstrous creature Typhon. Yes, Prometheus is so against the tyranny of Zeus that he's pitying Typhon. Typhius. He thinks of Typhon in his caves, how he fought the gods. Quote, he withstood all the gods, hissing out terror with horrid jaws, while from his eyes lightened a hideous glare, as though he would storm by force the sovereignty of Zeus.

Are you really trying to make Typhon sympathetic, Prometheus? But yes, he is. He continues, explaining how Zeus struck him down with his lightning bolt and, quote, Now, a helpless and sprawling bulk, he lies hard by the narrows of the sea, pressed down beneath the roots of Etna, while on the topmost summit Hephaestus sits and hammers the molten ore.

there one day shall burst forth rivers of fire with savage jaws devouring the level fields of sicily land of fair fruit such boiling rage shall typhon although charred by the blazing lightning of zeus send spouting forth with hot jets of appalling fire-breathing surge

Fuck, I love quoting this shit. With this, Oceanus once more tries to offer his help to Prometheus, but Prometheus insists he shouldn't bother. Of course, he phrases it as though he's the one doing Oceanus this huge favor by insisting the Titan not help him in his squabble with Zeus, but Prometheus's appreciation of his own punishment, his own martyrdom, is really coming across here.

Oceanus tries his best, but finally he gives in. It sounds like you really just want me to go home, he offers to Prometheus. Yes, exactly. Head home and keep to yourself, Prometheus answers. And with that, Oceanus leaves the way he came, on his enormous, monstrous bird that might have even been a griffin. Oceanus's role in this play is brief, but both interesting and really fucking cool to imagine. Thanks, Oceanus. You've been good to us.

The chorus of Oceanids sing and cry for Prometheus. They're on his side once more, singing of the rule of Zeus and all the trouble that it's caused. The arrogance and self-serving laws. They sing and sing, describing all those of the world who now mourn for Prometheus.

After a bit of response from Prometheus about his own plight, not to leave it out for even a single speech, he does finally turn to the plight of humanity. I don't think we're meant to feel for Zeus ever in this play, but there are still definitely points where you're supposed to think that maybe, just maybe, Prometheus has turned this into a bit of a self-serving nonsense on his part too. In the end, it seems humanity is the one most harmed by all of this Titan versus God bullshit.

Listen, he says, quote, to the miseries that beset mankind, how they were witless before and I made them have sense and endowed them with reason. How lucky humanity was to have Prometheus on their side. He does add he isn't trying to insult humanity with this, not to bring them down. He's simply explaining how little they had before he brought them fire. With fire, they were able to do so many more things for themselves.

The ancient Greeks certainly did have a good grasp on just how important fire was and just how much its invention changed humanity. It's interesting because obviously that would have happened so, so, so, so, so long before these myths that were being sung by the poets even, let alone this play. Still, the way it changed humanity for the better was fresh in their minds and they thanked Prometheus for it.

The Rom translation explains this beautifully. Quote, Prometheus goes on to explain how fire brought them brick-built homes, shelter from the sun, how it brought them wood structures when all they had before was just hiding away in dark caves.

He goes on, though, claiming to have given humanity more than even just fire. He says he showed them the seasons of the year, the stars in the sky. Numbers and letters were given to humanity by Prometheus, he says. And from all of these things came every art imaginable. He says he gave them the taming of horses, the building of ships. Everything. Everything they have, I gave to them, Prometheus says.

Again, taking a whole lot of credit for literally everything under the sun because it makes his status as a martyr all the more important. It makes his place now, under constant punishment, all the more tragic. Thank the gods for Prometheus. The chorus breaks in to say basically exactly this. They praise him for all he gave to humanity and once again, they lament his current punishment. Fucking Zeus, they might as well all be saying.

But wait, Prometheus continues, just wait until you hear everything else I gave them. And then he regales the chorus of oceanids with another lengthy, lengthy list of things that he says he brought to humanity. Oh, what would they have done without him? What a savior he is. What a hero. I

I won't list everything that Prometheus claims to have given humanity because haven't I listed enough? But just imagine that it's really and truly everything. Everything that humanity found beneficial, everything that saved them pain and heartache and injury over however many centuries of things being developed, everything that ever helped humanity in even the slightest of ways, Prometheus says he gave to them.

In finishing this speech, Prometheus makes this explicit. In the Rom translation, he says, quote, To sum it all up in the briefest words, all arts that mortals use come from Prometheus. Which leaves me wondering, if you were going to sum it up all quite so succinctly, Prometheus, why didn't you save us all the time and energy of listening to those speeches?

the oceanids continue to be sympathetic to prometheus they tell him that if all of this is true then he's sure to find a way to get himself free before long that they hope he does and that he becomes just as powerful as zeus

Prometheus, though, begins to be a bit cagey. He says that his freedom isn't yet foretold by the fates, and they're the ones to decide. He goes so far as to explain that even Zeus is beholden to the fates, if no one else. The Oceanids ask, then, what else do the fates have in store for Zeus? I can't tell you that, Prometheus answers vaguely. You have a secret, then, they press.

Let's speak of something else, Prometheus says, making clear he won't be telling them his secret. He explains that if he hides it, if he keeps his secret, then someday he will be free of these bonds, of this punishment. Dun-dun-dun! Dun-dun-dun!

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In answer to this vague statement by Prometheus, to the very idea that he has some secret of the fates worth keeping, the oceanid chorus continues their laments for his fate. They go on and on, and frankly, it's repetitive and pretty meh. Plus, what's most exciting comes at the end of their song, so let's jump ahead.

Jump ahead to the moment when, as the chorus finishes their song of love, for Prometheus going so far as to talk of their singing around his bath and his bed on his wedding day? Which, weird. I have questions. Just as they finish singing about this love, Io comes on the scene as half-cow. Fucking Io, you guys. Remember Io? No?

Don't worry, she'll remind us all of who she is. Fucking badass cow queen of Greek myth. That's who Io is. Io, in her cow-like state, comes on stage in a wild frenzy. She's confused and in pain, and she's immediately asking who these people are before her, where she is, what is going on?

She spots Prometheus and asks him what crime he's being punished for. That he's in the midst of a horrible punishment is clear, even in her confused state. Io is being hounded by a gadfly. Bitten and followed, not only by this fly, but by a ghost, or a presence, or a memory?

"'Aye, aye, aye,' she cries out. "'A gadfly, phantom of earth-born Argus, is stinging me again. Keep him away, O earth! I am fearful when I behold that myriad-eyed herdsman. Argus, that myriad-eyed herdsman. Sound familiar?'

Again, we'll get there. Io cries out. The gadfly is stinging her and the memory of Argus is haunting her, watching her. She can't eat or sleep and she just wanders. She wanders and wanders and so she's ended up here. Wherever here is, no one has told her yet.

She goes on, calling upon the common denominator, the thing she'll soon find that she has in common with Prometheus. Quote, Oh, son of Cronus, in what have you found a fence so that you have bound me to this yoke of misery? Oh, son of Cronus, what did she do exactly? ♪

Io and Prometheus speak now. She's asked him where she is and who he is, and he answers. "'I am Prometheus,' he tells her, "'and I am the one who gave fire to humans.' "'Prometheus,' she answers, excitedly, "'grateful for this gift to humans. "'Why, then, do you deserve punishment?' Prometheus tells her that he's just finished his story, the long and lengthy tale of his troubles."

Would you offer me just a bit of the story, Io asks, since I missed it? She limits what she wants Prometheus to tell her, and for that, we're all appreciative. It's time for Io's speeches now. I have heard enough from Prometheus. Prometheus tells her very little. She's not that interested. Zeus had me punished, he tells her. But Hephaestus was the one to do it. Why, he tells her? That much he's already said.

Suddenly Prometheus isn't one for making lofty speeches about his own importance. It's quite the shift. So, she asks, if you're not going to speak more about your own story, tell me of mine. She asks Prometheus, the god of foresight, to tell her how much more wandering she has to do. Why is Io wandering? Again, we'll get there. For now, know that this poor woman has been transformed either into a full cow or a half cow, the latter more so for the visual of the play than anything else.

She's been wandering all around the world for what feels like ever. She has wandered and wandered, constantly hounded by the gadfly. The fly that bit her and bit her and forced her to always keep moving, always keep walking, even though she had no plan or anywhere to go or anyone to see.

She's been sad and aimless, punished by the gods in a similar way to Prometheus, though when it comes to Io, the woman, as you might expect given Greek myth, she did nothing wrong. Prometheus tells her that it's better if she doesn't know. Which, I mean, is kind of an answer in itself. It doesn't sound like your wandering is ending anytime soon, Io. She presses him, though, for more information. What does he know that she doesn't?

Prometheus is about to explain more, not one to turn down the opportunity for more speeches, but the chorus stops him. Now wait just a minute, Prometheus. Before you speak, why not let Io tell us her story? According to the Rom translation, the chorus requests of Prometheus, quote, Allow us first to learn of her disease and let her tell the perils in her past. Then you can add the sequel of her sufferings.

Io, Io, Io, what is your story? Io feels comfortable with Prometheus and the chorus of Oceanids. We're told even that the Oceanids are her father's sisters. They're all divine and thus related. But it gives Io a bit of comfort as she begins to tell her story to the chained and punished Prometheus and his gang of kind Oceanids. Io begins,

The quotes I'm going to use here come from the Rom translation, because I like his Io better. The older translation that I've been referring to mostly makes Io ashamed of what she's about to share, whereas Rom makes her grief-stricken. What a difference when it comes to treatment from the gods. She begins, quote, You'll learn in clear words everything you ask, though telling it brings grief.

The god-sent storm that wrought this transformation of my body from where it came to strike a wretched girl. Io tells Prometheus and the Oceanids about dreams she began having late at night while she was asleep in the comfort of her home. She began to have visions that told her that she was being wanted by Zeus.

Her dreams told her that the king of the gods wanted her, that explicitly he wanted to have sex with her, though it's likened to marriage in the visions. Why stay a virgin when you could have Zeus? Is a very real and accurate paraphrase of these dreams Aya was having.

The visions continued. They told her to go to Lerna, where her father kept flocks and herds of animals. There, in the deep meadows, she could meet with Zeus so that, quote, the eye of Zeus may cease from longing. Gross. Finally, Io has been haunted by these dreams and visions for so long and is so bothered by them that she speaks to her father and tells him what she's been experiencing.

Her father, in response, sends messengers both to Delphi and to the Oracle at Dodona, asking what they should do to stem the gods' advances on Io. Finally, she explains, her father hears that he must force her from her home, lock her out, force her to wander aimlessly everywhere but her home. Otherwise, Zeus would strike him and the rest of his family down with thunderbolts.

Once more, we're learning of the deep and tragic tyranny that is the god Zeus. Once more, we're emphasizing the villainy of this king of the gods. It wasn't just Prometheus who had his future ruined by Zeus, but Io too. Her father does this. He kicks her out of her home and locks the doors behind her. She's left to wander, alone, nowhere to go, and no one to stay with.

and io tells her rapt audience as she wanders she begins to transform the further she wandered the more complete the transformation became she was from then on a cow

And not only was she transformed into a cow because she sought to avoid having sex with Zeus, but she was being hounded by a gadfly and was watched constantly by the herdsman Argus. Argus, you may remember, was a hundred-eyed herdsman of Hera sent to watch Io as she wandered aimlessly as a cow, all the while being stung by this horrid gadfly.

Still, that he was sent by Hera is not entirely clear in this play. Finally, though, and unexpectedly, Argus died. And she was, once again, completely alone, save for the fly, and it stings.

As her story ends, Io turns to Prometheus and speaks to him directly, saying, quote, You've heard what's happened. If you know anything about the toils ahead, speak out. Don't give me the comfort of false tales, for I proclaim invented words to be the basest illness.

And so, with Io's story of her fate at the hands of Zeus, we're left with another direct and explicit example of what a tyrannical, horrible ruling god he has turned out to be. This is episode 146, Io the Wanderer and Hermes the Bootlick of the Gods.

Io has told her story, that she was sought out by Zeus but essentially spurned his advances in the form of, well, just not going to the place where she was told he would find her and have sex with her. She sought to avoid this fate and so was transformed into a cow for it, forever to be followed and bitten by the horrible gadfly.

for a time she was guarded watched really by argus the many-eyed guardian of hera whose eyes upon his death were put into the feathers of a peacock

Like I mentioned last week, Io's story in the Prometheus Bound is interestingly different from the more traditional version. Traditionally, she's with Zeus. Whether it's consensual is not always clear, but they are together for a time and Hera finds out. Zeus transforms Io into the cow in order to sneak her past Hera, who isn't as stupid as Zeus seems to think, and thus sends Argus to guard the cow that is Io. The difference is interesting because this is much more about blaming Zeus.

Io's role in the Prometheus Bound is to be another victim of the wrath of Zeus, this tyranny that he has so recently inflicted upon the world. She's an example of how he has chosen to rule, with an iron fist, hell-bent on ruining the lives of anyone he thinks might have done him wrong in even the most minor of ways.

I prefer this take on Io, obviously, as it absolves Hera of a lot of the violence, not all of it. But it's not all about her punishing Io. It's just about Zeus's desire to be able to have sex with whoever he wants, whenever he wants, and what he'll do if that person attempts to avoid such a fate.

Still, Io finishes telling this story to Prometheus and the chorus of Oceanids, she tells them about the gadfly that follows her, stinging her, she tells them about her wandering, and she's curious about just how much more wandering she will have to do. Spoilers, it's a lot.

But the Oceanids hear this story, and they're fearful of Io. It's not clear whether this is because they fear Zeus, or just they have trouble with the story that she's told. It's a bit odd, honestly. But they respond to Io's story with horror and fear, and Prometheus has to talk them down. They've just explicitly asked her to tell her story, but once she does, they're horrified and they wish they'd never heard it.

The chorus in this play seems to have a lot going on. They're not always particularly consistent in the role they're seemingly meant to play. Still, it gives Prometheus a reason to stand up for Io, to push the chorus and remind them this is literally what they asked for. And now, he adds, just as they'd requested in the first place, now that Io's story has been told by her, he can tell them all it's sequel.

prometheus begins his speech his story of io's future with hear now the sequel the sufferings this maid is fated to endure at hera's hand and may you daughter of inachus lay to heart my words so that you may learn the end of your wanderings

Prometheus goes on. He tells Io that when she leaves there, she should head east, towards the rising sun. Walk in that direction until you reach fields that have not been plowed. There live the nomadic Scythians, whose straw homes sit high above the ground on carts. Such an interesting note about a very real people. Love to hear how the Greeks saw other groups in their general region. It's fascinating.

He continues. He talks about the weapons of the Scythians, bows and arrows. And remember, the Scythians are one of the main contenders for who the mythological Amazons might have been referring to. Don't approach the Scythians, though, he tells her. Continue on. You'll see another group of people, but they too should be avoided, as they're not a fan of strangers. Then you'll reach a river, but don't cross it. Follow it to the Caucasus Mountain, where rivers pour from its steep sides.

Quick note, there's a footnote here that clarifies this isn't the mountain range the Caucasus, but one mountain with that name. Take a southern pass, crisscrossing mountains, before you reach the Amazons themselves. Quote, who loath all men. I wish all the people who told me I hated men would at least refer to me as an Amazon when they did it. That would make the accusation much more enjoyable.

Prometheus tells Io that these Amazons will gladly be her guide, which is nice. Reinforces the loathes all men bit. They'll like Io and they'll help her because she isn't a dude. Prometheus continues, telling Io other location and river names that she will reach, many of which are the same journey as the Argonauts took when they sailed in search of the Golden Fleece. The idea being that she's traveling east and then south, towards the very edge of what the Greeks saw as Europe.

"'There is one body of water, the Maotic Straits, that will be difficult for her to cross. But Prometheus tells her she must steel herself and do it, but that after she does, the mortals of that region will tell stories of her legend, and it will be named for her, the Bosporus, the Cow Ford. "'Once you have crossed that,' Prometheus tells Io, "'you will have left Europe entirely, and will enter the continent of Asia.'"

With this statement, Prometheus turns to the chorus, reminding them just how tyrannical Zeus is, and how this story proves it. His note to the chorus, according to the Rom translation, is, "...so now you see the tyrant of the gods is even handed in cruelty. He set these wanderings because he, a god, lusted for her, a mortal."

So again, we're emphasizing Zeus and not Hera, even if Hera's name was dropped at the beginning of this story of Io's wanderings and punishment. Prometheus finishes his speech by speaking once again to Io. Again, this is from the Rom translation. Quote, How harsh a suitor came to seek your hand, dear girl, for all the words I've said so far are but a prologue to your tale of woe.

When Prometheus finishes telling this story of Io's forthcoming wanderings, when he seems to finish the story with basically, "And that's just the beginning of the shit you're gonna go through," Io is rightfully distraught. She interrupts Prometheus, crying out, "Aye, aye, aye."

To which Prometheus responds, quote, "'What, you are crying and groaning again? What will you do, I wonder, when you have learned the sufferings still in store for you?' "'What a fucking asshole. Dude, read the room!' Mygoth's. Iola mints even attempting to keep going with her wanderings. "'What is even the point?' she asks. To which Prometheus counters, "'If you think your life is going to be tough, try being me!'

Honestly, Prometheus is getting more and more frustrating with every passing moment of this play. What's worse, do we think being chained to a mountain with a nice chorus of oceanids keeping you company, or being transformed into a cow and forced to wander all over multiple continents alone with a fucking gadfly stinging you all along the way? Io has it worse, Prometheus. Shut the fuck up. But does he? No, of course not. This is, after all, The Prometheus Bound.

Prometheus decides that he has had it worse not because of the actual suffering I think even he would have to admit that Io's experience is the worst one but because of the length of punishment faced by both of them Io's will end, even if it will be a long, long time from then His, however, has no end in sight Not until Zeus falls from his throne What's that? Io asks, flitting cow ears perking up

zeus falling from his throne what do you know about that tell me everything io is incredibly keen to hear that the king of the gods could possibly be brought low that his tyrannical rule could come to an end she wants to hear every tiny detail that prometheus has to share

What follows, which I'm going to quote, is a great use of stichomythia, that is, the bits in a Greek play where there's a back-and-forth exchange by two characters, each having just a short line in response to the other. It's also a great word. Stichomythia. Io asks, "'By whom shall he be despoiled of the scepter of his sovereignty?' And Prometheus responds, "'By himself and his own empty-headed purposes.'

in what way oh tell me if there be no harm in telling he shall make a marriage that shall one day cause him distress with a divinity or with a mortal if it may be told speak out why ask with whom i may not speak of this is it by his consort that he shall be dethroned yes since she shall bear a son mightier than his father

So much being said here, and yet so little. The two go on, with Prometheus saying that the only way for Zeus to avoid being dethroned is to release Prometheus, but that it isn't destined to happen for many, many, many more generations. Who's going to release you? Io asks him. A grandson of yours, Prometheus tells her. Who could it be? 🎵

So there's a lot of interesting things going on in this exchange. First, we hear talk of Zeus being completely dethroned by a divine son of his who will be more powerful than even Zeus himself.

This may sound vaguely familiar, but of course it's not something that ever comes to pass. The idea being that Prometheus will be released and thus Zeus' downfall will not take place. It's a bit unclear how these two things are related, but the stories that come along with both pieces are things you all know well, and that the ancient audience watching the play would have also been very, very familiar with and invested in.

That's what's so interesting about so many Greek plays. The idea that the audience watching would know all the bits and pieces. They would know all the history of these characters, the background, and what's going to happen to them after the play.

That is, this son, that would be destined to be far greater than Zeus and dethrone him entirely, would be the son of Zeus and Thetis. Of course, in the end, Zeus becomes aware of this and he prevents Thetis from ever giving birth to a fully divine child at all, let alone one by him. Instead, Thetis' son is with the mortal hero Peleus and is none other than everyone's favorite lover of Patroclus, Achilles.

Achilles, were he the son of Zeus and Thetis, or maybe even just Thetis and another powerful god, would surely have taken down Olympus entirely. As it stands, he did some pretty severe damage to Troy. And the offspring of Io's that will eventually free Prometheus? Heracles. But as Prometheus goes on to explain to Io after this back and forth exchange, that won't be for a long, long, long time.

Io asks when this will happen and which of her descendants will it be. She is, rightly, interested in news this important. But Prometheus, though he's trying to tell her the truth, is being cagey. It isn't good news, the answer to this question. Io is so many generations removed from Heracles when it comes to the mythological origins that they might as well not be related at all.

This, though, isn't something she'd want to hear, as it just means that she's left to wander for God's know how many more years. That, though, is Io's fate, and at the very least, it's what she'll go on to become very, very famous for. Io wants to know more, though, and she continues pressing Prometheus. He eventually tells her that he will answer one of her questions about her future, but only one.

Either I will tell you what's to come in your tale of woe, or I'll tell you who will go on to free me. You have to pick one, Prometheus states to Io. But the chorus interrupts here. The Oceanids want to hear both stories. They nudge Prometheus, telling him, just, well, tell Io one of the stories and then tell us the other one. That's more than fair, they say. You tell Io what fate lies in store for her, and then you tell us who will eventually free you.

Of course, this is really just a way to allow Io and the audience to hear both stories. Whether it was the Oceanid's intention to help Io or not isn't entirely clear, but I'd like to think they're being kind to her. Or straight up, they just really want to hear more stories because they seem a bit over the top generally. I mean, either way, Io gets to hear both her fate and the fate of her descendants, so great day for Io, all things considered.

And so, with that, Prometheus begins the first story, about the fate of Io from there on out. He tells her where she should travel once she leaves Prometheus and the Oceanids, giving her explicit instructions on where she should go and what she will see.

Frankly, we're not concerned with too much about that, beyond where she will end up. But he does explain to her that along the way she will pass through the Plane of Gorgons, which I mean cool, so we're going to dwell there for a moment. Prometheus explains to Io that she will pass through the Plane of Gorgons, and that there, there are many daughters of Forcus.

Firstly, the grey eye. I've spoken to you all about the grey eyes so many times, so I won't harp on them. They're the three old crones who share one eye and one tooth between them.

A less than ideal existence, if you ask me. But what I appreciate about Aeschylus' description of them is that he notes that they look like swans, and that they have the body of swans. I did a bit of digging into this because it's weird and thus interesting, but it seems to me that Aeschylus is the only surviving source we have fully describing the Greyeye as swan-like, let alone literal swans.

There are ancient sources discussing Aeschylus' interpretation, but it seems pretty unique and possibly just a way to describe their age. They were old, crones, white, like swans. It's odd, and I like it. The point, though, is that Io will pass by them. She will also near the three sisters that we know and love, the Gorgons, the other daughters of Forcus, my snaky-haired beloveds.

He warns Io about these Gorgons, that they are loathed by humankind and that mortals may not look upon them and still draw breath. I love you Medusa. But he doesn't dwell there. The Gorgons aren't the point. They're just another marker for Io on her long, long wander. Prometheus's description to Io about where she will go continue before he finally lands on her final destination.

the Nile River Delta. There, Prometheus tells Io, you and your children will found a thriving settlement. Prometheus finishes this by saying, quote, if anything of this is confusing to you and hard to understand, may you question me yet again and gain a clear account, for I have more leisure than I crave. Hey, if any of this isn't clear, ask away. I've got all the time in the world.

When Prometheus finishes the story, telling Io that while she's destined to wander for a bit longer, she will eventually find herself at the Nile River Delta, where she will begin a dynasty of descendants. The chorus clarifies with him, asking if he's left anything out, but if not, that he should continue on with the rest of the story. Now, Io landing on the Nile River Delta makes it pretty obvious which dynastic culture she's intended to have founded. Egypt.

Io is one of the ways that Greek mythology attempted to understand the Egyptian civilization, and through that, she becomes connected with the Egyptian goddess, Isis.

Of course, this is all about Greek mythology finding a way to connect themselves to the culture to the south that they knew was so, so advanced and skilled and impressive. They wanted in on the badassery that is the Egyptian world, and they did it by inventing a story where a very Greek woman travels the whole of the Mediterranean before finding herself in Egypt.

This is, obviously, a not ideal way of seeing the Egyptian people, as descended from Greeks and very much based in the way the ancient Greeks truly wanted to believe that everything Greek was best. The Egyptians were, of course, much more ancient than the Greek world and very advanced.

There are probably historians out there who could give way better context and maybe take issue with this way of seeing it, but I'm really just trying to emphasize the importance of Egypt in the region and thus the reasoning for the Greeks wanting to make them Greek.

Of course, there's a lot of crossover between these two groups of people, with travel and trade and thus immigration and the like, so that isn't to say that there wasn't Greek blood in the Egyptian world quite early on anyway, and vice versa. I just want to emphasize the way this story was used. It's important, and honestly just super fascinating, to examine the ways in which Greek mythology was used to spread the idea that the Greeks originated so many things and so many people.

See, the ancient Greeks watching this play would have known the story of Io, they would have known her mythological connections with Egypt, and that she would go on to spawn the Egyptian people. There's more to this dynasty that she's meant to found, but Prometheus will get there. He goes on, "'In case you worry that I've been bullshitting you this whole time, Io, I'll prove myself by telling you your own story up to this point.'" That is his next story. He says he will remind Io what's happened to her.

Is this a kindness? I think not. He's about to make her relive her trauma in order to prove himself to be, I don't know, helpful? It's a bit wild. Still, he does it. He tells Io that, for her sake, he won't rehash everything she's been through, just the most recent bits. How nice of him. He tells her about her own wandering, how she reached Dodona, where Zeus' own oracle tells prophecies via the shaking of oak trees.

yes i've got to talk to you all about dodona sometime prometheus tells her about when she reached dodona she was hailed as zeus's wife to be nice for her oh no it wasn't is any of this pleasing to you prometheus asks as an aside then he continues still being stung by that awful gadfly you continued on to reach the adriatic

And he tells Io, because of your wanderings to that sea, the Gulf will always be named for you. The Ionian. That most of the seas around Greece and the Mediterranean take their names from mythological figures thrills me to no end. The Ionian, the Aegean, the Icarian. Incredible. And that, Prometheus finishes, proves my skill in prophecy.

Ah, Prometheus sure is proud of himself. But wait, he says, now I'll tell you the rest of my previous story. About what will come after your wanderings. Prometheus sure does love to talk. So finally, finally, finally...

Prometheus sets out to tell Io about the future of her family and how that will eventually lead to his being freed from his bondage there on the side of a mountain. Freedom that won't come for many, many, many more generations.

prometheus tells io and the chorus of oceanids that in io's wandering of the nile she will eventually come to a city called canobus which sits by the nile there he tells her you will be returned to your natural form is a nymph kind of by relation but the idea is that she will be transformed back into a human form by zeus he will touch her prometheus says quite specifically

The word touch is interesting here and important because while it clarifies that Zeus' touch is pretty magic and specifies his touch is harmless in one translation and un-terrifying in another, it still serves to impregnate Io. Goodie!

So Io will give birth to a child called Epaphus, which the name actually relates to touch as well. Prometheus tells her this, and that Epaphus will be the child of Zeus. Prometheus also clarifies that Epaphus will be dark-skinned.

Epaphus was, according to a footnote in the Rom translation that I'm reading, associated with the Egyptian god Apis. At least he was by the Greeks. In a troubling turn, though, the other translation we've referred to throughout most of this, which is much older, translates him to just being dark versus dark-skinned, which has bizarre and troubling ramifications. Two very different things, particularly in Greek myth.

Epaphus, though, is dark-skinned. He is Egyptian, and he is the first in Io's line. This is obviously an important piece when it comes to debunking the long line of nonsensical whiteness placed upon Ancient Greece, as if there were zero dark-skinned people in their orbit. Because not only is Epaphus Io's son, dark-skinned, but he begins her dynasty of, at least for now, dark-skinned descendants.

Epaphus, Prometheus explains, will have a great life on the Nile, appreciating all the fruits it has to offer. The Greeks sure understood just how incredible the Nile was when it came to surviving and thriving as humans on its banks. From Epaphus, Prometheus then jumps down the line a ways. He tells Io that Epaphus's great-great-grandchildren will be a family of 50 women.

"'Sound familiar? There's only one story of families of fifty, and I've told it to you before.'

yes fifty maidens shall return to argos not of their free choice but fleeing marriage with their cousin kin while these their hearts ablaze with passion like falcons eagerly pursuing doves shall come in pursuit of wedlock unlawful to pursue but god shall grudge them enjoyment of their brides

These are the Danaids, and their cousins, the sons of Egyptus. Both Danaus, their father, and his brother, Egyptus, are relations of Io's. I mean, obviously both of them, they're brothers, but still, I'm trying to make sure I use the name Egyptus here. So Danaus and his 50 daughters, the Danaids and Egyptus, whose name the Greeks associate with the name of Egypt, had 50 sons.

The sons of Egyptus want to marry their cousins, and the Danaiids are absolutely not interested. And so, as Prometheus said in the quote, the Danaiids flee back to Argos, Io's home.

Of course, 49 of them will go on to murder 49 of their cousins and cause a whole dark and bloody kerfuffle there. But there are two that aren't a part of the murder. The woman is Hypermnestra, and it's from her and her cousin, Linkeus, that Io's line keeps going.

Finally, more generations down the line, they will be born my savior, Prometheus tells Io. Of course, he's referring to Heracles, as I mentioned earlier. I don't believe in spoilers for things like that in these plays, because I think such a huge part of what makes them so interesting is that the ancient Greeks would have known who everyone was talking about, even if they weren't named. Here, specifically, Heracles' name isn't given, but everyone would have known exactly who Prometheus was talking about.

Prometheus finishes telling Io of the fate of her descendants by saying that all of this was told to him in a prophecy by his mother, the Titan goddess Themis, and that these facts are all that matter. The how and the why things will end up as they do don't matter. In response, Io is stung once more by that goddamn gadfly and she lets out a wailing cry. 🎵

"'Aye, aye,' Io cries out before she says, quote,

"'Once again convulsive pain and frenzy striking my brain. "'Inflame me. "'I am stung by the gadfly's barb, unforged by fire. "'My heart knocks at my ribs in terror. "'My eyeballs roll wildly round and round. "'I am carried out of my course by a fierce blast of madness. "'I've lost all my mastery over my tongue "'and a stream of turbid words beats recklessly "'against the billows of dark destruction.'

And that is Io's last lines in this play. With this, Io leaves the stage and the play entirely. She leaves to go on to become vitally important in the world of the Greeks. Her descendants will be people like Perseus, Heracles, and Cadmus. But she still has a lot of suffering in her future. With Io gone, the Oceanids, well, they basically gossip about her.

I don't love the Oceanids in response to Io, though they're not surprising. They speak about unequal marriage and how troubling unequal marriages can be, essentially saying that Io's life is so awful and difficult because she had one of these unequal marriages with Zeus. Obviously their idea of marriage isn't the same of ours, since they also add that much of her suffering is due to Hera, his actual wife.

Io didn't choose to be with Zeus, and she certainly wasn't married to him. He spotted her and then ruined her life. And the Oceanids shit-talk that situation. Prometheus, thankfully, brings them back to the matter at hand. The reason of all of this, and the subject of the first half of the play, he's there to remind them about Zeus's tyranny.

Prometheus speaks of the forthcoming fall of Zeus at the hands of the children of Thetis. He speaks of a curse uttered by Cronus as Zeus took him down. This play seems to be the only reference to such a curse. I find this also fascinating. Prometheus is so sure of Zeus's fall that he will be taken out by this child of Thetis.

The chorus questions him, saying that this is only what he wants, that he can't be certain of it. But he is certain. Prometheus is 100% sure that this will happen, and that he needn't even be remotely afraid of Zeus because he himself isn't fated to die, and Zeus is fated to be overthrown. It's fascinating and suggests that Prometheus knows more than anyone, even maybe more than the fates themselves.

still in the end this doesn't happen and the audience would know that they know achilles so what does that say about prometheus and his prophetizing they continue on like this prometheus being entirely certain of himself confident in his fate

Ash noted in their research that this also suggests that maybe Prometheus did what he did, stealing the fire, because he knew all of this would go down. He knew he'd be punished by Zeus, but that Zeus would end up falling, that then Prometheus would be freed by Heracles. It opens up a lot of questions about Prometheus's knowledge, like I was just saying, and his understanding of fate, but he's interrupted.

Hermes arrives on stage and Prometheus greets him as the errand boy of Zeus. In the Rom translation, he says, quote,

I am utterly obsessed with this language of tyranny when it comes to Zeus. It's so pointed when it comes to Athenian history of tyranny and the introduction of their form of democracy in response to tyranny. Here, Zeus is a tyrant, just like human king tyrants. And I love it.

Hermes is there for one thing. Zeus wants information on this fateful marriage that will result in the son that will take him out completely. He's heard rumblings. He knows this idea that there is a son that will overthrow his father, overthrow Zeus, just like Zeus overthrew who overthrew Uranus. It sure is a pattern.

Again, from the Rom translation, Prometheus' response to Hermes is just too good. Quote, A lofty speech and full of self-regard. How fitting for the bootlick of the gods. The bootlick of the gods! Ugh. Prometheus and Hermes trade insults. Once again, I remind you of the brilliant word for this back-and-forth type of exchange in Greek plays, stichomythia.

They go back and forth, Prometheus refusing to tell Hermes the prophecy he's looking for, Hermes questions why Prometheus is bothered enough by Zeus' actions to allow himself to be punished in this way. They don't see it the same. Hermes sees the gods in power and, thus, what's the problem? He's happy being Zeus' messenger boy. Prometheus, meanwhile, is the martyr, but also, I mean, he's kind of right in terms of Zeus' actions.

He's very confident in his decision. He's happy to be punished as he is if it means he gets to stand up to Zeus, the tyrant. And so Hermes takes this opportunity to straight up threaten Prometheus. "'Think about what you're doing here,' he says. "'If you don't give us what we want, Zeus will rain down even further punishment.' He threatens thunder and lightning that would smash the mountaintop where Prometheus is chained, that he would be entombed within it.'

And then he threatens the more famed punishment of Prometheus, that Zeus would send an eagle, the symbol of the god, to fly to Prometheus and tear him up, feasting on his liver. This wouldn't end, Prometheus adds in finishing his threats, unless some god was willing to take you down to Tartarus itself.

Prometheus, unsurprisingly, is fine with all of these threats. He's not concerned with himself. He's stuck on this understanding that he has of fate and what's to come. Hermes warns off the chorus, saying they should leave Prometheus now lest they get caught up in the further punishment that's forthcoming. And though they briefly had agreed with Hermes that he might have had a point, they stay with Prometheus.

And so, with that, Hermes leaves them alone. And as soon as he's gone, the roar and clap of thunder and lightning begins while Prometheus speaks his final, brief speech. Quote,

Indeed, now it has passed from word to deed. The earth rocks, the echoing thunderpeal from the depths rolls roaring past me. The fiery wreathed lightning flashes flare forth and whirlwinds toss the swirling dust. The blasts of all the wind leap forth and set in hostile array their embattled strife. The sky is confounded with the deep.

Behold, this stormy turmoil advances against me visibly, sent by Zeus to frighten me. O holy mother mine, O you firmament that revolves the common light of all, you see the wrongs I suffer. That it ends with Prometheus yelling about his suffering is just...

So pointed towards the Zeus as a tyrant narrative and the Prometheus as a martyr narrative, but also the Prometheus as an important figure of Greek myth narrative. It is so many things in once. It is so beautiful. Oh my god, this play is so fascinating.

Again, nerds, as always, thank you so much for listening. I really do love telling these plays and I love when I hear from you all that you love them too. I love hearing that you all love any specific type of episodes. It really gives me a boost. It reminds me that I'm doing something that people really enjoy and find valuable. So please feel free to reach out anytime. My social media is welcome to you all. It's Myths Baby everywhere.

Again, a huge thank you to Ash Strain, who helped with research on this play. They have been invaluable. Thank you. I am Liv and I love this shit.

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