In recent lectures we have been discussing the Sovereign of the Greek gods: Zeus and his relationship with the other gods. Firstly, I will begin by discussing Zeus’ family background. He was the last born son of Cronos and Rhea and succeeded his father by defeating him and ending his tyrannical rule and locked him away in Tartarus. In doing so Zeus became the ruler of the gods and the earth. This brief description of Zeus makes him out to be a saviour, or a ‘sovereign’. In Hesiod’s Theogony, Zeus is shown to be the greatest of all the gods by describing ‘how much he is the most excellent among the gods and supreme in power’ [Hes. Th. 29]. Throughout the Theogony, Zeus is described as ‘great’. This can increase his reputation as a ‘sovereign’. Zeus is also essentially the King of the gods, therefore he demands respect.
The
painting pictured above is by Christian Griepenkerl, and is titled "Theft
of Fire" (1878). It depicts Prometheus stealing fire from the sleeping
Zeus and Ganymede and is a ceiling painting in the grand staircase of the
Augusteum, Oldenburg. Fire is at the heart of Prometheus’ story, and Prometheus
is often portrayed proudly holding a torch. However this particular painting
shows Prometheus moments before he steals fire. So instead of seeing Prometheus
as the ‘saviour’ of mankind, holding the torch victoriously above his head, we
see him as the thief that lies beneath his seemingly righteous exterior. In
this posting I will analyse the various representations of Zeus and Prometheus
and analyse the overall consequences of their actions.
In class we also discussed how Zeus could be depicted as both a
sovereign and a tyrant (Basileus and Tyrannos). He may have freed his brothers
and sisters but in doing so at the same time he had to violently overthrow his
own father, and he also gave to the rest of the titans’ cruel punishments
because they defied his rule. He struck Menoetious with a ‘lurid thunderbolt
and sent him down to Erebus because of his mad presumption and exceeding pride’,
he burdened Atlas with upholding ‘the wide heaven with unwearying head
and arms’, and ‘ready-witted Prometheus he bound with inextricable
bonds’ [Hes. Th. 507]. He also struck the titan Typhoeus with a thunderbolt
and cast into Tartarus [Hes. Th. 853]. In a sense, the titans saw Zeus as
someone who overthrew their ruler, so it would make sense that they
would be opposed to Zeus and his siblings, who in a way are different to the
titans in that they were called gods.
By comparing Zeus and Prometheus’
relationship in relation to Zeus being viewed as a tyrant, it could be
considered that the only way Prometheus could defy Zeus was by tricking him, as
he saw with his fellow titans that Zeus was much superior in strength.
Therefore Prometheus sided with Zeus in an attempt to gain his trust and
deceive him later on. In order to process this theory it is necessary to
discuss their relationship from the moment Zeus defeated Cronos up until
Prometheus was given his punishment.
In
Apollodorus, Library, ‘Prometheus moulded men out of water and earth’
[Apollod. 1.7]. He did this at the command of Zeus, and since through the
creation of mankind Prometheus has attempted to trick Zeus by various means.
Prometheus’ first attempt to deceive Zeus was by giving him unequal sacrifice
portions, but Zeus was not fooled by this: ‘Iapetos’ boy, if you’re not the
smartest of them all. So you still haven’t forgotten your tricks have you?’
[Hes. Th. 543]. This sacrifice was meant to mark the initial separation between
gods and men, but Prometheus covered the flesh innards of the sacrificed Ox
with parts of its stomach, while dressing the bones with shining fat for mortal
men [Hes. Th. 538-41]. This offers a cultural insight into why mortals
sacrifice to the gods, but inevitably keep the best portions for themselves (as
the Greeks only ate meat which came from ceremonially slaughtered animals).
Zeus retaliates to Prometheus’ trickery by withholding the power of fire from
mortals. This way man would be forced to eat meat raw. Hence comes Prometheus’
second attempt; by stealing fire and hiding it in a fennel stalk in order to
return it to mankind. In doing this Prometheus was able to teach them various
crafts which would make their lives easier and allow them to prosper. Fire
helped mankind build stronger homes and tools, to be able to cook raw meat,
light up the dark and keep warm in cold winters; therefore Prometheus bringing
fire back to mortals at this time greatly aided mankind in becoming superior to
the beasts of the earth, which had greater senses, strength and agility. However,
in retaliation to Prometheus’ actions Zeus created the first woman, Pandora,
and gave her a box filled with disease and sickness and other fears. Pandora
ultimately opened the box and released these horrors on mankind, making their
lives difficult. (I was originally going to explain Pandora’s part in
Prometheus’ myth, but I will leave that in detail to my next posting). Unlike
when Zeus battled the Titans, the competition between Prometheus and Zeus is
one of intellectual prowess, not physical strength. It can also be seen that
through all of Prometheus’ actions in an attempt to better mankind, in the end
he granted them more hardships.One source that sets up a powerful opposition between Prometheus and Zeus is Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound. I used this play as the main source in my first posting about why Prometheus received his punishment from Zeus. While Prometheus is being chained to the rock by Hephaestus, we learn that Hephaestus is reluctant to do this, yet as it is at the command of Zeus he must [Aesch. PB. Ll16-17]. This leads me to think of Zeus as a tyrant at this point, because if Hephaestus refused to do as Zeus had asked him he would probably have been punished as well, seeing as he was the only god with the skills to chain Prometheus properly. Dougherty believes that Aeschylus’ poem was designed to show that Prometheus’ failure to trick Zeus ‘consolidates and celebrates Zeus’ power’ [Dougherty (2006): 71]. She also believes that Prometheus’ actions ‘constitute as a rebellion against the cruelty of Zeus’ authoritarian regime’ [71]. Looking at both the play and Dougherty’s ideas, I would agree with this portrayal since considering my brief overview of Zeus’ background and that he overthrew his father, and after going through all the trouble of defeating all the other titans as well, it is expected that he would also punish Prometheus in a cruel way. Therefore I believe that Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound exists to show Zeus exacting his final punishment and consolidating his rule as king of the gods.
The myth of Prometheus in the Theogony functions as part of the
poet’s wider strategy to celebrate Zeus’ attainment and consolidation of power.
Hesiod describes Prometheus as ‘capable of wriggling out of even the
inextricable’ [Dougherty (2006): 32], and his pre-emptive knowledge well
prepares him to duel with Zeus in a battle of wits. However, looking at the Theogony,
it seems that Prometheus’ story functions as a way of celebrating Zeus’
intelligence. It states ‘no one can deceive Zeus, not even the very clever
and tricky Prometheus’ [Dougherty (2006): 32].
‘So it is not possible to deceive or go
beyond the will of Zeus: for not even the son of Iapetus, kindly Prometheus,
[615] escaped his heavy anger, but of necessity strong bands confined him,
although he knew many a wile.’ [Hes.Th. 585]
Within the context of Prometheus being defeated in order to celebrate
Zeus’ rule, it could be argued that Prometheus’ function as a trickster figure
actually brought humanity sorrow and work rather than any benefits. Unlike
portrayals in Prometheus Bound, where Prometheus’ actions constitute as
a rebellion, and Zeus is portrayed as cruel, these multiple insights into the
characters of Zeus and Prometheus give readers differing opinions. In
Aeschylus’ portrayal of the two, Prometheus is seen to stand up for mankind
when Zeus was about to destroy them, making him more of a rebel than a
trickster for standing up against Zeus’ abuse of power. Therefore it can be
said that Zeus needs to be depicted as both a sovereign and a tyrant in order
to be understood. Zeus is a King, and hence he needs to be respected and
listened to. But he also forced his rule, which can understandably lead some to
defy him. The same goes for Prometheus, who is depicted as both a trickster and
a rebel. In a sense he acted as a trickster and deceiver for his own amusement,
or to prove he was more cunning than Zeus, thus by being selfish he evidently
condemned mankind to more pain and hardship. However in another sense
Prometheus defied his ‘king’, the sovereign of all the gods and the most powerful,
in order to save the human race.
Works cited:
Dougherty, C. (2006), Prometheus, ‘Gods and Heroes of the Ancient
World’, Routledge
Hesiod’s Theogony
Hesiod’s Works and Days
Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound
Apollodorus’ Library
Lloyd-Jones, H. (1983), ‘The Justice of Zeus’, University of California
Press
Information on Prometheus
Pictures:
Christian Griepenkerl,"Theft of Fire" (1878)
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