Prometheus and His Punishment - Essay Example

For stealing fire from Zeus, Prometheus was punished cruelly by Zeus. He was chained to the mountain of Kaukasos where every day, an eagle would feast upon his liver. Since he had healing powers, his liver would regenerate every night. He says, “This is the crime that I must expiate  Hung here in chains, nailed underneath the open sky. Ha! Ha!  What echo, what odor floats by with no sound?” Through these simple yet satirical words, written down in the Aeschylus, Prometheus has tried to set aside his woes and bring to terms the fact that he had been chained on Zeus’ orders, which according to him were very unjust. These lines help to show the kind of disdain that flowed through Prometheus at the time of being chained and undergoing such a cruel punishment all because of the anger that Zeus had in his mind.

He says, “The foe of Zeus and one at feud with all  The deities that find  Submissive entry to the tyrant's hall;  His fault, too great a love of humankind.  Ah me! Ah me! What wafture nigh at hand,  As of great birds of prey, is this I hear?” Through these words and dialogue, Prometheus has tried to put forth the kind of hatred that Zeus possessed for all of humanity of mortals; the reason because of which he got chained to the mountain. This process continued for a very long time until Zeus ordered Hercules to rescue Prometheus.

Despite this, the fire could not be retrieved from humanity because it had spread too wide and far. However, the question remains whether or not Prometheus’ punishment was justified by Zeus. According to personal opinion, it was not, because Prometheus was only trying to share with humanity the gifts that the Titans possessed. He could foresee the future and thus had probably foreseen doom that would be bestowed upon mankind if humanity had not discovered fire. Even though years of rubbing sticks and stones together went by, no man was able to create fire until the time that Prometheus stole it and sent it to the cavemen.

“Oh that he had conveyed me  'Neath earth, 'neath hell that swalloweth up the dead;  In Tartarus, illimitably vast  With adamantine fetters bound me fast-  There his fierce anger on me visited,  Where never mocking laughter could upbraid me  Of God or aught beside!” Through the following lines, Prometheus has tried to describe the kind of hellish life was to spend in the dark pits of Tartarus as per his punishment by Zeus. The wrath of Zeus was not at all justified in the kind of punitive life Prometheus was put into for the rest of his life.

The symbol of Prometheus is thus used in modern-day architecture in various parts of the world to make people remember that fear persists in the environment as well. Prometheus was not at all a God-fearing man and thus went ahead with his decision of taking the fire away and distributing it in a way that it flowed light upon the rest of mankind.