Prometheus Bound and the nature of freedom

[rajeevrnair]

I would like to discuss a line from Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound it goes like this

Might speaks pitilessly of the necessity of obeying Zeus: "There is nothing without discomfort except the overlordship of the Gods. For only Zeus is free"

what is the discomfort in the above line. If might is so willing to obey Zeus why the discomfort mentioned in the above line? This is rather confusing. also when he says overlordship of the Gods does he mean that being a God means no discomfort or that obeying only what comes from the Gods is the only thing that can be done without discomfort?

Please elaborate. Also about the notion of freedom here. Aeschylus is expressing his ideas about freedom much in a very Christian and a very humanitarian way according to this page..

http://www.gradesaver.com/prometheus...uide/section1/

but clealrly the above lines also suggest some form of lack of satisfaction in general with God. How does one explain this?

[Throughhymn]

Hello,
To me, that line you are trying to understand reveals freedom as something that's non-existent. It says,"There is nothing without discomfort" signifying the belief that everything we do no matter how we do it or think that are actions and decisions are what we truly want to do always tend to generate some type of discomfort. If there was truly freedom, why would everything we do be packaged with discomfort? The only piece of the line that confuses me is what "discomfort" means. Does it mean that one doubts his or her actions? Is it that our human nature constantly looks to society or others for reassurance which is the onset of losing our individuality and freedom? But what about the few who breakout of the mold society tries to contain them in? hmmm

[billl]

If might is so willing to obey Zeus why the discomfort mentioned in the above line? This is rather confusing. also when he says overlordship of the Gods does he mean that being a God means no discomfort or that obeying only what comes from the Gods is the only thing that can be done without discomfort?

Might would be nothing if it didn't have opposition to overcome, so maybe Might is more "approving" of the discomfort. Maybe Might has "accepted" the situation. Some people do indeed think this sort of question is interesting, but I don't think that we are really supposed to be studying the psychology of Might too much in this scene. Might is a sort of God, itself. Might is being dominant and using its power, not caring about Reason or the suffering of others, and the issue of whether or not Might is uncomfortable is secondary, at best, I think. I don't think we're supposed to be looking at Might as a symbol standing in for humanity suffering under the Gods. If anything, I think our sympathies are supposed to be elsewhere, and we should be appalled at what Might is doing, and Might's remorselessness.

Instead, look at Prometheus. Prometheus is definitely suffering. (And we can look at Hephasteus, too, although he's also secondary on the issue of suffering, perhaps. In his case, the "acceptance" is not so easy, and the discomfort is still quite apparent.).

"There is nothing without discomfort except the overlordship of the Gods. For only Zeus is free"

I think this pretty much just means that the Gods are the only ones that don't suffer AND are free. Prometheus gave humanity fire and all of the "human" things (art, reason, etc. I forget exactly which things...), but Zeus didn't want him to do that. So Prometheus is being punished.

However, I guess the idea is also that humanity now is more conscious, creative and freer, and so greater suffering is possible for them--in the end, they will be frustrated, because they aren't gods. Before, when they were more completely under the lordship of Zeus (ie. before Prometheus' gifts to humanity) people were more like ants and other creatures, constrained by simpler responses to their environment. Do ants "suffer" as much as people, or at all? Certainly, our ape-like ancestors suffered (and so do many or all animals, and perhaps insects to some degree) but the particular conscious suffering of humans is being pointed to as something unique in this play, I think, and it's possible because Prometheus gave it to us and so he's ultimately a symbol for us, probably.

I have to admit that I only skimmed the linked essay, but I did notice that at the end, there is a mention that the extended sight of Prometheus suffering in this play is similar to Jesus on the cross, but I don't think there's a suggestion that the play is saying anything exactly similar to Christian ideas. In the case of Christ, I think the idea is that Jesus got crucified because humans and their consciousness/will/reason/etc. had abandoned God's intentions or whatever, and so Jesus paid the price when they decided he should die--but Jesus also gave people a new way to get back on track, by following his teachings, etc. In Prometheus's case, he's being tortured and killed directly by the Gods because he was the one that gave all of that power to humanity in the first place. I guess the similarity would be a focus on the suffering, but Prometheus is a symbol for humanity's ability to achieve some special "human" level of Freedom. Jesus is more a symbol for surrendering back to the Gods (well, to THE God, in that case).

[rajeevrnair]

Hello,
The only piece of the line that confuses me is what "discomfort" means. Does it mean that one doubts his or her actions? Is it that our human nature constantly looks to society or others for reassurance which is the onset of losing our individuality and freedom? But what about the few who breakout of the mold society tries to contain them in? hmmm

Yes, I agree that Might seems to be in a position where he doubts his actions but i dont think this involves society as the setting itself is far remove from it..ie the realm of the Gods and Might himself as Bill said isnt human.

I think these days there are so many paths to follow..its hardly ever possible that someone may be classified as having broken away from the mold..because for some reason there no longer seems to be a mold...