Prometheus

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1816

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Themes

Rebellion Against Tyranny

A central theme of “Prometheus” is the poem’s romanticization and glorification of rebellion against tyranny. The narrative of Prometheus and his opposition to Zeus exemplifies what the speaker believes is a noble struggle by an admirable hero against an overzealous and unfair power.

The speaker establishes Prometheus as a martyr for humanity early in the poem in a few ways. First, he opens the poem with the exclamation “Titan!” (Line 1), which he will repeat at the beginning of the next stanza as well. This direct address and use of Prometheus’s godly title establishes the poem as a kind of ode, with Prometheus being the subject the speaker is speaking to and glorifying. Immediately, then, the poem positions Prometheus as the hero. Second, the speaker ascribes a motive to Prometheus’s rebellion against Zeus, calling it pity for “the sufferings of mortality” (Line 2). Immediately, Prometheus becomes the hero to mankind and an empathetic and selfless character. This is directly contrasted with the poem’s portrayal of Zeus, who is literally called “the deaf tyranny of Fate” (Line 19). The speaker portrays Zeus as a vengeful, selfish, and careless god who creates life just to make it suffer.

This contrast between Prometheus and Zeus exemplifies the struggle between the noble hero and the tyrannical oppressor, and it mirrors the Romantic notion of rebellion. As with the rebels during the French Revolution and John Milton’s Satan in Paradise Lost (1667), the Romantics viewed Prometheus as the sympathetic character in the narrative—the rebel whose only crime was a selfless act in opposition to an uncaring ruler. By rebelling, Prometheus succeeds in undermining the power that at first appears all-powerful: His refusal to submit to Zeus’s torment actually causes Zeus to feel fear.

The speaker takes this theme a step further in the final stanza by directly stating how humans should learn from Prometheus’s example and embody his spirit, regardless of the costs. Just as Zeus represents a tyrannical leader, suffering and mortality represent our own “funereal destiny” (Line 50) and our “sad unallied existence” (Line 52). The poem argues that the only way to conquer these evils is to take up Prometheus’s example by defying the power these things attempt to exert over us.

The Nobility of Sacrifice and Suffering

Just as Prometheus represents the Byronic hero who is wronged by an evil power, he also represents the Romantic approach to suffering and sacrifice. Notice that the speaker does not deny Prometheus’s suffering. He names it early in the poem: “A silent suffering, and intense” (Line 6, emphasis added). The speaker even says death would have been a gift for Prometheus, but Zeus, in his cruelty, “[r]efus’d thee even the boon to die” (Line 23). In establishing the pain Prometheus felt during his punishment, the speaker emphasizes the courage Prometheus demonstrates in refusing to give in to his tormentor, depicting his suffering as noble.

Prometheus refuses to give Zeus the pleasure of his pain, deciding to endure silently instead of lamenting his fate. He holds his voice until it is echoless (Line 14), meaning he refuses to express his pain lest Zeus overhears him. Most significantly of all, Prometheus does not give in when he could submit to Zeus’s will: “All that the Thunderer wrung from thee / Was but the menace which flung back / On him the torments of thy rack” (Lines 26-28). Prometheus has the foreknowledge that Zeus will face a challenge to his power through Typhon, who will temporarily overthrow him, but he does not give up this knowledge to escape his pain. Instead, he silently suffers, and his silence brings even more suffering to Zeus.

One other important thing to note about Prometheus’s position in the poem is the fact that Prometheus did not have to sacrifice himself for humanity, yet he saw injustice and did something about it with full knowledge of the consequences of defying Zeus. The poem glorifies this kind of selfless act and the way Prometheus, even in his suffering, does not submit to Zeus or lose his sense of purpose in his determination to benefit mankind. According to the Romantic ethos, this is the ideal martyr—a figure who gives their entire being to a cause bigger than themselves. The Romantics valorized this type of sacrifice, and Byron embodied it as he gave his own life for the cause of Greek independence.

The Divinity of Man

Though the poem only mentions the divinity of man once (Lines 47-48), the poem is clear in its aspirational view of mankind. The speaker uses the story of Prometheus as a vehicle to express his belief in what human beings are capable of. The purpose of the poem is to inspire people to action and to show readers the strength of one individual sacrifice.

The speaker acknowledges that humans are not immortal like gods, as he continually refers to the immortality that Prometheus possesses. He contrasts this with man's own keen sense of mortality and his clear understanding of the inevitability of death. Nevertheless, the poem makes a strong case for humans to be motivated by this inevitability instead of submitting to whatever woes may come to us. The poem argues that “a firm will, and a deep sense / Which even in torture can descry / Its own concenter’d recompense” (Lines 55-56) can lead humanity to be “Triumphant where it dares defy” (Line 58). Ultimately, the speaker claims that this defiance and will of spirit can make even death a victory, giving humans, just like Prometheus, their own kind of immortality that transcends suffering and finality.

In this sense, the poem argues for the godliness of humanity. Prometheus is the godly example that humans can embody. Humans have all of the same qualities that Prometheus does: ingenuity, a rebellious spirit, empathy, a strong will, selflessness, and foresight. Humans also face the same inevitable fate of suffering, as the speaker stresses when he writes that Prometheus is a symbol “[t]o Mortals of their fate and force” (Line 46, emphasis added). Humans have both the same potential for suffering (fate), but more importantly, can also draw upon the same strength (force)—this, the speaker suggests, is the triumph for mankind and Prometheus alike.

Ultimately, the poem’s use of allegory acts as a form of inspiration for people to understand the power of their own spirits. Just like Prometheus, humans have the potential to stand up to injustice, to fight for a cause even in the face of suffering, and to create a lasting legacy of strength and determination in the face of tyranny. Such courage and defiance, the speaker insists, make mankind the equal of the gods.