As was mentioned during last week's class discussion, the Greek gods' social structure mirrors human society in that there is a distinct hierarchy and often they are driven primarily by emotions and desires. We see this in Prometheus Bound when we hear of Io's sufferings due to Zeus' desire for her and Hera's jealous response to this.
However the gods are also immortal and therefore able to learn from their past mistakes because the punishment they receive for their actions can't kill them. This makes them impetuous and fearless but also able to "evolve" quickly in the stories they inhabit. In this particular Greek tragedy we are faced with a god (Prometheus) that knew he would be punished for his actions and goes ahead with them because he believes that he is doing right. This shows perseverance in the face of an oppressing power (Zeus).
The more interesting purpose that I believe Prometheus Bound serves is that of helping to rationalize the evolution of human society. The gods are an external force that imposes their whims on mortals. In this particular myth, Prometheus imposes fire, innovation, and ultimately progress on them. In later Western depictions, it is MAN (and woman!) who is born with the ability to innovate. How did that change come about??
I agree with you that Prometheus rationalizes the evolution of modern man--inspiration and discovery at the whim of a God--and also addresses some of the "luddite" fears of technology, because the God who gave them new technologies like fire is restrained by a fellow God. I was struck by Prometheus' invocation in lines 88-92-
ReplyDelete"Bright light, swift-winged winds, springs of the rivers, number-
less
Laughter of the sea's waves, earth, mother of all, and the all-seeing
circle of the sun: I call upon you to see what I, a God, suffer
at the hands of Gods..."
This invocation of a higher power struck me as an odd thing for a God to do--my general conception is that Gods are the highest powers and answerable only to themselves. This passage, however, leads me to believe that in some way, nature is more powerful than any of the Gods--as is the power of prophecy. This creation of Gods as individuals with limits--but still with distinct differences from humans--makes me think about a three-tiered hierarchy, rather than the two-tiered one I'm used to using as a frame of reference.
I don't know when civilizations began recognizing individuals (and groups) as being able to innovate and discover. I know many individuals from classical times are recognized today as being innovators and discoverers (Homer, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Pythagoras...just to name a few...), but from the brief amount of research I've done in the area, it seems like much of their histories and acknowledgements come from centuries later--not their own lifetimes. There are many possible reasons for that--a lack of the importance of the individual in their lifetime, missing records, etc.--but I think it's a strong indication that there really wasn't any record of the individual until 200-300BCE at the earliest.
Thanks for sharing--what do you think about the hierarchy of Gods?
I agree with Kate that the question of innovation is a great one. Since the play is self-consciously reflecting on innovation and the role it plays in human progress, I think it further raises the question of when people began to really THINK about themselves AS innovators. After all, looking back at the Iliad we certainly see examples of ingenious technological development in the form of shipping and armor and such, but nowhere do we see the kind of reflection on what this says about mankind's development that we see in Aeschylus's work (which was the product of a literate mind, not a purely orally trained one).
ReplyDeleteFor me, the idea of innovation is a question of agency--when did it become the individual who chose to create something, rather than a God choosing for someone to create it? There seems to be a consistent acknowledgement that these creations are important or pivotal (with their inclusion in the Iliad, for example), but the method of creation is very different in one case than the other. It's an interesting shift--from God to Individual--I wonder if the information age is causing a further shift from Individual to Machine...
ReplyDeleteI wonder if there is a correlation between this "agency of innovation" and the evolution of a more stable and populous society?
ReplyDeleteI imagine that there must have been a certain amount of growth or evolution that allowed it to have a body of scholars, a more established culture and history, and as a result a more self-aware collective knowledge.