PROMETHEUS UNBOUND
Prometheus was securely bound with iron fetters and fastened to the
solid rock. The servants of Hephæstos increased his tortures with
their bitter speeches. But Prometheus bore his sufferings and their
taunts with heroic indifference and courage. As long as they were near
not a sound came from his lips. Only when Hephæstos and his servants
were gone did he begin to bewail his unjust punishment.
The winds carried the sound of his moans far off to the shore of the
sea. The sea maidens, daughters of old Ocean, heard them and were
moved to tearful pity. They hastened on the wings of the salt breeze
like a swarm of birds to comfort and cheer him. Nay, more, old Ocean
himself came from afar, and rising up from his watery abode, stationed
himself near Prometheus to speak to him.
"I am grieved to the heart, dear Prometheus," he said, "for all that
thou hast to suffer. I am thy kin, and it breaks my heart to see thee
like this. Even apart from our kinship there is no one whom I honor as
much as thee. Tell me, is there any way in which I can help thee?"
Prometheus, hearing what Okeanos said, made reply: "What do my eyes
behold, friend Okeanos? Hast thou come to see me in my misery? I fear
me I have only bitter words in exchange for thy kindly greeting. See
in what manner Zeus treats me, his friend, who hath assisted him to
gain possession of the throne of the world!"
Okeanos felt the truth of his words, but thought it better to try to
persuade Prometheus to submit to Zeus, and so he answered pleadingly:
"Curb such overbearing speeches, dear Prometheus, and I will myself
try to appease the anger of Zeus." But Prometheus quickly replied: "I
have done no evil that I know of, and I will not bow to tyranny and
injustice.
"My fault is this: I loved mankind too well to let them lie helpless
in stupidity and ignorance. I found them in a pitiable plight. They
had eyes but could not see. They had ears but could not hear. Not one
thing did they know until I taught them. I told them to observe the
rising and the setting of the sun, moon, and stars. I taught them how
to count, and write, and remember.
"I taught them to yoke oxen to their ploughs instead of dragging them
themselves. And I showed them how to harness horses to the chariots
likewise. I helped them to make boats with oars for the rivers, and
ships winged with white sails to traverse the seas. I taught them the
healing power of plants to relieve them in their sickness. From me
they learned how to mine for silver and copper, and how to work them.
Indeed, friend Okeanos, thou mayst well say that all the arts men know
how to apply they have learned from Prometheus."
Zeus sat uneasily on his throne, angry when he saw that the spirit of
Prometheus was unbroken. "He still defies me, but I will conquer yet,"
said the Thunderer; and he sent a cruel vulture to tear and eat his
vitals every day. At night they grew again and he was healed. But each
morning the vulture came and renewed his terrible feast.
Two thousand years the large hearted, man-loving Prometheus passed in
suffering in the Caucasus. At length Herakles came that way in his
wanderings, when he was trying to find his way to the Garden of the
Hesperides. He broke the iron bands like egg shells and set Prometheus
free.
To tell the truth, Prometheus was too wise for Zeus to have him as an
enemy forever, for he knew one thing which Zeus did not--he knew the
future. Zeus was aware that there were many important secrets
concerning the future which he could learn from no one else. It is
supposed that Zeus may have hoped to force Prometheus to yield up his
secrets by these punishments, and that on finding out his mistake he
slyly connived at his victim's liberation because he could not afford
to be unreconciled to him any longer.
Prometheus has been loved and honored through all the ages. On an
island belonging to Greece the people built an altar to him at the
foot of a burning mountain. Once a year they put out all their fires
and sent a ship to Delos to bring a fresh light. They used this new
flame for kindling again the fires they had extinguished.
At Athens, Prometheus was held in sacred honor. People held
torch-light festivals in memory of him. And on frosty nights, as they
sat by the fire, they praised the great Prometheus, who could endure
long enough to conquer destiny, the hero who had brought them mental
balance, "The Gift of Equilibrium."