Rose Perkins: Prometheus Bound and Oresteia (Outside Reading)

     Greek tragedy is a very unique genre. Often the stories take place in a mythological version of Ancient Greece, often in an earlier time period than the play was written. Greek tragedy relates to class in two ways. First, each play showcases a journey, often an exterior heroes journey, but sometimes interior journeys as well. Second, gods are portrayed as divine beings who are not actually physically in the story but are instead watching the story and can sway the outcome depending on if they are given prayers and offerings. This relates to the movie we have been watching in class. The gods are similar to the angels in the film: they watch the humans and hear the thoughts and feelings, but they are not actually in the story. I have read many Greek tragedies so far in my classes this year. There are two I believe relate the most to these ideas: Aeschylus' Oresteia and Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound

    In the Oresteia, a trilogy, Agamemnon returns home from the Trojan War only to be murdered by his wife, Clytemnestra. Then, his children Electra and Orestes band together to get revenge and kill their mother. Finally, Orestes is chased and put on trial for this murder. This trilogy of plays shows both an exterior and interior journey. The exterior journey is represented by Agamemnon and then Orestes. Agamemnon returns home and then is murdered. Orestes is sent away and then returns, killing his mother, and then being chased for many years until he is caught and put on trial. The interior journey is shown by Orestes contemplating his actions, deciding whether his mother or father is more important and deciding how he must proceed. At the end of the trilogy, he has been transformed from when he started. Furthermore, until the last play in the trilogy, the gods just watch. They listen to the prayers but do not intervene, and they are also not seen. This is a parallel to the angels in our film. They listen to the thoughts but do not intervene and are not seen. In the final play, Athena shows up and runs the trial, along with a couple other deities. They are now seen, but they are not on the same level as the humans. They are still recognized as deities. This differs from the angels in the film. When the main angel becomes human, he is no longer at a higher level than the humans. He is just a normal human too.

    In Prometheus Bound, the Titan Prometheus is being punished for giving humans fire. He has been chained to a rock and is now reflecting on his experiences and challenges Zeus. This play is set near the beginning, when humanity was only just beginning to exist. This play is unique as its focus is on an immortal being rather than a human. Prometheus goes on an interior journey in this play. Most of it is spent with him chained to a rock, and he provides the audience with his thoughts on the matter. By the end of the play, he has grown and transformed mentally and has gone on this interior journey. This play is also special because it puts Prometheus, an immortal, on a similar level to humanity. Though he is still more powerful and gave humans fire, he is on a lower level than Zeus and the other gods. This is similar to the main angel in our film who desires to and then becomes human. He is no longer on the same level as the other angels and has to learn to do things a different way, and he also undertakes a mental interior journey. 

    The Oresteia and Prometheus Bound differ in many ways, including the characters shown and the type of journeys undertaken. Furthermore, while the deities in the Oresteia remain on a higher, more divine level than the humans, in Prometheus Bound, Prometheus is on a lower level than other deities. I thought this contrast was interesting and could be compared to the angels in our film.

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