Hubris as a Major Element in Aeschylus’s Prometheus Bound Essay

Aristotle created the basis for many different subjects including turn, politics and philosophy. at present, many of his working atomic number 18 invariably studied and his modern ideas argon still preponderant in society. In Poetics, Aristotle foc uses on the best kinds of tragic plot (Aristotle 20). wiz of the most important aspects of a perfect tragedy is hamartia, sometimes misinterpreted as tragic flaw. The true definition of hamartia is a smutty mis turning committed by a grapheme that results in a counterchange of fortune. When a character commits hamartia, the audience is subjected to emotions such as sympathy, idolatry and sympathize with.Although hubris is non explicitly menti cardinald in the translations of Poetics, it is one of the major causes of hamartia. When hubris is present in the environment, it affects the characters choices and decisions. Since hubris fag end be defined as extreme pride or ego confidence (OED), taking advantage of those you take up power over is an good example of hubris. Fatal errors are committed when hubris is shown towards the character. In the case of Prometheus, hubris brings about impartpower and rebellion causing him to give the humans fire.Hubris is a vital piece in Aeschyluss Prometheus Bound because it helps us understand why the characters digest the way they do. Since Prometheus is the central character as the match is titled with his name, it would be logical to base this es evidence around him. However, this essay is focused on how genus genus genus genus genus genus genus genus Zeus dis conform tos and suffers hubris.While Zeus is not a character in the play, he is still a central force because he is constantly mentioned. The play revolves around the fact that Zeus has punished Prometheus by chaining him to a rock. Even though he has no lines, the audience learns of his character through others. It is therefore perfectly valid to refer to him as a character and show how he exemplifie s hubris.Throughout the play, Zeus displays hubris towards the majority of the characters. He shows self-confidence not entirely towards those he is angry with such as Prometheus, hardly overly towards his servants such as Hephaestus and Hermes. All of Zeuss subjects including Io and the blood brother of Prometheus are subject to the tyranny and wrath of their ruler (Aeschylus 8). One of Zeuss hamartia is his lack of ability to have friends.During the war among the Titans and the Olympians, Prometheus came to the aid of Zeus and helped him become the successful leader of the present world. Zeus however is so arrogant, that he does not take anyone including Prometheus as a friend regardless of the help he has received from him (Aeschylus 10). Therefore when Prometheus commits the fatal flaw of giving humans fire out of his own whims (Aeschylus 11), Zeus cruelly punishes him. Prometheus recognizes this when he states Behold in chains confined an ill-starred god/The detested of Zeus (Aeschylus 7). Zeus inability to have friends results in Prometheus being tied up. The cruelty Zeus shows towards Prometheus is an act of hubris.Prometheus is not the only subject who faces hubris from Zeus. When Io appears, she enters with horns like a cow. Upon prodding from the Chorus, she proceeds to tell us her story. Not only is Zeus incapable of friendship, he is incapable of loving. He wanted to take away Ios virginity. When her father kicked her out of the house, Zeus turned her into a cow. A gadfly follows her around as a punishment causing her distress and pain (Aeschylus 29). Zeus abuses his power towards twain Io and her father threatening that if he disobeyed, the bolt of Zeus would visit him (pg 29). Since Zeus is in a position of power, he chooses to invoke fear on those he rules over for personal gain.Those who mete out Zeus are also unfairly treated. Since Zeus is incapable of friendship, he chooses to operate through fear as opposed to friendship. Hephaestu s is one of the servants who does what he is told but clearly shows his exasperation in carrying out Zeuss commands. Zeus demands him to tie up his friend Prometheus. He tells his fellow servants, I have not the internality by force to bind/A god, my kinsman, in this wintry glen.. He goes on to say that he must brazen himself to do so (Aeschylus 1). This shows us that he is obliged into following Zeus. Zeus takes advantage of those who serve him by using his power to force them to obey his command.Brief references are made to other hatful Zeus has oppressed. Atlas, the brother of Prometheus represents the many people towards whom Zeus abused his power. This Titan is also resound by Zeus and Prometheus weeps for him. This shows that hubris is so closely entwined in the nature of Zeus that he afflicts everyone in his power with it.Upon examining the play as a whole, it can be argued that Zeus also faces hubris. Since the play is mainly from Prometheuss viewpoint, there is a persu ade towards how Zeus is viewed. This does not compensate the actions of Zeus, but shows that the play is one-sided and Zeus cannot defend himself. This descriptor of hubris is an expansion of Aristotles original idea. It is a form of irony because only the audience knows Zeus is misrepresented. Prometheus has the power of speech contrary Zeus. Since Zeus is not present to share his view, hubris is shown towards him by portraying him so cruely.Reading Aristotles Poetics before reading Prometheus Bound helped me understand why Aeschylus wrote the play the way he did. Had I not read Aristotle before, it would have baffled me as to why Aeschylus would allow for the audience to know Prometheus will eventually be freed. However, now I know that the point of the drama is not to surprise the audience, but to invoke emotions such as pity and fear. I establish it much easier to concentrate on one concept of Aristotle and apply it to the play as opposed to applying all of his terms. When I showtime read Prometheus Bound, Aristotles ideas were still fresh in my head. However upon examining the play further and re-reading it while looking for a specific concept, I found that I had missed many things. One of the reasons for this is that I was reading the play instead of watching it.Although this allowed me to re-read anything I did not understand, I could not come across the actions as much as I would have been able to had I been sitting in an audience. Another reason is the language of the text. Since this play has been translated, it took a lot of effort and constant cross-referencing to understand all the finer lucubrate in the play. Because of this, most of my energy was being focused onto understanding the play instead of making connections. While concepts such as hubris are comprehensive in plays and in real life, the way we identify them is constantly changing.Today we may feel the way Zeus treated Prometheus was unjust. However, the question form if it was counted unjust in the time Prometheus Bound was written. Just like how we cannot use civilization chauvinism when interpreting Japanese plays such as Madame de Sade, we should not use historical chauvinism in interpreting older plays. The views I have presented towards how Zeus displays hubris is valid based on how the world is immediately and my view of the world. While the definition of hubris remains the same, whether pride, arrogance and tyranny are being shown according to its social context remains to be questioned.For example, women neer used to have the right to vote and in fact were not even considered persons by law. At that time, it was perfectly common in society. Today, to say such a thing would be sexist and discriminatory and we could consider womens lack of suffrage as an example of hubris. The concept of conquering and inequality existed before women had the right to vote, but at that time, it was socially not considered discrimination or oppression. Similarly, treating servants and subjects unfairly through pride and arrogance will universally be considered as hubris. However, it is possible that at the time of Aeschylus, treating those one has power over unfairly was socially accepted.Works CitedHeath, Malcolm. Poetics . London Penguin Books, 1996. Print. Thomson, George Derwent. Prometheus bound . New York Dover Publications, 1995. Print. definition of hubris from Oxford Dictionaries Online. Oxford Dictionaries Online English Dictionary and Thesaurus. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2010. .