Prometheus+by+Lord+Byron

PROMETHEUS ITAN! to whose immortal eyes The sufferings of mortality, Seen in their sad reality, Were not as things that gods despise; What was thy pity's recompense? A silent suffering, and intense; The rock, the vulture, and the chain, All that the proud can feel of pain, The agony they do not show, The suffocating sense of woe, Which speaks but in its loneliness, And then is jealous lest the sky Should have a listener, nor will sigh Until its voice is echoless. Titan! to thee the strife was given Between the suffering and the will, Which torture where they cannot kill; And the inexorable Heaven, And the deaf tyranny of Fate, The ruling principle of Hate, Which for its pleasure doth create The things it may annihilate, Refus'd thee even the boon to die: The wretched gift Eternity Was thine--and thou hast borne it well. All that the Thunderer wrung from thee Was but the menace which flung back On him the torments of thy rack; The fate thou didst so well foresee, But would not to appease him tell; And in thy Silence was his Sentence, And in his Soul a vain repentance, And evil dread so ill dissembled, That in his hand the lightnings trembled. Thy Godlike crime was to be kind, To render with thy precepts less The sum of human wretchedness, And strengthen Man with his own mind; But baffled as thou wert from high, Still in thy patient energy, In the endurance, and repulse Of thine impenetrable Spirit, Which Earth and Heaven could not convulse, A mighty lesson we inherit: Thou art a symbol and a sign To Mortals of their fate and force; Like thee, Man is in part divine, A troubled stream from a pure source; And Man in portions can foresee His own funereal destiny; His wretchedness, and his resistance, And his sad unallied existence: To which his Spirit may oppose Itself--and equal to all woes, And a firm will, and a deep sense, Which even in torture can descry Its own concenter'd recompense, Triumphant where it dares defy, And making Death a Victory.
 * // by: George Gordon (Lord) Byron (1788-1824) //**

__** Analysis and Commentary: **__

__**Greek Mythology:**__

In Greek mythology, Prometheus is the son of Iapetus, a Titan, who stole fire from Zeus and gave it to mortals for their use. In the poem, Prometheus is credited with playing an important role in the early history of humankind. In the poem, "Prometheus", the stealing of the sacred fire from Zeus and the gods is praised. As a punishment, Zeus commanded that Prometheus be chained for eternity. There, an a vulture would eat his liver, and each day the liver would regrow.


 * __Symbolism and Theme:__**

For the Romantics, Prometheus was the rebel who resisted all forms of institutional tyranny epitomized by Zeus -- church, monarch, and patriarch. Lord Byron, having a large number of sexual encounters was denouced and condemned by the Church. For this reason, Lord Byron sympathized and looked up to Prometheus as a symbol of rebellion against authority. Prometheus is a symbol of a rebel, intelligence, and the personification of human progress. Zeus is depicted as a tyrant because he will not honor the progress and advancement of humankind, by the introduction of fire. Fire is presented not as a literal symbol of human progress, but as an icon of all technological advancement. Prometheus stands for human progress against the forces of nature. The reader learns that he has given humanity not only fire but also hope. The hope that is introduced helps human beings to struggle for a better future. The Greek gods can be interpretated as personifications of nature. Human progress is the slow advance of humanity against the threatening elements of nature. In a sense, progress threatens to overcome the gods as nature is slowly understood and conquered through technology. Prometheus's contribution to humanity consequently endangers the other gods and he is punished for presenting human beings the technology that rightly belong to the gods alone.

__**Lord Byon and Prometheus:**__

Lord Byron praises Prometheus and denounces Zeus's punishment as a "deaf tyranny", "the ruling principle of hate", and "a torture where they cannot kill". Lord Byron describes the harsh punishment that Prometheus was subjected to "the rock, the vulture, and the chain" and depicted as "a silent suffering, and intense". Prometheus is described as "an impenetrable spirit which Earth and Heaven could not convulse". The reader can discern that Lord Byron is empathizing with Prometheus who likes and helps people.

Zeyad Sahli, Aboudi Ouayda, Omar Matragi, Paul Khauli