m land
to land. She tells the tale of her sad wandering, and finally rushes
from the scene in frenzy, crazed by the sting of the gadfly that Hera
has sent to torment her. Prometheus knows a secret full of menace to
Zeus. Relying on this, he prophesies his overthrow, and defies him to do
his worst. Hermes is sent to demand with threats its revelation, but
fails to accomplish his purpose. Prometheus insults and taunts him.
Hermes warns the Chorus to leave, for Zeus is about to display his
wrath. At first they refuse, but then fly affrighted: the cliff is
rending and sinking, the elements are in wild tumult. As he sinks, about
to be engulfed in the bowels of the earth, Prometheus cries:--

"Earth is rocking in space!
And the thunders crash up with a roar upon roar,
And the eddying lightnings flash fire in my face,
And the whirlwinds are whirling the dust round and round,
And the blasts of the winds universal leap free
And blow each upon each with a passion of sound,
And aether goes mingling in storm with the sea."

The play is Titanic. Its huge shapes, its weird effects, its mighty
passions, its wild display of the forces of earth and air,--these
impress us chiefly at first; but its ethical interest is far greater.
Zeus is apparently represented in it as relentless, cruel, and
unjust,--a lawless ruler, who knows only his own will,--whereas in all
the other plays of Aeschylus he is just and righteous, although
sometimes severe. Aeschylus, we know, was a religious man. It seems
incredible that he should have had two contradictory conceptions of the
character of Zeus. The solution of this problem is to be found in the
fact that this 'Prometheus' was the first play of the trilogy. In the
second play, the 'Prometheus Unbound,' of which we have only fragments,
these apparent contradictions must have been reconciled. Long ages are
supposed to elapse between the plays. Prometheus yields. He reveals the
secret and is freed from his bonds. What before seemed to be relentless
wanton cruelty is now seen to have been only the harsh but necessary
severity of a ruler newly established on his throne. By the
reconciliation of this stern ruler with the wise Titan, the giver of
good gifts to men, order is restored to the universe. Prometheus
acknowledges his guilt, and the course of Zeus is vindicated; but the
loss of the second play of the trilogy leaves much in doubt, and an
ex