Prometheus Unbound

In Act II, as throughout the play, characters can be broadly divided into two categories: the mythic and the allegorical. Mythic characters are those taken from Greek mythology, albeit transformed by Shelley. These figures also take on symbolic qualities. Most prominent of these is Prometheus, the central figure of the cycle of plays commonly attributed to Aeschylus. This Act also introduces Demogorgon, a lesser-known figure from Greek mythology. Demogorgon is the Anglicized and likely mistranscribed form of the Demiurge, a primordial power and godlike figure who is often depicted as living in the Underworld. Demogorgon is often closely tied figuratively and symbolically with otherworldly power. While Shelley maintains these classical elements by depicting Demogorgon as a powerful figure on a black throne who dwells “in the depth of the deep” (II.3.81), he deviates from the classic depiction of a fearsome, demonic figure by creating a Demogorgon who provides support to Asia and Panthea—mythical Oceanids who represent Love and Insight, respectively—by advising them of the power of love.

Allegorical figures embody abstract or philosophical concepts. A key example here is the Spirit of the Hour, personified as a youth driving a chariot and representing the concept of zeitgeist as theorized by German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel in Phenomenology of Spirit (1807). Hegel believed that the geist, or the spirit of a particular historical moment, is a force that animates change in zeit, or time. In Prometheus Unbound, the Spirit of the Hour carries Asia and Panthea to free Prometheus from the bonds of tyranny. Allegorically, this shows the zeitgeist aligning to allow love and insight to liberate knowledge from the oppression of tyranny, showcasing Myth Rewritten as Political Allegory. Shelley felt that tyrannical rulers, namely monarchs, were holding back human flourishing and advocated for a republican revolution led by the forces of love and knowledge.

The decent into the underworld, called katabasis, is a key element of ancient myth and epic. Classical examples include Orpheus attempting to rescue his wife from Hades as depicted, for example, in the poem “Orpheus and Euridice,” and Aeneas journeying to Hades to seek out his father in Virgil’s Aeneid. Shelley has repurposed this structure in service of his political allegory. Panthea and Asia’s journey offers a contrast to Odysseus venturing into the underworld to consult the blind prophet Tiresias in Homer’s Odyssey. In both cases, the heroes are seeking advice about confronting a seemingly implacable deity. However, while Tiresias explains to Odysseus how to pacify the enraged god Poseidon, Demogorgon instructs Asia to free Prometheus without submitting to Jupiter, who is instead himself subject to “eternal Love” (II.4.120). Asia, a symbol of love, can therefore use her own power to bring about his fall, illustrating the use of Love as a Revolutionary Force.

In Prometheus Unbound, Shelley depicts Cosmic Harmony as an Ideal of Human Progress. This vision is alluded to at the end of Act II, when Asia describes the utopia to come once Prometheus has been released and reunited with her—or, when symbolically unfettered knowledge is reunited with love. Asia evokes a “paradise of vaulted bowers” (II.5.104), an image that combines natural beauty with architectural spectacle. In this flourishing paradise, the earth will harmonize “with what we feel above” (II.5.97). This connection between the macrocosm and microcosm evokes the Enlightenment notion that what occurs in the universe is reflected in individual organisms. Thus, harmony in the cosmos reflects harmony amongst people. This notion is reprised at the end of Act III and throughout Act IV.