Prometheus Unbound

Prometheus Unbound (1820) is a four-act lyrical drama by Percy Bysshe Shelley, a celebrated English Romantic poet best known for his poems like “Ozymandias” (1818) and “Ode to the West Wind” (1819). The work is adapted from the play cycle Prometheus Bound (456 BCE), Prometheus Unbound and Prometheus the Fire-Bearer, traditionally attributed to the ancient Greek tragedian Aeschylus. Shelley rewrites the myth of Prometheus, who stole fire from the gods for humans and was severely punished as a result, as a political allegory about republicanism, authoritarianism, and the power of love. 

Prometheus Unbound is a closet play not designed to be staged, although elements of it have been incorporated into musical productions. It has been celebrated as one of the finest works of English literature by poets such as William Butler Yeats and critics like Harold Bloom.

This guide is based on the 1959 Variorum Edition published by University of Washington Press.

Plot Summary

In the Preface, Shelley explains that he intends to give the Aeschylus version of Prometheus a different moral and ending. Prometheus steals fire from the gods and brings this symbol of the light of knowledge to humans. For this, Jupiter, the king of the gods, chains him to a rock so an eagle can rip out his liver every day. In the original play, Prometheus is released when he agrees to share a prophecy with Jupiter. Shelley rejects this ending because he does not believe that the oppressed should have to reconcile with their oppressors. He has decided to rewrite the play so that, in keeping with republican principles, Prometheus is freed without yielding to Jupiter’s demands.

Act I opens with Prometheus chained to a cliff in the Indian Caucasus. He has been there for 3,000 years. At his feet are the sea nymphs Ione and Panthea, who are there to witness his suffering and bring him comfort. Prometheus laments his suffering. The elements join in, decrying his suffering and the suffering of humanity at large. They blame the tyrannical Jupiter for the current dystopia. The Earth arrives and praises Prometheus for his intelligence, strength, and bravery. The Phantasm of Jupiter then appears and recites Prometheus’s curse prophesying Jupiter’s downfall. Prometheus regrets his harsh words.

The messenger god Mercury arrives with the Furies, winged monsters, to torture Prometheus. Mercury begs Prometheus to give in to Jupiter’s demands. Prometheus refuses, and Mercury is summoned back to Olympus. The Furies torture Prometheus mentally, spiritually, and physically. However, when he remains firm, they leave. Spirits arrive to tell Prometheus a prophecy: He will bring about the fall of Jupiter with the power of love. Prometheus tells Panthea that he misses his beloved, the sea nymph Asia. Panthea agrees to search for her.

In Act II, Panthea finds Asia in a valley in the Indian Caucasus. Panthea tells Asia about Prometheus’s suffering and about a dream she had.

In the dream, Panthea and Asia are called by the natural elements to the domain of the Demogorgon, a mysterious deity who dwells in the underworld. In a cave, Asia and the Demogorgon discuss the nature of power. The Demogorgon says that only love is not subject to the laws of the universe; it is this force that will free Prometheus. One of the Hours, spirits that drive time, then takes Asia and Panthea away in a chariot. During their journey, they pause at the summit of a mountain. There, Asia is transformed and her true beauty is revealed.

Act III opens in heaven, where Jupiter sits on a throne, surrounded by other deities. He is angry about Prometheus’s defiance. The Demogorgon appears, declares himself to be the child of Jupiter, and claims to be more powerful because he represents eternity. Jupiter first pleads for mercy and then attacks, but when none of the gods help him, Demogorgon dethrones Jupiter. 

Hercules goes to the mountain where Prometheus has been chained and frees him. Asia and Panthea arrive, and Prometheus celebrates his reunion with his beloved. He sends Ione to spread the message of his liberation throughout the world. The Earth gives them a Spirit to take them to a cave near Prometheus’s temple where Prometheus, Asia, Panthea, and Ione can live in spiritual harmony with the world.

The group travels to the cave. There, Asia and the Spirit discuss how humanity suffered before Prometheus’s release. All pain has left the world now that Prometheus has been freed. The Hour arrives and reports that all the kings and tyrants of the world have fallen. Mankind now lives in an egalitarian utopia.

In Act IV, Ione and Panthea are sleeping outside Prometheus’s cave when they are awoken by the sound of singing. They listen as the spirits of all beings, living and dead, celebrate the new utopia. The celestial bodies join in. The Moon relates that its cold, lifeless ground has become a verdant paradise through the power of love. Demogorgon arrives and joins in their song. It praises the Moon and the Earth and the spirits of all things. Demogorgon celebrates the rebirth of the world through love and its new regime of “Gentleness, Virtue, Wisdom, and Endurance” (IV.562).