The play takes place on top of a remote and rocky mountain, to where Prometheus is brought by
Violence and Strength. In the first scene, Hephaestus, the god of fire, is ordered to tie Prometheus to a rock as a punishment. Prometheus’s crime is gradually revealed as Strength speaks: he stole fire from the
gods and gave it to mankind.
Hephaestus feels sorry for Prometheus, but knows he must obey Zeus’ command. Strength urges Hephaestus to execute the judgement quickly and mercilessly. Finally, once Prometheus is tied down, Violence, Strength and Hephaestus leave. All alone in the wilderness, Prometheus speaks for the first time in the play. He calls on Nature to see what has been done to him by the other gods. He does not consider his deed a crime and feels humiliated, being punished for benefiting humankind.
Then enter, one by one, Chorus, Oceanus, and Io. The former two sympathize with Prometheus and give him some advice. They talk with him about his fate. Prometheus, whose name literally
means “wise before the event” predicts the circumstances under which Zeus will some day turn to him for help. As opposed to Chorus and Oceanus,
io is focused on her own problems, and hardly takes notice of someone else’s pain. She asks Prometheus to foretell her future and so he does. He also tells what the future will bring upon Zeus. Finally enters Hemes, Zeus’s messenger who inquires of Prometheus about the marriage which will cause Zeus’s fall.
It is interesting to notice that Violence does not say a single word throughout the play. This correlates with the manner in which Hephaestus executes Zeus’s order: reluctantly and with no violence whatsoever. The name of the self-centered figure, Io, sounds like the Spanish "Yo, which means “I”, which is typical of this figure.
As usual with good ancient Greek drama, this play depicts human characteristics and
moral dilemmas that are still relevant to the modern reader.
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