When Zeus had grown to maturity, Cronus was beguiled into bringing up all that he had swallowed, first the stone and then the children. This very stone was exhibited at Delphi in ancient times; it was not large and oil was poured over it every day, and on festival days unspun wool was placed upon it. Zeus then waged war against his father with his disgorged brothers and sisters as allies: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon. Allied with him as well were the Hecatonchires and the Cyclopes, for he had released them from the depths of the earth where their father, Uranus, had imprisoned them because of his hatred. The Hecatonchires were invaluable in hurling stones with their hundred-handed dexterity, and the Cyclopes forged for him his mighty thunder and lightning. On the other side with Cronus were the Titans with the important exception of Themis and her son Prometheus, both of whom allied with Zeus. But Atlas, the brother of Prometheus, was an important leader on the side of Cronus. The battle was of epic proportions, Zeus fighting from Mt. Olympus, Cronus from Mt. Othrys. The struggle was said to have lasted ten years, the traditional length for a serious war, be it this one or the famous conflict of the Greeks against the Trojans. An excerpt from Hesiod will convey the magnitude and ferocity of the conflict (Theogony 678-721).

The boundless sea echoed terribly, earth resounded with the great roar, wide heaven trembled and groaned, and high Olympus was shaken from its base by the onslaught of the immortals; the quakes came thick and fast and, with the dread din of the endless chase and mighty weapons, reached down to gloomy Tartarus. Thus they hurled their deadly weapons against one another. The cries of both sides as they shouted reached up to starry heaven, for they came together with a great clamor. Then Zeus did not hold back his might any longer, but now immediately his heart was filled with strength and he showed clearly all his force. He came direct from heaven and Olympus hurling perpetual lightning, and the bolts with flashes and thunder flew in succession from his stout hand with a dense whirling of holy flame. Earth, the giver of life, roared, everywhere aflame, and on all sides the vast woods crackled loudly with the fire. The whole of the land boiled, and as well the streams of Ocean, and the barren sea. The hot blast engulfed the earth-born Titans and the endless blaze reached the divine aether; the flashing gleam of the thunder and lightning blinded the eyes even of the mighty. Unspeakable heat possessed Chaos. The sight seen by the eyes and the sound heard by the ears were as if Earth and wide Heaven above collided; for the din as the gods met one another in strife was as great as the crash that would have arisen if Earth were dashed down by Heaven falling on her from above. The winds mingled the confusion of tremor, dust, thunder, and the flashing bolts of lightning (the shafts of great Zeus) and carried the noise and the shouts into the midst of both sides. The terrifying clamor of fearful strife arose, and the might of their deeds was shown forth. They attacked one another and fought relentlessly in mighty encounters until the battle was decided. Cottus, Briareus, and Gyes, insatiate of battle, were among the foremost to rouse the bitter strife; they hurled three hundred rocks, one right after another, from their staunch hands and covered the Titans with a cloud of missiles and sent them down far beneath the broad ways of the earth to Tartarus and bound them in harsh bonds, having conquered them with their hands even though they were great.of spirit. The distance from Earth to gloomy Tartarus is as great as that of Heaven from Earth. The Hecatonchires guarded the Titans imprisoned in Tartarus. Atlas was punished with the task of holding up the sky. Some say that after Zeus became secure in power he eventually relented and gave the Titans their freedom. Another threat that Zeus had to face was from giants that Earth produced to challenge the new order of the gods, or that had been born when the blood from the mutilation of Uranus fell upon the ground; these monstrous creatures are called Gegeneis, which means earth-born.

Details of the battle are many and varied, but it is generally agreed that the struggle was fierce, ending with the imprisonment of the giants under the earth, usually in volcanic regions where they betray their presence by the violence of their natures. Thus, for example, the giant Enceladus writhes under Mt. Aetna in ,Sicily. One of the most vicious of the monsters who opposed Zeus was Typhoeus, or Typhon. He sometimes joins others in their conflict with the gods or he may do battle alone, as in Hesiod's account (Theogony 820-80). When Zeus had driven the Titans from heaven, vast Gaea brought forth the youngest of her children through the love of Tartarus and the agency of golden Aphrodite. The hands of the mighty god were strong in any undertaking and his feet were weariless. From the shoulders of this frightening dragon a hundred snake heads grew, flickering their dark tongues; fire blazed from the eyes under the brows of all the dreadful heads, and the flames burned as he glared. In all the terrible heads voices emitted all kinds of amazing sounds; for at one time he spoke so that the gods understood, at another his cries were those of a proud bull bellowing in his invincible might; sometimes he produced the pitiless roars of a courageous lion, or again his yelps were like those of puppies, wondrous to hear, or at another time he would hiss; and the great mountains resounded in echo. Now on that day of his birth an irremediable deed would have been accomplished and he would have become the ruler of mortals and immortals, if the father of gods and men had not taken swift notice and thundered loudly and fiercely; the earth resounded terribly on all sides and as well the wide heaven above, the sea, the streams of Ocean, and the depths of Tartarus. Great Olympus shook under the immortal feet of the lord as he rose up and Earth gave a groan. The burning heat from them both, with the thunder and lightning, scorching winds, and flaming bolts reached down to seize the dark-colored sea. The whole land was aboil and heaven and the deep; and the huge waves surged around and about the shores at the onslaught of the immortals, and a quake began its tremors without ceasing. Hades who rules over the dead below shook, as did the Titans, the allies of Cronus, in the bottom of Tartarus, from the endless din and terrifying struggle.

When Zeus had lifted up the weapons of his might, thunder and lightning and the blazing bolts, he leaped down from Olympus and struck, and blasted on all sides the marvelous heads of the terrible monster. When he had flogged him with blows, he hurled him down, maimed, and vast Earth gave a groan. A flame flared up from the god as he was hit by the bolts in the glens of the dark craggy mountain where he was struck down. A great part of vast earth was burned by the immense conflagration and melted like tin heated by the craft of artisans in open crucibles or like iron which although the hardest of all is softened by blazing fire and melts in the divine earth through the craft of Hephaestus. Thus the earth melted in the flame of the blazing fire. And Zeus in the rage of his anger hurled him into broad Tartarus. From Typhoeus arise the winds that blow the mighty rains; but not Notus, Boreas, and Zephyr that brings good weather, for they are sprung from the gods and a great benefit for mortals. But the others from Typhoeus blow over the sea at random; some fall upon the shadowy deep and do great ham to mortals, raging with their evil blasts. They blow this way and that and scatter ships and destroy sailors. Men who encounter them on the sea have no defence against their evil. Others destroy the lovely works of men born on the earth over the vast blossoming land, filling them with dust and harsh confusion. The attempt of the giants Otus and Ephialtes to storm heaven by piling the mountains Olympus, Ossa, and Pelion upon one another is sometimes linked to the battle of the giants or treated as a separate attack upon the power of Zeus. In fact there is considerable confusion in the tradition concerning details and characters in the battle of the giants (Gigantomachy) and the battle of the Titans (Titanomachy). Both conflicts may be similarly interpreted as reflecting the triumph of the more benign powers of nature over the more wild powers or the victory of civilization over savagery. At any rate they very likely represent the historical fact of conquest and amalgamation when, in about 2000, the Greek-speaking invaders brought with them their own gods, with Zeus as their chief, and triumphed over the deities of the existing peoples in the peninsula of Greece. Thus far in the creation and ordering of the universe no mention has been made of man.

Several versions of his birth existed in the ancient world side by side. Very often he is the creation of  Zeus alone, or Zeus and the other gods, or both immortals and mortals spring from one and the same source. An important tradition depicts Prometheus as the creator of man and sometimes woman is fashioned later and separately through the designs of Zeus.   After he has described the creation of the universe and animal life out of the elements of Chaos, Ovid goes on to tell about the birth of man, depicting the superiority and lofty ambition of this highest creature in the order of things (Metamorphoses 1. 76-88).   Until now there was no animal more godlike than  these and more capable of high intelligence and able to dominate all the rest. Then man was born; either the creator of the universe, originator of a better world, fashioned him from divine seed or earth, recently formed and separated from the lofty aether, retained seeds from its kindred sky and was mixed with rain water by Prometheus, the son of Iapetus, and fashioned by him into the likeness of the gods who control all. While other animals look down to the ground, man was given a lofty visage and ordered to look up to the sky and fully erect lift his face to the stars.   Thus earth that had been crude and without shape was transformed and took on the figure of man unknown before. Ovid goes on to describe the four ages of man: gold, silver, bronze, and iron. But we shall excerpt rather Hesiod's earlier account of these ages, which for him are five in number, since he feels compelled to include an age of heroes. After he has recounted the story of Pandora and her jar, his introduction to the description of the five ages suggests the multiplicity of versions of the creation of man and man's early career, and the futility of even attempting a reconciliation of the diverse accounts (Works and Days 106-201). If you like, I shall offer a fine and skillful summary of another tale and you ponder it in your heart: how gods and mortal men came into being from the same origin. At the very first the immortals who have their homes on Olympus made a golden race of mortal men. They existed at the time when Cronus was king in heaven, and they lived as gods with carefree hearts completely without toil or trouble. Terrible old age did not come upon them at all, but always with vigor in their hands and their feet they took joy in their banquets removed from all evils. They died as though overcome by sleep. And all good things were theirs; the fertile land of its own accord bore fruit ungrudgingly in  abundance. They in harmony and in peace managed their affairs with many good things, rich in flocks and beloved of the blessed gods.  

But then the earth covered over this race. Yet they inhabit the earth and are called holy spirits, who are good and ward off evils, as the protectors of mortal men, and are providers of wealth, since they keep watch over judgments and cruel deeds, wandering over the whole earth wrapped in air. For they have these royal prerogatives. Then those who have their home on Olympus next made a second race of silver, far worse than the one of gold and unlike it both physically and mentally. A child was brought up by the side of his dear mother for a hundred years, playing in his house as a mere baby. But when they grew up and reached the measure of their prime they lived for only a short time and in distress because of their  senselessness.   For they could not restrain their wanton arrogance against one another and they did not wish to worship the blessed immortals or sacrifice at their holy altars, as is customary and right for men. Then in his anger Zeus the son of Cronus hid them away because they did not give the blessed gods who inhabit Olympus their due. Then the earth covered over this race, too. And they dwell under the earth and are called blessed by mortals, and although second, nevertheless honor attends them also.   Father Zeus made another race of mortal men, the third, of bronze and not at all like the one of silver; terrible and mighty because of their spears of ash, they pursued the painful and violent deeds of Ares. They did not eat bread at all but were terrifying and had dauntless hearts of adamant. Great was their might, and unconquerable hands grew upon their strong limbs out of their shoulders. Of bronze were their arms, of bronze were their homes, and they worked with bronze implements. Black iron there was not. When they had been destroyed by their own hands, they went down into the dark house of chill Hades without leaving a name. Black death seized them, although they were terrifying, and they left the bright light of the sun. But when the earth covered over this race, too, again Zeus the son of Cronus made still another, the fourth on the nourishing earth, valiant in war and more just, a godlike race of heroic men, who are called demigods, and who preceded our own race on the vast earth. Some evil war and dread battle destroyed under seven-gated Thebes in the land of Cadmus as they battled for the flocks of Oedipus; the end of death closed about others after they had been led in ships over the great depths of the sea to Troy for the sake of Helen of the beautiful hair.

Some father Zeus, the son of Cronus, sent to dwell at the ends of the earth where he has them live their lives; these happy heroes inhabit the Islands of the Blessed with carefree hearts by the deep swirling stream of Ocean. For them the fruitful earth bears honey-sweet fruit that ripens three times a year. Far from the immortals Cronus rules as king over them; for the father of gods and men released him from his bonds. Honor and glory attend these last in equal measure.   Far-seeing Zeus again made still another race of men who live on the nourishing earth. Oh, would that I were not a part of the fifth generation of men, but either had died before or had been born later. Now indeed the race is of iron. For they never cease from toil and woe by day, nor from being destroyed in the night. The gods will give them difficult troubles, but good will be mingled with their evils. Zeus will destroy this race of mortal men, too, whenever it comes to pass that they are born with gray hair on their temples. And a father will not be in harmony with his children nor his children with him, nor guest with host, nor friend with friend, and a brother will not be loved as formerly. As they grow old quickly they will dishonor their parents, and they will find fault, blaming them with harsh words and not knowing respect for the gods, since their right is might. They will not sustain their aged parents in repayment for their upbringing. One will destroy the city of another. No esteem will exist for the one who is true to an oath or just or good; rather men will praise the arrogance and evil of the wicked. Justice will be might and shame will not exist. The evil man will harm the better man, speaking against him unjustly and he will swear an oath besides. Envy, shrill and ugly and with evil delight, will attend all men in their woe. Then Aidos and Nemesis both4 will forsake mankind and go, their beautiful forms shrouded in white, from the wide earth to Olympus among the company of the gods. For mortal men sorry griefs will be left and there will be no defense against evil.  

The bitterness and pessimism of this picture of his own age of iron are typical of Hesiod's general crabbed, severe, and moral outlook. But his designation of the five ages reflects a curious blend of fact and fiction. Historically his was the age of iron, introduced into Greece at the time of the invasions that brought the age of bronze to a close. Hesiod's insertion of an age of heroes reflects the fact of the Trojan War, which he cannot ignore.   This conception of the deterioration of the human race has been potent in subsequent literature, both ancient and modern. The vision of a paradise in a golden age when all was well inevitably holds fascination for some, whether imagined as long ago or merely in the good old days of their youth. Vergil in his fourth eclogue celebrates gloriously the return of a new golden age ushered in by the birth of a child. The identity of this child has long been in dispute, but the poem itself was labeled Messianic because of the sublime and solemn nature of its tone,  reminiscent of the prophet Isaiah.   It would be wrong to imply that the theory of man's degeneration was the only one current among the Greeks and Romans. Prometheus eloquent testimony in Aeschylus' play, translated on pp.58-59, of his gifts to men rests upon the belief in progressive stages from savagery to civilization. A similar but more sober and scientific statement of human development, made by some of the Greek philosophers and Lucretius, the Roman poet of Epicureanism, provides a penetrating account of man's evolution that in many of its details is astoundingly moderne.   In the Theogony (507-616) Hesiod tells the story of Prometheus and his conflict with Zeus, with man as the pawn in this gigantic clash of divine wills, and of the creation of woman. Iapetus led away the girl Clymene, an Oceanid, and they went together in the same bed; and she bore to him a child, stout-hearted Atlas; she also brought forth Menoetius, of very great renown, and devious and clever Prometheus, and Epimetheus who was faulty in judgment and from the beginning was an evil for men who work for their bread. For he was the first to accept from Zeus the virgin woman he had formed. Far-seeing Zeus struck arrogant Menoetius with his smoldering bolts and hurled him down into Erebus because of his presumption and excessive pride. Atlas stands and holds the wide heaven with his head and tireless hands through the force of necessity at the edge of the earth, and in the sight of the clearvoiced Hesperides; this fate Zeus in his wisdom allotted him. And he bound devious and wily Prometheus with hard and inescapable bonds, after driving a shaft through his middle; and roused up a long-winged eagle against him that used to eat his immortal liver. But all the longwinged bird would eat during the whole day would be completely restored in equal measure during the night.   Heracles the mighty son of Alcmene of the lovely ankles killed it and rid the son of Iapetus from this evil plague and released him from his suffering, not against the will of Olympian Zeus who rules from on high, so that the renown of Theban-born Heracles might be still greater than before on the bountiful earth.

Thus he respected his famous son with this token of honor. Although he had been enraged, the mighty son of Cronus gave up the anger that he had held previously because Prometheus had matched his wits against him.   For when the gods and mortal men quarreled at Mecone, then Prometheus with quick intelligence divided up a great ox and set the pieces out in an attempt to deceive the mind of Zeus. For the one group in the dispute he placed flesh and the rich and fatty innards on the hide and wrapped them all up in the ox's paunch; for the other group he arranged and set forth with devious art the white bones of the ox, wrapping them up in white fat. Then the father of gods and men spoke to him: "Son of Iapetus, most renowned of all lords, my fine friend, how partisan has been your division of the portions!" Thus Zeus whose wisdom is immortal spoke in derision. And wily Prometheus answered with a gentle smile, as he did not forget his crafty trick. "Most glorious Zeus, greatest of the gods who exist forever, choose whichever of the two your heart in your breast urges." He spoke with crafty intent. But Zeus whose wisdom is immortal knew and was not unaware of the trick. And he foresaw in his heart evils for mortal men, which would be accomplished. He took up in both his hands the white fat, and his mind was enraged, and anger took hold of his heart as he saw the white bones of the ox arranged with crafty art. For this reason the races of men on earth burn the white bones for the immortals on the sacrificial altars. Zeus the cloud-gatherer was greatly angered and spoke to him: "Son of Iapetus, my fine friend, who know thoughts that surpass those of everyone, so you have then not yet forgotten your crafty arts." Thus Zeus whose wisdom is immortal spoke in anger. From this time on he always remembered the deceit and did not give the power of weariless fire out of ash trees to mortal men who dwell on the earth. But the noble son of Iapetus tricked him by stealing in a hollow fennel stalk the gleam of eariless fire that is seen from afar. High-thundering Zeus was stung to the depths of his being and angered in his heart as he saw among men the gleam of fire seen from afar. Immediately he contrived an evil thing for men in recompense for the fire. The renowned lame god, Hephaestus, fashioned out of earth the likeness of a modest maiden according to the will of the son of Cronus. Bright-eyed Athena clothed and arrayed her in silvery garments and with her hands arranged on her head an embroidered veil, wondrous to behold.

And Pallas Athena put around her head lovely garlands of budding flowers and greenery. And she placed on her head a golden crown that the renowned lame god himself made, fashioning it with his hands as a favor to his father Zeus. On it he wrought much intricate detail, wondrous to behold, of the countl ess animals which the land and the sea nourish; many he fixed on it, amazing creations, like living creatures with voices; and its radiant loveliness shone forth in profusion. When he had fashioned the beautiful evil in recompense for the blessing of fire, he led her out where the other gods and men were, exulting in the raiment provided by the gleaming-eyed daughter of a mighty father. Amazement took hold of the immortal gods and mortal men as they saw the sheer trick, from which men could not escape. For from her is the race of the female sex, the ruinous tribes of women, a great affliction, who live with mortal men, helpmates not in ruinous poverty but in excessive wealth, just as when in overhanging hives bees feed the drones, conspirators in evil works; the bees each day the whole time to the setting of the sun are busy and deposit the white honeycombs, but the drones remain within the covered hives and scrape together the toil of others into their own belly. Thus in the same way high-thundering Zeus made women, conspirators in painful works, for mortal men; and he contrived a second evil as recompense for the blessing of fire; whoever flees marriage and the troublesome deeds of women and does not wish to marry comes to ruinous old age destitute of anyone to care for him. He does not lack a livelihood while he is living but when he has died, distant relatives divide up the inheritance. And again even for the one to whom the fate of acquiring a good and compatible wife in marriage falls as his lot, evil continually contends with good throughout his life.

Whoever begets mischievous children lives with a continuous sorrow in his breast; in heart and soul the evil is incurable. Thus it is not possible to go beyond the will of Zeus nor to deceive him. For not even the goodly Prometheus, son of Iapetus, got out from under his heavy wrath and a great bondage held him fast, even though he was very clever.   Once again Hesiod's dominant note is despair. He provides another equally dismal account of Prometheus in the Works and Days (47-105); despite some minor repetitions it is worth quoting for its elaboration of the theft of fire and its variations on the creation of woman. The evil is now specifically named; she is Pandora, which means "all gifts," and she has a jar. Zeus angered in his heart hid the means of human livelihood because wily Prometheus deceived him. And so he devised for men sorrowful troubles. He hid fire. Then the good son of Iapetus, Prometheus, stole it for men from wise Zeus in a hollow reed, without Zeus who delights in thunder seeing it. But then Zeus the cloud-gatherer was roused to anger and spoke to him: "Son of Iapetus, who know how to scheme better than all others, you are pleased that you stole fire and outwitted me-a great misery for you and men who are about to be. As recompense for the fire I shall give them an evil in which all may take delight in their hearts as they embrace it." Thus he spoke and the father of gods and men burst out laughing. He ordered renowned Hephaestus as quickly as possible to mix earth with water and to implant in it a human voice and strength and to fashion the beautiful and desirable form of a maiden, with a face like that of an immortal goddess. But he ordered Athena to teach her the skills of weaving at the artful loom, and golden Aphrodite to shed grace about her head and painful longing and sorrows that permeate the body. And he commanded the guide Hermes, slayer of Argus, to put in her the mind of a bitch and the character of a thief.   Thus he spoke and they obeyed their lord Zeus, son of Cronus. At once the famous lame god molded out of earth the likehess of a modest maiden according to the will of Zeus. Biight-eyed Athena clothed and arrayed her, and the Graces and mistress Persuasion adorned her with golden necklaces. The beautiful-haired Seasons crowned her with spring flowers, and Pallas Athena fitted out her body with every adornment. Then the guide and slayer of Argus contrived in her breast lies and wheedling words and a thievish nature, as loud-thundering Zeus directed. And the herald of the gods put in her a voice, and named this woman Pandora, because all who have their homes on Olympus gave her a gift, a bane to men who work for their bread. But when the Father had completed this sheer impossible trick he sent the swift messenger of the gods, the renowned slayer of Argus, to bring it as a gift for Epimetheus.  

And Epimetheus did not think about how Prometheus had told him never to accept a gift from Olympian Zeus but to send it back in case that in some way it turned out to be evil for mortals. But he received the gift and when indeed he had the evil he realized. Previously the races of men used to live completely free from evils and hard work and painful diseases, which hand over men to the Fates. For mortals soon grow old amidst evil. But the woman removed the great cover of the jar with her hands and scattered the evils within and for men devised sorrowful troubles. And Hope alone remained within there in the unbreakable home under' the edge of the jar and did not fly out of doors. For the lid of the jar stopped her before she could, through the will of the cloud-gatherer Zeus who bears the aegis. But the other thousands of sorrows wander among men, for the earth and the sea are full of evils. Of their own accord diseases roam among men some by day, others by night bringing evils to mortals in silence, since Zeus in his wisdom took away their voice. Thus it is not at all possible to escape the will of Zeus. The etiology of the myth of Prometheus is perhaps the most obvious of its many fascinating elements. It explains procedure in the ritual of sacrifice and the origin of fire; in the person of Pandora the existence of evil and pain in the world is accounted for. Prometheus himself is the archetype of the culture god or hero ultimately responsible for all the arts and science. The theme of the theft of fire springs from a widespread notion that fire originally belonged in heaven, not on earth. Prometheus is also the archetype of the divine or heroic trickster (cf. Hermes and Odysseus). The elements in the myth of the creation of woman also reveal attitudes common among early societies. Hesiod's version is in keeping with his insular and suspicious nature. But the implications of his story have wider ramifications. Pandora, like Eve, for example, is created after man and she is responsible for his troubles. Why should this be so? The answer is complex, but inevitably it must lay bare the prejudices and mores inherent in the social structure. But some (like Hesiod?) detect as well the fundamental truths of allegory and see the woman and her jar as symbols of the drive and lure of procreation, the womb and birth and life, the source of all our woes. Details in the story of Pandora are disturbing in their tantalizing ambiguity. What is Hope doing in the jar along with countless evils? If it is a good, it is a curious inclusion. If it too is an evil, why is it stopped at the rim? What then is its precise nature, whether ablessing or a curse? Is Hope in the last analysis the one thing that enables man to survive the terrors of this life and inspires him with lofly ambition? Yet is it also by its very character delusive and blind, luring him on to prolong his misery? It is tempting to see in Aeschylus' play Prometheus Bound an interpretation and elaboration; man was without hope until Prometheus gave it to him along with fire. But the hope bestowed is called blind; is the epithet merely ornamental or deliberately descriptive? The pertinent dialogue between Prometheus and the chorus of Oceanids runs as follows (248-52): PROMETHEUS: I stopped mortals from foreseeing their fate. CHORUS: What sort of remedy did you find for this plague? PROMETHEUS: I planted in them blind hopes. CHORUS: This was a great advantage that you gave mortals. PROMETHEUS: And besides I gave them fire.  

Fundamental to the depictions of both Hesiod and Aeschylus is the conception of Zeus as the oppressor of mankind and Prometheus as mankind's benefactor. In Aeschylus the clash of divine wills echoes triumphantly through the ages. His portrait, more than any other, offers the towering image of the Titan, the bringer of fire, the vehement and weariless champion against oppression, the mighty symbol for art, literature, and music of all time. Aeschylus' play Prometheus Bound begins with Kratos (Strength) and Bia (Force), brutish servants of an autocratic Zeus, having brought Prometheus to the remote and uninhabited land of Scythia. Hephaestus accompanies them. Kratos urges Hephaestus to obey the commands of Father Zeus and bind Prometheus in bonds of steel and pin him with a stake through his chest to the desolate crags. It was Hephaestus' own brilliant "flower" of fire, deviser of all the arts that Prometheus stole, and for this error ("sin'' is not an inappropriate translation) he must pay to all the gods "so that he might learn to bear the sovereignty of Zeus and abandon his love and championship of man." Aeschylus, with great skill and economy, provides us with the essentials for the conflict and the mood of the play. The struggle between a harsh, young, and angry Zeus is pitted violently against the defiant determination of a glorious and philanthropic Prometheus. Aeschylus even manages to characterize the brutish Kratos, the unreasonable and monstrous henchman of a tyrannical Zeus. Kratos is the willing and anxious supporter of a new regime rooted in might, the one thing that he can understand; to him forceful power is the key to all: "Everything is hard except to rule the gods. For no one except Zeus is free." Hephaestus by contrast is a foil. He is sensitive, humane, curses his craft, hates the job he has to do, and pities the s-leepless torment of prometheus. - An important theme is echoed by Hephaestus in his realization that Zeus has seized supreme rule of gods and men only recently: "The mind of Zeus is inexorable; and everyone is harsh when he first comes to power." The contrast is presumably with the later Zeus who will have learned benevolence through experience, wisdom, and maturity. Certainly Zeus, fresh from his triumphant defeat of his father and the Titans, might indeed be uneasy and afraid. He may very well suffer the same fate as Cronus or Uranus before him. And Prometheus, his adversary, knows the terrifying secret:

Zeus must avoid the sea-nymph Thetis in his amorous pursuits, as she is destined to bear a son mightier than his father. In his knowledge lies Prometheus' defiant power and the threat of Zeus' ultimate downfall. The first utterance of Prometheus after Kratos, Bia, and Hephaestus have done their work is glorious, capturing the universality of his great and indomitable spirit: 0 divine air and sky and swift-winged breezes, springs of rivers and countless laughter of sea waves, earth, mother of everything, and all-seeing circle of the sun, I call on you. See what I, a god, suffer at the hands of the gods. In the course of the play Prometheus expresses his bitterness because, although he with his mother fought on the side of Zeus against the Titans, this is his reward. It is typical of the tyrant to forget and turn against his former allies. Prometheus lists the many gifts that he has given to mankind for whom he suffers now (442- 506) : PROMETHEUS: Listen to the troubles that there were among mortals and how I gave them sense and mind, which they did not have before. I shall tell you this not out of any censure of mankind but to explain the good intention of my gifts. In the beginning they had eyes to look, but looked in vain, and ears to hear, but did not hear, but like the shapes of dreams they wandered in confusion the whole of their long life. They did not know of brick-built houses that face the sun or carpentry, but dwelt beneath the ground like tiny ants in the depths of sunless caves. They did not have any secure way of distinguishing winter or blossoming spring or fruitful summer, but they did everything without judgment, until I showed them the rising and the setting of the stars, difficult to discern. And indeed I discovered for them numbers, a lofty kind of wisdom, and letters and their combination, an art that fosters memory of all things, the mother of the Muses' arts. I first harnessed animals enslaving them to the yoke to become reliefs for mortals in their greatest toils, and I led horses docile under the reins and chariot, the delight of the highest wealth and luxury. No one before me discovered the seamen's vessels which with wings of sail are beaten by the waves.