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Johann wolfgang Von Goethe “Prometheus”
Prometheus is the speaker of this poem, and he is speaking to the god of the gods.
In the first stanza, a simile occurs, it says “And, like the boy who lops the thistles’ heads” This simile here was revealed by Prometheus and he was referring Zeus to an evil trickster young man. Furthermore, the purpose of this simile is to visualize the boy who is ripping off the heads of a beautiful flower, which is an evil action.
However, The reason that Prometheus is referring Zeus to this evil young man is because he thinks that he is an innocent person and Zeus is abusing him.
In the second stanza, Prometheus explains the procedure to make all the Gods powerless. Prometheus, who is the speaker of the poem, suggests that Gods are not confident enough of their place and they feel weak. The Gods are nourishing their hunger by people’s worship, prayer, and their obedient towards him.
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However, the speaker also reveals that they are taking advantage of people who are in trouble, therefore people would rely on them. In conclusion, the Gods would not be as powerful without people’s prayer and worship.
The rhetorical questions in stanza five focuses on the God and their unique characteristic such as selfishness. Prometheus reveals their personality in a negative way. Prometheus says that Gods do not help people who are in trouble if they don’t get a reward from it. Also, he mentions that if a God feels pity on another God, the other Gods would try to avoid that God and treat him differently.
In the last rhetorical question in the last sentence is towards the readers, exploring the reason why people would worship these kinds of Gods. The overall effect on this series is to convince people to stand on Prometheus’s side and avoid the Gods.
in the fifth stanza, there are two words which are personified. These words are time and fate. In the text, it says “time is omnipotent” which mean time is very powerful and have authority to rule and control over man. And another one is fate; it says “fate is eternal that never dies or ending” It emphasizes that fate is powerful as well as time. 6. Dreams was an image used in stanza six, was helping the reader to learn about the speaker. He says that even his dream or wish is not accomplished, he will not run away. He will follow his dream and not be defeated no matter what happens.
He says that he will create a human being who is just like him. So, the Gods would not get any prayer or worship from the people. Prometheus plans to destroy the gods using human beings.
The overall tone of this poem is anger and hate. Prometheus curse towards Gods and especially Zeus. Prometheus’s strong tone reveals his anger and feeling towards Zeus.
There are two significant differences between both “Prometheus” poems. The poem from Von Goethe is written in Prometheus’s point of view and he was addressing it to Zeus. But, the other one is written in Lord Byron’s point of view. Where “Prometheus” is unidentified. In this poem, there is no direct evidence that we can find the speaker, but we could assume who it is addressing to, which Prometheus. In addition, the poem by Von Goethe is full of anger and hate towards Gods, However, the poem by Lord Byron is much more calm and has some love towards Prometheus
The rock, the vulture, and the pain. These three symbols are representing Prometheus’s punishment by Zeus. According to Prometheus’s myth, he is chained to the rock and he is getting tortured by the vulture which comes everyday and eats Prometheus’s river. The poem is saying Prometheus sacrificed himself to help human, which caused him to feel the pain that never ends.
“The suffocation sense of woe… And then is jealous lest the sky should have a listener” Instantly, I could imagine how big this woe could be that it is enough to suffocate one, it doesn’t mean that woe itself suffocating physically. It means that the sense of woe is too concerning that it suffocating one mentally. Also, sky is personified and the image of Prometheus arises. This quote is saying Prometheus is suffering because of loneliness too. He has no company but the sky, to talk to. The loneliness causes him to have more pain.
These three words are creating an image of heaven and hell. The word “Fate” used to represent heaven and “Hate” represent hell.
Thunderer is Zeus. Zeus’s main symbol is lightening or thunder.
The speaker gives an image of Prometheus getting punished by Zeus and how much he is enduring the pain and the torture. The speaker also gives the reader an idea of the cruelty of Zeus.
“Man” defines a symbol referring to Prometheus.
I think Prometheus is a symbol for rebel, but also a reader. I agree with the speaker’s statement, because even Prometheus is one of gods, he loved human more than his own kind. Prometheus decided to disobey Zeus and helped human by stealing fire from god. By this event, human could have enough power to stand by themselves without asking for help to gods.
This statement is paradox, because usually death is not good thing, but it is good thing for Prometheus. Prometheus never gave up or regrets his choice even he is getting torture every day, so if he dies finally, he will not have any pain. Also, Lord Byron was Christian and he believed there is an afterlife. So, if Prometheus dies
Evil Trickster: Exploring Boy's Simile. (2016, Oct 13). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/prometheus-essay
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