Philosophy and the Arts and Prometheus

This article focuses on the radical shift in consciousness that occurs when we move from a workaday, natural scientific sphere of life to the celebrative sphere of religious practice, of the arts and the humanities. The quotidian, workaday world is here understood as the birthplace of science and technology and the festive world of personal encounters makes its appearance here as the birthplace of the arts, the humanities and of religious practices.

Research in Phenomenology, 1995

This tragedy, I mean this destiny without a strictly assignable destination, is also the tragedy of competence, relevance, truth, etc. Jacques Derrida1 No oracular insight or extraordinary forethought would have been needed to foresee the conjunction of Prometheus and Socrates in a paper on tragedy and philosophy. Indeed, such a conjunction was, in the end, almost predictable-already on the program. For both Prometheus and Socrates have been from the very beginning of our tradition exemplary figures of comparison, archetypes, if you will, of our thought. While the figure of Prometheus has had avatars ranging from Christ (Tertullian) to Satan (Milton) to Frankenstein (Mary Shelley), the figure of Socrates has been no less malleable, giving rise in just the past few decades to studies comparing him to figures as diverse as Montaigne, Confucius, and the oriental shaman.2 2 But besides the astonishing plasticity of these two figures, besides their ability to be compared to so many other figures, there is much that makes them amenable to being compared to each other. Indeed, Prometheus and Socrates are two of the great philanthropists of our tradition, two of the figures within the tradition who are responsible for giving us our tradition.? Philanthropy is in fact one of the primary charges levelled against Prometheus in Aeschylus' Prometheus' Bound,

Ilha do Desterro A Journal of English Language, Literatures in English and Cultural Studies

By offering a reading of Aeschylus’s Prometheus Bound, and of the post-Aeschylus tradition of the myth of Prometheus which highlights its revisions as imagined by Karl Marx and Percy Shelley, among others, this paper seeks to explore how to grasp, amid our danger and despair, the prominent poetic and cognitive view of a similar cataclysm from the past, as a lesson to the present. The route to do so encompasses a revisitation of the connections between theatre and democracy in ancient Greece; a consideration of the variations of the themes of knowledge, injustice and tyranny, material civilization and its control and the unbowed personal will to resist oppression, all evoked by the myth of Prometheus; and teasing out the main lineaments of a meaning for the play for an endangered Athenian democracy, as staged around 440 as well as for authors who have recycled its main theme throughout centuries, and finally for us today. It ends by giving pride of place to a Promethean hope, a long ...

Critical Horizons, 2009

Th is essay takes issue with Critchley's diagnosis of the motivation crisis at the core of our supposedly nihilist political present, and with its pejorative characterization of a vanguardist or Leninist Left. Against the reliance of Infi nitely Demanding on an anarchic metapolitics of responsibility, it proposes that we rethink the concept of solidarity and develop an intra-political ethics of egalitarianism, an ethics of unconditional rather than infi nite demands that is happy to embrace the accusation of "Prometheanism".

The myth of Prometheus is well known for its rich polymorphism, celebrating the Titan’s contest with the Olympian gods and its demythisation in the contemporary era. To Ernst Bloch “Faust and Prometheus are the major figures of the Renaissance”, while Gilbert Durand describes the relationship between myth and history as a backwards “evhemerism” which enables a messianic reading of the Promethean symbol, especially at the end of the 18th century and beginning of the following. From the Renaissance to the 20th century, the Promethean symbol slides transmedially from the verbalized narrative towards visual arts. With the exhaustion of the Promethean momentum, for Durand as well as Maffesoli, the 20th century assumes the decadent myths of Dionysus and, eventually, a vast Hermetic mythology. This paper highlights several moments and works which marked the dynamic history of the mythical hero, as revealed to us by Aeschylus, Shelley, Goethe, Gide, Ridley Scott etc.

Cross-cultural Communication, 2012

This paper examines Shelley's merit in recreating a wellknown myth, which is adapted to fi t his philosophical and Romantic outlook. Inspired by the French Revolution, the revolutionary fervor of Shelley's age should determine the interpretation of Prometheus Unbound as an advocacy of rebellion against all forms of tyrannical authority enslaving humans' souls and minds and limiting their imagination and potential. In dramatizing Prometheus's suffering and moral regeneration, Shelley suggests that rebellion is fi rst and foremost an internal act, in which an individual must take the full responsibility of reforming the self by rejecting submission to all forms of evil. In other words, Shelley seems to stress the autonomy of the individual's will and its power in changing society. The ending of the play expresses Shelley's apocalyptic vision of the world yet his belief in the promise of a new order initiated by man.

Cross Cultural Communication, 2012

This paper examines Shelley's merit in recreating a wellknown myth, which is adapted to fi t his philosophical and Romantic outlook. Inspired by the French Revolution, the revolutionary fervor of Shelley's age should determine the interpretation of Prometheus Unbound as an advocacy of rebellion against all forms of tyrannical authority enslaving humans' souls and minds and limiting their imagination and potential. In dramatizing Prometheus's suffering and moral regeneration, Shelley suggests that rebellion is fi rst and foremost an internal act, in which an individual must take the full responsibility of reforming the self by rejecting submission to all forms of evil. In other words, Shelley seems to stress the autonomy of the individual's will and its power in changing society. The ending of the play expresses Shelley's apocalyptic vision of the world yet his belief in the promise of a new order initiated by man.

Prometheus Unbound: Ancient Myth Reforged in the Crucible of Modern Sci-Fi, 2024

This article examines the intricate relationship between the ancient Greek myth of Prometheus and Ridley Scott's 2012 science fiction film Prometheus. Through a comprehensive comparative mythological analysis, the article explores how the film reimagines and modernizes the classical myth, drawing parallels between the mythological figures and the characters in the film. The study ponders the film's portrayal of the 'Engineers' as contemporary analogues to the Greek gods, and how this interpretation challenges traditional notions of creation, divinity, and the human condition. Key themes such as the pursuit of knowledge, the consequences of hubris, and the nature of sacrifice are explored in both the mythological and cinematic contexts. The article also investigates the film's treatment of technology as a double-edged sword, mirroring the gift of fire in the original myth. By analysing the black goo as a modern representation of Promethean fire, the paper highlights how the film updates ancient themes to address contemporary anxieties about technological advancement and its potential ramifications. Furthermore, the study explores how Prometheus grapples with existential questions about humanity's origins and purpose, reflecting enduring philosophical inquiries central to the original myth. Ultimately, this article demonstrates how Scott's Prometheus serves as a powerful vehicle for reexamining timeless themes through a contemporary lens, underscoring the continued relevance of ancient myths in helping us navigate modern existential dilemmas and ethical challenges posed by scientific progress.

Mythological worlds continue to exist in our days. However, they are not present in our societies the same way they did a millennia ago. These narratives have meanings when their elements are observed combined (Levi-Strauss 1964, 82). Also, they are shared in similar forms through regions around the world. Western culture is defined by this trait and our classical mythological heritage stands above in our times. One of the most prevailing figures is the myth of Prometheus. Its survival to this day poses questions on the current relevance and meaning of the myth in post industrial societies. In this sense, I argue that in modern settings the Promethean myth is characterized by the reallocation of transcendence in mankind. I analyze the myth in the context of the movie Metropolis.

2022

A translation of extracts from Hemsterhuis's letters to Amalie Gallitzin on the myth of Prometheus and particularly the role of this myth in Goethe's poem of that name in the context of the Spinozismusstreit. The published version is freely available here: https://symphilosophie.com/issue-3-2021/