Prometheus Bound

by

Aeschylus

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Kronos Character Analysis

King of the Titans and Zeus’s father. Kronos refuses Prometheus’s help during the Battle of the Titans and instead relies on his strength to win the war. Zeus, of course, is victorious thanks to the help of Prometheus, and Kronos and the other Titans are banished to Tartaros, which underscores Aeschylus’s argument of the power of reason over force. Before Kronos is banished, however, he curses Zeus, and Prometheus claims that Kronos’s curse will be Zeus’s ruin.

Kronos Quotes in Prometheus Bound

The Prometheus Bound quotes below are all either spoken by Kronos or refer to Kronos. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Power vs. Reason Theme Icon
).
Prometheus Bound Quotes

What did I do, son of Kronos, what fault did you find in me
that you would yoke me to such pain, driving me mad with fear
of a gadfly’s sting?
Destroy me with fire,
bury me under the earth,
throw me as food to the monsters of the sea,
but Lord, hear my prayers, do not grudge me the favor I ask.
Surely my endless wandering has taught me enough.
I can’t find a way to escape my troubles.
Do you hear the lament of the cow-horned maiden?

Related Characters: Io (speaker), Prometheus, Zeus, Kronos
Related Symbols: Fire
Page Number: 37
Explanation and Analysis:

Pompously spoken, as befits
a mouthpiece of the gods.
You’re young, the lot of you, and young in power,
and think your fortress is secure from sorrow.
But I’ve already seen two tyrants fall
and see the third, our present ruler,
falling soon, more suddenly
and much more shamefully than they.
Or do you think I’ll cringe
before these upstart gods, and tremble?
I’m farther from that than you can imagine.
So scurry back again the way you came.
You will receive no answer to your question.

Related Characters: Prometheus (speaker), Zeus, Hermes, Kronos
Page Number: 59
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Prometheus Bound LitChart as a printable PDF.
Prometheus Bound PDF

Kronos Quotes in Prometheus Bound

The Prometheus Bound quotes below are all either spoken by Kronos or refer to Kronos. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Power vs. Reason Theme Icon
).
Prometheus Bound Quotes

What did I do, son of Kronos, what fault did you find in me
that you would yoke me to such pain, driving me mad with fear
of a gadfly’s sting?
Destroy me with fire,
bury me under the earth,
throw me as food to the monsters of the sea,
but Lord, hear my prayers, do not grudge me the favor I ask.
Surely my endless wandering has taught me enough.
I can’t find a way to escape my troubles.
Do you hear the lament of the cow-horned maiden?

Related Characters: Io (speaker), Prometheus, Zeus, Kronos
Related Symbols: Fire
Page Number: 37
Explanation and Analysis:

Pompously spoken, as befits
a mouthpiece of the gods.
You’re young, the lot of you, and young in power,
and think your fortress is secure from sorrow.
But I’ve already seen two tyrants fall
and see the third, our present ruler,
falling soon, more suddenly
and much more shamefully than they.
Or do you think I’ll cringe
before these upstart gods, and tremble?
I’m farther from that than you can imagine.
So scurry back again the way you came.
You will receive no answer to your question.

Related Characters: Prometheus (speaker), Zeus, Hermes, Kronos
Page Number: 59
Explanation and Analysis: