"Do you not know, Prometheus, that words are doctors for 
diseased tempers?"

Oceanus, Prometheus Bound

Dramatic forms as prescription: Prometheus, ancient and modern

Kevin Griffin

Abstract

I intend to look at a number of dramatic works, for the 
purpose of determining how the themes found in them 
could be used to reconnect an audience with their own 
sense of hope. I'll be looking at Aeschylus's 
Prometheus Bound, Yahoo Serious's Reckless Kelly, and 
David Mamet's State and Main. Stories sometimes bring 
hope. When this occurs, they act like a Prometheus, not 
only bringing hope, but knowledge of other sciences as 
well. 

Modern stories that elicit the sensation of hope 
present a hero to project our condition upon. The 
hero's journey, then, is our opportunity to involve the 
audience, to let them project their feelings onto the 
actions of the piece. And if this is done well, then 
when the hero finds hope, then the audience also 
reconnects with their own capacity for hope. To further 
this goal, we need to portray heros that are capable of 
planning, for in planning, in looking forward, we must 
once again expect good things. The act of expecting the 
best is critical, because it is easily turned off, 
because it causes humans so much suffering.

However, it is this capacity of active, positive 
expectation which is one of remaining roads leading 
people out of their present condition and into the 
possibility of further development. Making sense of 
experience is important, but it is even more important 
that people persist in hope: because if that is lost, 
it is harder to reconnect with the origin of experience.

"Oh! He's an actor!?"

"Ahhhh, put away your guns, boys!"

"What are they doing??"

"The Hollywood police can't shoot actors: If they start 
shooting actors, the studios wouldn't be able to make 
movies. Studios go out of business. No more movies, 
people lose hope, stop buying things. Pretty soon, the 
economy collapses, and you have bankers jumping out of 
windows. So they can't shoot actors."

---From Reckless Kelly

Holding on to a form of hope, even though this example 
is an exaggeration, comes as a key motivator for the 
rest of the human progress story. Even the existence of 
a structure that parallels our own lives can give us a 
reference point, can shed light on the nature of our "
little lives". A meta structure provides a mirror, a way 
out, a different pattern. In Mamet's State and Main, we 
are faced with a story about the difficulties of making 
a movie. But it's also about a hero who has to tell the 
truth, who has to progress along his way. The 
difficulties in making the movies are paralled by the 
difficulties for our heroThe story inside the story is watched by the 
characters. We watch them and can discern the 
metastructure. 
. The hope for resolving the hero's difficulties is our hope.

On the other hand, it would seem that Prometheus's hope 
is not for himself but for his people. In truth, 
however, he is only bound to the rock until the end of 
time, that is to say, until the part of us concerned 
with time atrophies and falls away. When this happens, 
Prometheus (our most perceptive part) will be loosened 
from the shackles of earthly inventions. Heaphastus, the maker of
 Prometheus's shackles, is also the one responsible for the many inventions that make 
life on earth possible.
. He is freed "at the end of time". While this part is 
not represented in Prometheus Bound, it would have to 
be addressed in some other part of the trilogy to 
complete the Prometheus cycle. Sometimes, a story is a 
story about a story. And that is what "takes" us out of "time"
: because time is only pertinent inside a particular 
diagenic space, inside a particular story. Thus, a 
compelling and well plotted out drama leaves the 
audience in a slightly disoriented state when leaving 
the theater. We pass through an "airlock"- passing from 
one environment into a completely different space. 
Time, as we know it, had ended for a while, freeing 
Prometheus to do the work that needed doing. We needed 
to capture the attentions of one part of the self that 
does all the expecting. 

In all three of these works, the use of great distances 
are involved. This is important because of the notions 
that the "saviour" is from afar, is a stranger somehow. 
This rings true with us as a method for delivering true 
hope. In Reckless Kelly, the journey is from Australia 
to America is accompanied by references to the all 
matter of dramatics, from entrances to exits "all the 
world being a stage, the people but actors, making 
entrances and exits.". The fact that the travel comes 
from afar is the important aspect: it gives the hero 
the aspect of 'strangeness'. In Mamet's State and Main, 
the lawyer comes from "the city", carrying a suitcase 
which we believe carries an answer to their production 
problems, a suitcase full of cash. And it does solve a 
problem, but not in the way which we expect it to. 
Prometheus himself is bound at the edge of the world, 
where he remains until the the descendent of Io can 
free him. Distance, the story inside a story, layers: 
these are the tools to shake away the notion of a 
single time line, a single inevitable end. These are 
the tools of hope.Human as Performance

The work, as it were, is the building a performance: a 
human performance. Here too, we can draw from the 
example of the dramatic form: First and foremost is the 
ability to act (plot). The fullness of the person 
should be developed (character).The right 
understandings, wills and intents need to be present 
(thought) . A person needs to be able say the things 
that need saying, at the right time and in the right 
manner (diction). Movement needs to be harmonious, acts 
graceful, and our existence in accordance with the 
beats of the world. (song), And finally, we need to be 
capable of presenting, ourselves adequately, in any 
number of circumstances (spectacle). 

The oldest resident structures in our subconscious are 
dramatic in nature. Speaking about psycotherapy, Carl 
Jung said that the only important thing is the story. 
How we go about constructing that narrative makes all 
the difference.
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