An enjoyable read! I'm glad I finally got the opportunity to read the play behind the famous motif of Prometheus, friend of man. The basic understanding behind the myth is a simple one: Prometheus gives gifts to man and in doing so saves them from Zeus' destruction, for which he is punished and left in eternal torment.
What struck me as rather interesting was the fact that he not only gave fire to mankind, but he also gave Man hope. This, beyond anything else, may very well be the gift that outshines all others. For one thing is for certain: Man's ability to hope and believe without proof, without a shadow of a doubt in things unseen, unheard, unknown... literally puts mankind leagues beyond all other creation. By having hope and being able to see beyond the immediate dire-ness of a situation, human beings can strive to accomplish so much. All on the hope that one day things will be better. Change can happen. If you believe it, you dreams can come true.
It's almost comical in a way, that Zeus should be so angered by the gift of fire being handed over to the mortals, instead of the gift of hope. Especially since it is Man's capacity to hope which ensures their continued survival even to this day.
Hands down, this play might be among my favourites of the Greek tragedies. Namely for its exquisite metaphors and parallels when comparing it to other myths of firebringers and helpers of mankind.
Highly recommended! I'm definitely going to give this one another read this year....more
Actual rating is both... 3.75 Stars (mostly due to the unremarkable writing) and 5 stars (for the incredible, heartbreaking tragedy that can't even beActual rating is both... 3.75 Stars (mostly due to the unremarkable writing) and 5 stars (for the incredible, heartbreaking tragedy that can't even be described as a "story," for it effected too many lives, brings rage to my heart some thirty years later, and tore apart a man who was simply trying to be the voice of a denied people)
Thus, to be fair, it's gets a rounded 4 stars so we're even.
Review: Now, I want to say something about this understandably powerful play - I think... seeing it would have been more beneficial and successful an endeavor than simply reading it. Watching the actors put on the performance of a lifetime and searing into your eyes, your mind, your... very soul the profound impact of a government turning its back on its own people, simply because of their sexuality or social-economic backgrounds. Realizing that had they done something sooner, helped - people sooner... much of the tragedy of AIDS would not have spread so quickly or so staggeringly throughout the U.S.; a country supposedly in the height of First World privilege.
I was über curious about this play from the moment I heard Mark Ruffalo would be making a movie from a play of the same name. I can't say I ever heard about it prior to that (which - I know - is a tragedy all in itself) but I'm thankful to have been able to read this and have the events through this play now part of my life.
I try not to read books about the HIV-AIDS epidemic (or the horrors of black slavery, or the Holocaust, or native american "relocation"), not because I want to close my eyes to the situation, but because I am too acutely aware of exactly what is going on. Sometimes, to have to relive it again and again in books sometimes more appalling than one might expect, is just too much.
This play has that sort of effect on you. You read it, and suddenly you are there in 1981, and you live through that four year period of utter hell. You see a government... a free, representative democracy, a "by the people, for the people" government... literally fuck everyone over by ignoring the cries of their gay citizens, by refusing to be involved with the gay cancer, by default... aiding in the spread of the disease. The overall writing might have been mediocre, but - let me tell you - the message was loud and clear.
My heart goes out to Ned, who feels like he hasn't done enough; to Dr. Brookner who's righteous anger mirrors my own so clearly; to all the men, women, and others of varying genders who suffered because their voices weren't heard. We hear you. Even if it took thirty years - gods... we hear you....more
amomentsilence
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