Prometheus Bound
Zeus binds Prometheus while an eagle feeds daily on his renewing liver; Heracles later ends the punishment.
Overview
Prometheus Bound links the cosmic conflict over fire with a later heroic story. The Theogony first shows him chained to a pillar while an eagle eats his liver by day and it grows again by night; Heracles later kills the bird and releases him, an outcome the poem places within Zeus’s increase of his son’s honour. In the eleventh labour of the Library, the freed Prometheus then advises Heracles how to obtain the golden apples through Atlas.
Key facts
The eagle and renewing liver
The eagle consumes Prometheus’ liver by day and it grows back during the night.
Release bridges into the Labours
The Theogony and the later Library both connect Heracles with the release; the Library then has Prometheus provide the golden-apples strategy.
Relationships
- Zeusorders Prometheus bound
Zeus punishes Prometheus with unbreakable bonds and the eagle’s daily torment.
- Prometheustorments each day
The binding subjects Prometheus to an eagle that consumes his liver by day while it grows again at night.
Story appearances
- Olympian OrderThe binding and eagle punishment after the theft of fire
Unbreakable bonds and the renewing liver sustain the punishment until Heracles ends the eagle’s torment in a later story.
Ancient sources
MythWeave distinguishes ancient-source evidence from later adaptations and modern interpretation.