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Prometheus (Goethe)
View on Wikipediafrom Wikipedia
"Prometheus" is a poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, in which the character of the mythic Prometheus addresses God (as Zeus) in misotheist accusation and defiance. The poem was written between 1772 and 1774 and first published in 1789. Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi published an anonymous and unauthorised version in 1785. It is an important work of the German Sturm und Drang movement.
In early editions of the Collected Works of Goethe, it appeared in Volume II of his poems in a section of Vermischte Gedichte (assorted poems), shortly following the "Gesang der Geister über den Wassern", and the Harzreise im Winter. It is immediately followed by "Ganymed", and the two poems together should be understood as a pair. Both belong to the period 1770 to 1775.
Prometheus (1774) was planned as a drama but not completed; this poem draws upon that original vision. Prometheus is the creative and rebellious spirit which, rejected by God, angrily defies him and asserts itself; Ganymede is the boyish self that is adored and seduced by God. One is the lone defiant, the other the yielding acolyte. As the humanist poet, Goethe presents both identities as aspects or forms of the human condition.
Although the setting is classical, the address to the Biblical God is suggested by the section beginning "Da ich ein Kind war..." ("When I was a child"): the use of Da is distinctive, and by it Goethe evokes the Lutheran translation of Saint Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians, 13:11: "Da ich ein Kind war, da redete ich wie ein Kind..." ("When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things"). Unlike Paul, Goethe's Prometheus grew up to reject belief in the divine heart moved to pity for the afflicted. Prometheus's reference to making man in his image draws strongly on Luther's translation of the words of God in Genesis 1:26 ("Laßt uns Menschen machen, ein Bild, das uns gleich sei").
The poem was set to music by J. F. Reichardt, Franz Schubert (see "Prometheus", 1819); Hugo Wolf (1889), and F.M. Einheit (1993).
Text
[edit]Bedecke deinen Himmel, Zeus,
Mit Wolkendunst,
Und übe, dem Knaben gleich,
Der Disteln köpft,
An Eichen dich und Bergeshöhn;
Musst mir meine Erde
Doch lassen stehn
Und meine Hütte, die du nicht gebaut,
Und meinen Herd,
Um dessen Glut
Du mich beneidest.
Ich kenne nichts Ärmeres
Unter der Sonn' als euch, Götter!
Ihr nähret kümmerlich
Von Opfersteuern
Und Gebetshauch
Eure Majestät,
Und darbtet, wären
Nicht Kinder und Bettler
Hoffnungsvolle Toren.
Da ich ein Kind war,
Nicht wusste wo aus noch ein,
Kehrt' ich mein verirrtes Auge
Zur Sonne, als wenn drüber wär'
Ein Ohr, zu hören meine Klage,
Ein Herz, wie mein's,
Sich des Bedrängten zu erbarmen.
Wer half mir
Wider der Titanen Übermut?
Wer rettete vom Tode mich,
Von Sklaverei?
Hast du nicht alles selbst vollendet,
Heilig glühend Herz?
Und glühtest jung und gut,
Betrogen, Rettungsdank
Dem Schlafenden da droben?
Ich dich ehren? Wofür?
Hast du die Schmerzen gelindert
Je des Beladenen?
Hast du die Tränen gestillet
Je des Geängsteten?
Hat nicht mich zum Manne geschmiedet
Die allmächtige Zeit
Und das ewige Schicksal,
Meine Herrn und deine?
Wähntest du etwa,
Ich sollte das Leben hassen,
In Wüsten fliehen,
Weil nicht alle
Blütenträume reiften?
Hier sitz' ich, forme Menschen
Nach meinem Bilde,
Ein Geschlecht, das mir gleich sei,
Zu leiden, zu weinen,
Zu genießen und zu freuen sich,
Und dein nicht zu achten,
Wie ich![1]
Cover thy spacious heavens, Zeus,
With clouds of mist,
And like the boy who lops
The thistles' heads,
Disport with oaks and mountain-peaks;
Yet thou must leave
My earth still standing;
My cottage, too, which was not raised by thee;
Leave me my hearth,
Whose kindly glow
By thee is envied.
I know nought poorer
Under the sun, than ye gods!
Ye nourish painfully,
With sacrifices
And votive prayers,
Your majesty;
Ye would e'en starve,
If children and beggars
Were not trusting fools.
While yet a child,
And ignorant of life,
I turned my wandering gaze
Up toward the sun, as if with him
There were an ear to hear my wailings,
A heart, like mine,
To feel compassion for distress.
Who helped me
Against the Titans' insolence?
Who rescued me from certain death,
From slavery?
Didst thou not do all this thyself,
My sacred glowing heart?
And glowedst, young and good,
Deceived with grateful thanks
To yonder slumbering one?
I honour thee, and why?
Hast thou e'er lightened the sorrows
Of the heavy laden?
Hast thou e'er dried up the tears
Of the anguish-stricken?
Was I not fashioned to be a man
By omnipotent Time,
And by eternal Fate,
Masters of me and thee?
Didst thou e'er fancy
That life I should learn to hate,
And fly to deserts,
Because not all
My blossoming dreams grew ripe?
Here sit I, forming mortals
After my image;
A race resembling me,
To suffer, to weep,
To enjoy, to be glad,
And thee to scorn,
As I![2]
References
[edit]- ^
German Wikisource has original text related to this article: "Prometheus" (1827 version)
- ^ Nathan Haskell Dole, ed. (1839). The Works of J. W. von Goethe. Vol. 9. translations by Sir Walter Scott, Sir Theodore Martin, John Oxenford, Thomas Carlyle and others. London and Boston: Francis A. Niccolls & Co. pp. 210–212.
Sources
[edit]
German Wikisource has original text related to this article:
English Wikisource has original text related to this article:
- J. W. Goethe, Goethes Werke: Vollständige Ausgabe letzter Hand (Vol. II, pp. 76–78). (J. G. Cotta'sche Buchhandlung, Stuttgart and Tübingen 1827).
- J. W. Goethe, Gedichte (Aufbau-Verlag, Berlin and Tübingen 1988)
- J. W. Goethe, Werke Hamburger Ausgabe in 14 Bänden (Vol. 1 Gedichte und Epen I, pp. 44–46). München, 1998.
- Martin Luther, Die Bibel, oder die ganze Heilige Schrift des Alten und Neuen Testaments.
Prometheus (Goethe)
View on Grokipediafrom Grokipedia
Prometheus is a poem by the German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, composed between 1772 and 1774 during the height of his involvement in the Sturm und Drang literary movement.[1] It presents a dramatic monologue in which the Titan Prometheus directly addresses and defies the supreme god Zeus, rejecting divine authority in favor of human autonomy and creative power.[2] The work was first published officially in 1789 as part of Goethe's Vermischte Gedichte (Miscellaneous Poems), following an unauthorized version released in 1785 by philosopher Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi.[2]
In the poem, Prometheus, chained to a rock as punishment for stealing fire from the gods to benefit humanity, mocks Zeus's grandeur and asserts his own role as a creator of humankind in his image—a race capable of suffering, joy, and even derision toward the divine.[2] Key lines, such as "Here I sit, forming men / In my own image," underscore themes of individualism, self-reliance, and the Enlightenment ideal of human progress through reason and invention, symbolized by fire as enlightenment.[3] This portrayal positions Prometheus not as a tragic victim but as a bold rebel, embodying the Sturm und Drang emphasis on intense emotion, subjective experience, and resistance to rationalist or religious constraints.[2]
The poem's significance lies in its encapsulation of early Romantic impulses within Goethe's oeuvre, influencing later interpretations of the Prometheus myth in literature and philosophy, including works by Percy Bysshe Shelley.[4] It reflects Goethe's evolving views on divinity and humanity during a formative period, bridging his youthful rebellious phase with his later classical interests, and remains a cornerstone of German literature for its rhetorical power and philosophical depth.[2]
Mit Wolkendunst!
Und übe, dem Knaben gleich,
Der Disteln köpft,
An Eichen dich und Bergeshöhn.
Mußt mir meine Erde
Doch lassen stehn,
Und meine Hütte, die du nicht gebaut,
Und meinen Herd, um dessen Glut
Du mich beneidest. English translation (Edgar Alfred Bowring): Cover thy spacious heavens, Zeus,
With clouds of mist,
And, like the boy who lops
The thistles’ heads,
Disport with oaks and mountain-peaks,
Yet thou must leave
My earth still stand,
And my hut, which thou didst not build,
And my hearth,
Whose cheerful glow
Thou enviest me.[26] The central stanza recounts the loss of childlike faith, marking the shift to self-reliance: German original: Da ich ein Kind war,
Nicht wusste wo aus, wo ein,
Kauerte ich mich zu dir,
Mit heißem Herz,
Und sprach: Bube, beteu'r,
Warum versteckst du dich,
Mit deiner Macht
Vor deinen Kindern?
Wo ist dein Haus?
Wo sind
Deines Altars Steine?
Und deine Priester, wo?
Und die Gebete der Frommen? English translation (Bowring, adapted for concision): When yet a child,
I to thy side did creep,
With glowing heart, and cried:
Boy, why dost hide
Thy power from thy children?
Where is thy house?
Where thy altar's stones?
Where thy priests?
Where the prayers of the pious?[26] The defiant core emerges in Prometheus's declaration of creating humanity in his likeness: German original: Hier sitz' ich, forme Menschen
Nach meinem Bilde,
Ein Geschlecht, das mir gleich sei,
Zu leiden, zu weinen,
Zu freuen sich und zu fröhnen,
Und dein nicht zu achten,
Wie ich! English translation (Bowring): Here sit I, forming men
In my own image,
A race, to be like me,
To suffer, to weep,
To enjoy, to be glad,
And thee to scorn,
As I The closing lines reinforce eternal rebellion, questioning any obligation to serve the gods: German original: Ich dich ehren? Wofür?
Hast du die Schmerzen gelindert
Je des Beladenen?
Hast du die Tränen gestillet
Je der Geängsteten?
Hat nicht mich Zeit und Schicksal
Gehäufet mit Gaben
Reich, wie kein Gott?
[... ]
Wer half mir
Wider der Titanen Übermut?
Wer rettete vom Tode mich,
Von der Sklaverei?
Hast du's nicht alles selber vollendet,
Heilig glühend Herz?
Und glühtest, jung und gut,
Betrogen, Rettung zu fassen
Vom Schlafenden da oben? English translation (Bowring): But I to honour thee?—for what?
Hast thou e’er assuaged
The sorrows of the burdened one?
Hast thou e’er dried
The tears of the distressed?
Hath not to me, as ne’er to thee,
Time and fate lavished gifts in plenty?
[... ]
Who helped me
'Gainst the Titans' pride?
Who from death saved me,
From slavery?
Hast thou not all achieved thyself,
Thou holy glowing heart?
And didst glow, young and good,
Cheated, with thanks for rescue
To the sleeper above?[26]
Background and Composition
Historical Context
The Sturm und Drang movement, flourishing in the 1770s, represented a proto-Romantic rebellion in German literature against the prevailing rationalism and restraint of the Enlightenment, emphasizing instead emotional intensity, individual subjectivity, and a passionate engagement with nature and folk traditions.[5] Inspired by figures like Jean-Jacques Rousseau and William Shakespeare, its proponents sought to break free from neoclassical conventions, favoring raw expression and episodic structures that highlighted personal turmoil and defiance of societal norms.[6] Key architects included Johann Gottfried Herder, who championed cultural nationalism and the vitality of language, and the young Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, whose early works embodied the movement's fervent individualism.[7] Goethe's early career exemplified this turbulent spirit, particularly following the 1774 publication of The Sorrows of Young Werther, a novel that captured sentimental introspection while foreshadowing bolder rebellious themes through its protagonist's anguished autonomy.[8] In 1775, at age 26, Goethe relocated to Weimar at the invitation of Duke Carl August, assuming the role of privy councilor and later holding influential administrative positions in the duchy, which tempered his literary output but allowed him to channel Sturm und Drang energies into practical reforms and cultural patronage.[9] This transition marked a evolution from the introspective pathos of his Strasbourg period to a more assertive exploration of human agency, influenced by his encounters with Herder during law studies in the early 1770s.[10] Intellectually, Goethe's development occurred amid tensions between Enlightenment optimism about human potential and the strictures of religious orthodoxy, particularly the Lutheran Pietism that shaped his formative years.[11] Raised in Frankfurt, where his mother, Elisabeth Goethe, immersed the family in Pietist circles emphasizing personal devotion and moral introspection, young Goethe absorbed these values yet chafed against their dogmatic constraints, as seen in his later friendships with Pietist figures like Susanna Katharina von Klettenberg.[12] This clash fueled his attraction to Enlightenment thinkers who celebrated reason and self-determination, setting the stage for works that pitted individual creativity against divine authority.[13] The poem Prometheus emerged from this milieu, composed between 1772 and 1774 at the peak of Goethe's Sturm und Drang involvement, though it remained unpublished until 1789 following an unauthorized version in 1785.[14] While the work's roots lay in his early Weimar years, its themes resonated with the intellectual ferment preceding Goethe's transformative Italian journey of 1786–1788, a period of preparation that reflected his ongoing quest for classical renewal amid personal and cultural shifts.[15]Writing and Publication
Goethe composed "Prometheus" between 1772 and 1774, during the height of his involvement in the Sturm und Drang movement, a period marked by emotional intensity and rebellion against classical norms.[16] Originally conceived as a dramatic fragment within a larger, unfinished play exploring the Prometheus myth, the work evolved through Goethe's revisions into a standalone lyric hymn, reflecting his shift toward more introspective poetic forms.[10] Surviving handwritten manuscripts, including one dated around 1774 and presented to Charlotte von Stein shortly after Goethe's arrival in Weimar in 1775, reveal iterative changes that condensed the dramatic monologue while preserving its defiant tone.[17] In a letter dated November 6, 1774, Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi acknowledged receiving and returning the manuscript to Goethe, indicating early circulation among close associates during the composition phase.[17] The poem's initial dissemination occurred without Goethe's consent in 1785, when Jacobi included an anonymous version in his philosophical work Ueber die Lehre des Spinoza in Briefen an den Herrn Moses Mendelssohn, published in Breslau by Gottl. Löwe.[14] This unauthorized printing, which Jacobi justified as part of his discussion on Spinozism and pantheism, sparked controversy; Goethe expressed irritation in a letter to Jacobi that same year, protesting the exposure of an unpolished draft and the misinterpretation of its intent.[18] The leak highlighted tensions in Goethe's personal network, as Jacobi had borrowed the text under the pretense of private study, leading to public debate over the poem's radical implications. Goethe's first authorized edition appeared in 1789 within Volume II of his Schriften (Collected Works), under the section "Vermischte Gedichte," where it was positioned alongside "Ganymed" (written in 1774) to illustrate contrasting expressions from his early Weimar years (1770–1775).[19] This placement emphasized the poem's role in Goethe's evolving oeuvre, with minor revisions incorporated to refine its rhythmic structure for print.[20] The 1789 version marked the work's official entry into literary canon, distancing it from the earlier pirated text and aligning it with Goethe's broader Sturm und Drang legacy.[21]Poem Structure and Content
Form and Style
Goethe's "Prometheus" employs a free verse form with irregular rhyme and meter, structured as a dramatic monologue in which the Titan directly addresses Zeus, evoking the intensity of spoken defiance. The poem comprises 57 lines organized into seven stanzas of varying lengths, ranging from shorter, punchy units to longer, expansive passages that build rhetorical momentum. This irregularity in syllabic structure and rhyme scheme—often sporadic or absent—mirrors the chaotic energy of Sturm und Drang lyricism, prioritizing emotional outburst over classical regularity.[22][23] The language is marked by an intense, rhetorical tone, rich in exclamations and interrogative phrases that propel the speaker's accusatory voice, such as repeated challenges to divine power. Goethe draws on archaic and biblical phrasing to amplify the aura of defiance, notably in lines echoing Genesis, like Prometheus's assertion of creating humanity "in meinem Bilde" (in my image), subverting scriptural creation narratives to assert human self-sufficiency. This stylistic choice infuses the poem with a prophetic, almost sermon-like quality, blending elevated diction with visceral emotion to underscore rebellion against traditional authority.[2][24] Stylistically, the work fuses classical Greek mythological elements—Prometheus as the archetypal defiant creator and speaker—with the innovative, introspective lyricism of modern German poetry, characteristic of Goethe's early revolutionary phase. This contrasts with the contemporaneous "Ganymed," a companion piece featuring a more fluid, yielding structure and harmonious rhymes that symbolize ecstatic surrender to the divine, highlighting "Prometheus" as the assertive counterpart in a dialectic of resistance and submission. Specific techniques include the emphatic repetition of the first-person pronoun "Ich" (I), which occurs over a dozen times to foreground individualism and self-creation, reinforcing the speaker's autonomous identity. Additionally, certain rhythmic patterns, with stressed syllables evoking percussive force, subtly allude to the mythological hammer strikes in Prometheus's forging of humankind, lending a sonic dimension to the theme of human origination.[20][25][24]Summary and Key Passages
"Prometheus" is a dramatic monologue in which the Titan directly addresses Zeus, defying divine authority and celebrating human self-creation through fire and artistic endeavor. The poem unfolds as a progression from Prometheus's dismissal of the gods' feeble power over his earthly domain, to a reflection on his discarded childhood faith in the divine, followed by an account of his personal struggles and triumphs in shaping the world and humanity, and concluding with his resolute isolation and eternal rebellion against the heavens. This narrative asserts Prometheus's role as the true creator of mankind, independent of godly intervention. Key passages illustrate this arc. The opening stanza challenges Zeus's dominion while affirming Prometheus's unassailable human realm: German original: Bedecke deinen Himmel, Zeus,Mit Wolkendunst!
Und übe, dem Knaben gleich,
Der Disteln köpft,
An Eichen dich und Bergeshöhn.
Mußt mir meine Erde
Doch lassen stehn,
Und meine Hütte, die du nicht gebaut,
Und meinen Herd, um dessen Glut
Du mich beneidest. English translation (Edgar Alfred Bowring): Cover thy spacious heavens, Zeus,
With clouds of mist,
And, like the boy who lops
The thistles’ heads,
Disport with oaks and mountain-peaks,
Yet thou must leave
My earth still stand,
And my hut, which thou didst not build,
And my hearth,
Whose cheerful glow
Thou enviest me.[26] The central stanza recounts the loss of childlike faith, marking the shift to self-reliance: German original: Da ich ein Kind war,
Nicht wusste wo aus, wo ein,
Kauerte ich mich zu dir,
Mit heißem Herz,
Und sprach: Bube, beteu'r,
Warum versteckst du dich,
Mit deiner Macht
Vor deinen Kindern?
Wo ist dein Haus?
Wo sind
Deines Altars Steine?
Und deine Priester, wo?
Und die Gebete der Frommen? English translation (Bowring, adapted for concision): When yet a child,
I to thy side did creep,
With glowing heart, and cried:
Boy, why dost hide
Thy power from thy children?
Where is thy house?
Where thy altar's stones?
Where thy priests?
Where the prayers of the pious?[26] The defiant core emerges in Prometheus's declaration of creating humanity in his likeness: German original: Hier sitz' ich, forme Menschen
Nach meinem Bilde,
Ein Geschlecht, das mir gleich sei,
Zu leiden, zu weinen,
Zu freuen sich und zu fröhnen,
Und dein nicht zu achten,
Wie ich! English translation (Bowring): Here sit I, forming men
In my own image,
A race, to be like me,
To suffer, to weep,
To enjoy, to be glad,
And thee to scorn,
As I The closing lines reinforce eternal rebellion, questioning any obligation to serve the gods: German original: Ich dich ehren? Wofür?
Hast du die Schmerzen gelindert
Je des Beladenen?
Hast du die Tränen gestillet
Je der Geängsteten?
Hat nicht mich Zeit und Schicksal
Gehäufet mit Gaben
Reich, wie kein Gott?
[... ]
Wer half mir
Wider der Titanen Übermut?
Wer rettete vom Tode mich,
Von der Sklaverei?
Hast du's nicht alles selber vollendet,
Heilig glühend Herz?
Und glühtest, jung und gut,
Betrogen, Rettung zu fassen
Vom Schlafenden da oben? English translation (Bowring): But I to honour thee?—for what?
Hast thou e’er assuaged
The sorrows of the burdened one?
Hast thou e’er dried
The tears of the distressed?
Hath not to me, as ne’er to thee,
Time and fate lavished gifts in plenty?
[... ]
Who helped me
'Gainst the Titans' pride?
Who from death saved me,
From slavery?
Hast thou not all achieved thyself,
Thou holy glowing heart?
And didst glow, young and good,
Cheated, with thanks for rescue
To the sleeper above?[26]