Romanticism and Prometheus

The second lecture of the semester saw Dr Gary Farnell discuss romanticism, Prometheus, the poems ‘Ozymandias’ and ‘Ode on  Grecian urn’ as well as a small look at the philosophy of Kant and Hegel which I will blog about more after seminar 2, as I am conducting the seminar paper for that week.

Firstly we discussed Prometheus, the bringer of fire from god to mankind, punished by Jupiter, chained to a rock and made subject to a culture picking at his liver. As a result of this image Prometheus is seen as the god of romanticism as in seen used in various poems in the 1800’s as well as ‘The creatures of Prometheus in 1801,by Percy Shelly, ‘Prometheus’ by Lord Byron, ‘Frankenstein’ by Mary Shelly- the modern Prometheus, and ‘Prometheus unbound’. Therefore the influence of this image in literature is there for all to see.  

Romanticism was a general euro-American movement arising out of the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries. In this time Prometheus was seen as the champion of oppressed human kind and a god who embodies the spirit of liberty, equality and fraternity.

The poem Ozymandias by Percy Shelly written in 1818 was the next item to be discussed as a result of its link to the Promethean revolutionary spirit. The influence for the poem came from the statue of Ramses II in the British museum, visited by Percy Shelly in 1818. The statue has a sense of boastfulness, but his permanent empire was not so permanent and therefore a sonnet is used ironically as it is the reverse of a celebratory poem, as his tyrannical power is no longer an influence on the people who it oppressed. The poem is a critique of imperial power and also applies to the British empire at this time for the exact same reason as Rameses, as the statue has managed to make its way to a British museum despite a distinct lack of connection with Britain, displaying the tyrannical power of the British empire in the early 19^th century.

The influence of Prometheus is still alive today with the people of Egypt feeling oppressed and rising against the power of the government.

The next poem discussed was Keats’ poem ‘Ode on a Grecian urn’ written in 1920. Keats was influenced by The Townley vase at the British museum with shows roman life on the outside but would have contained death on the inside. There is an element of self conscious artifice in the artistic act of creation in the ode form.

This poem demonstrates Keats poetic skill, celebrating the art of the urn; his use of personification and alternating line length shows his creativity within this poem, making it equally as impressive as a piece of art which is long lasting.

There is a Promethean aspect to the poem which is the human ability to make and create things, this is a typical romantic protest at a the devaluation of art at the time as a result of the industrial capitalism of the day.