How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #4
PROMETHEUS. Here, what is this? Have you too come to be a spectator of my sufferings? How did you dare to leave the stream that bears your name, and your self-built, rock-roofed cavern, and come to this land, the mother of iron? Have you come to see what has happened to me, and to share my distress? Behold the spectacle, then—me, the friend of Zeus, who helped establish his autocracy, what torments I am now racked with at his hands! (284-206)
Oceanus offers his advice amicably enough, but Prometheus interprets his presence as one more torment he will have to put up with. After all, who wants your frenemy to come gloat about your detention?
Quote #5
OCEANUS. What I am going to say may seem to you rather hackeneyed, but these, Prometheus, are the wages of an over-arrogant tongue. Are you still not humbled, not yielding to your troubles? Do you want to get more of them, on top of what you have? Well, if you accept me as your adviser, you won't kick out against the goad, being aware that we have a harsh monarch holding irresponsible power. (307-324)
The gist of Oceanus's message is a diagnosis of Prometheus's problems: the old human-lover is too full of pride. If he would only give up his pride and stop raging against Zeus, he could find himself in a better state. Does the play encourage the audience to see things Oceanus's way or Prometheus's way? How does our view on pride—and whether it's a good thing or a bad thing—relate to our sympathies for one or the other character?
Quote #6
OCEANUS. Allow me to suffer from that affliction: to be sensible while being thought stupid is the best policy.
PROMETHEUS. That shortcoming will be thought to be mine.
OCEANUS. Your words are plainly meant to send me back home.
PROMETHEUS. Yes: by lamenting for me, you risk incurring enmity.
OCEANUS. You mean the enmity of him who has lately come to sit on the almighty throne?
PROMETHEUS. Take care that his heart never becomes aggrieved with you.
OCEANUS. Your misfortunes, Prometheus, serve to instruct me. (381-396)
Okay, Oceanus may be right: you probably wouldn't send Prometheus to a self-esteem course. But isn't this a bit of the pot calling the kettle black? Oceanus certainly seems to have some pride of his own at stake here. Why else would he get so offended by Prometheus rejecting his help? If nothing else, just look at the lame way he quits the scene, giving Prometheus the oldest excuse in the book: "Uh, yeah, my… horse needs to… rest a bit. OK, gotta go!" This guy is clearly trying to save face.