ABSTRACT

This article reinterprets Prometheus as an archetype of wakefulness and watchfulness. In the Aeschylean version, this mythical hero, is a victim of what might be characterised as sleep deprivation. The article begins by situating Prometheus in mythographic terms, arguing that scholars have overlooked the importance of sleeplessness to Zeus's punishment of him. It proceeds to trace the changes between Hesiod's and the Aeschylean account, paying attention to matters of crime and punishment. The article then offers a detailed rereading of Prometheus Bound, focusing first on Hermes's threats at the end of the play, an important context for thinking about penal torture; and, second, on the torture to which he is subjected at the start of the play. After outlining the role of sleep deprivation in medieval and early modern torture practices, the article returns to the classical period and the part that remaining awake plays in an episode in the Odyssey. Finally, it argues that Prometheus's sleeplessness, though the result of torture, acquires a positive, even heroic value in the Aeschylean play because it is associated with a state of political vigilance that resists the panoptic surveillance of tyrants. Here, wakefulness is redeemed as watchfulness.

摘要

本文将普罗米修斯重新解释为清醒和警觉的原型。在埃斯库利亚的版本中，这个神话中的英雄是睡眠剥夺的受害者。文章首先将普罗米修斯置于神话中，认为学者们忽视了失眠对宙斯惩罚他的重要性。它继续追踪赫西奥德和埃斯库利尔账户之间的变化，关注犯罪和惩罚问题。然后文章提供了对Prometheus Bound的详细重读，首先关注赫尔墨斯在剧末的威胁，这是思考刑罚的重要背景；其次，关于他在戏剧开始时遭受的酷刑。在概述了睡眠剥夺在中世纪和现代早期酷刑实践中的作用之后，文章回到了古典时期以及在奥德赛的一集中保持清醒所扮演的角色。最后，它认为普罗米修斯的失眠，虽然是折磨的结果，但在埃斯库利亚戏剧中获得了积极的，甚至是英雄的价值，因为它与一种抵抗暴君全景监视的政治警惕状态有关。在这里，清醒被赎回为警觉。