Page:Prometheus Bound (Bevan 1902).djvu/36

 The companions of Hephaistos, Kratos, and Bia, are taken from Hesiod, where they are children of the river Styx, come to the aid of Zeus against the Titans, and remain beside him for ever after. (Theog. 385 f.) They are to be conceived as brother and sister, not two brothers, as Flaxman's familiar illustrations would make us think.

Okeanos is brought into the play for two main reasons apparently. In the first place, he marks the scene of the action—at the extreme verge of the earth, round which revolves the circular all-encompassing river, whose name he bears. And the same purpose is served by making the Chorus consist of his daughters. Their visible presence in itself brings home to the spectator how very far away this place is. But secondly, Okeanos is morally the foil to Prometheus. Both belong to the old race of gods. And just because they belong to the same order, the personal contrast of the two is exhibited in sharper relief. There were two main elements in the traditional idea of Okeanos. One was his immense age. According to Homer, he was the beginning of all things.