A Comparative Study Of The Recurrence Of The Image Of "prometheus"

As a hero who revolts against God, Prometheus could be taken as an image that is full of rebellious spirit in the Greek mythology. In the history of English literature, many English literary writers replay the heroic image of"Prometheus"in different ways intentionally or unintentionally. In the recurrence of the image of"Prometheus", his perseverance, bravery and the indomitable spirit of resistance were strongly praised and endowed the image the quality of eternity. Precisely because of the efforts of these great writers, the story of Prometheus could be spread so far and reach such a long-term popularity.This research focuses on the exploration of the resistant spirit that is embodied in the image of Prometheus in English poetry. The main related characters are the Prometheus in Prometheus Unbound by Aeschylus, the Prometheus in Prometheus by George Gordon Byron, the Prometheus in Prometheus Unbound by Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Satan in John Milton's Paradise Lost, who bears the same spirit of resistance as well as Prometheus and the West Wind in Ode to the West Wind by Percy Bysshe Shelley. Through the comparative study, the paper expounds the similarities and differences between the images. The paper is divided into 6 parts. Part 1 includes a brief introduction about the related writers and their works involved, the problems to be solved, and the significance of the research; Part 2 mainly concentrates on the domestic studies and the researches abroad; Part 3 presents the theoretical framework and methodology; Part 4 and 5, which are the main body of the paper, propose the analysis of the images of"Prometheus"and the comparative study of the images of"Prometheus"; then Part 6 concludes the whole paper and points out the limitations of the research.The research is a new approach to probe into the image of the classical mythical figure, Prometheus, based on the archetypal theory and the comparative literature theory. The author hopes that the research can provide a new field of vision on the research of Prometheus.