Book Description
Imagine trying to make sense of an amalgam of Timothy Leary's eight neurological circuits, G.I. Gurdjieff's self-observation exercises, Alfred Korzybskis general semantics, Aleister Crowley's magical theorems, and the several disciplines of Yoga; not to mention Christian Science, relativity, quantum mechanics, and many other approaches to understanding the world around us! That is exactly what Robert Anton Wilson does in Prometheus Rising. In short, this is a book about how the human mind works and what you can do to make the most of yours.
Customer Reviews:
The words on the page are not the point.......2007-08-04
First of all, let me admit that it's been almost 5 years now since I read this book. I've since forgotten many of the exact details of the book, but what I'd like to comment about in this review is how I've seen the book influence my life.
The main point that I'd like to get across is that the meaning of this book is not found anywhere in the words on the page. The meaning of this book solely lies in how those words influence your methods of thinking. RAW is an absolute master of using language to force the reader to consider the world from different perspectives. If you understand this simple point, then you can get past all the metaphysical silliness, conspiracy theory, and drug-happy parts of the book.
As for the long-term influence of this book, I'd have to say that it has forced me to understand that people perceive the world in very different ways. Now, you may say "I know that already, so why do I need to read the book?" There's lots of things that we think we "know", but we don't really internalize and incorporate that knowledge until we're forced to.
In addition, this book forced me to reconsider my own convictions. Where did my convictions come from? Are they really mine, or did someone convince me they were my own?
All in all, I'd say that this book is best suited for someone in their early twenties that is starting to question their own history and pondering their own philosophies. However, this book must come with a word of warning. RAW's prose is extremely powerful, and can drastically impact the perceptions of the reader. Don't read this book unless you're 100% ready to question everything and accept any consequences therefrom.
P.S. RAW passed away on January 11th 2007, a week before his 75th birthday. His final public statement was "I look forward without dogmatic optimism but without dread. I love you all and I deeply implore you to keep the lasagna flying. Please pardon my levity, I don't see how to take death seriously. It seems absurd."
Prometheus Rising is an amazing must-read.......2007-06-26
For anyone interested in consciousness and maybe even meaning in life, Prometheus Rising by Robert Anton Wilson really hits home so many points and concepts.
With Wilson's great humor and intelligent diatribes, there's no wonder this book is a must-read for any psychonaut or someone wondering about all the inner workings of Timothy Leary's 8-circuit model of consciousness.
Visualize that quarter!
-editor of refocusality.com
true power transmitted trough words.......2007-01-12
Hi :) I'm a 25years old guy from Zagreb,Croatia..you know..Nikola Tesla,Penkala,TITO,Dubrovnik,War..
I've downloaded RAW's audio interview and it's the first time I've heard his words..like I said,very powerful..After listening to what he has to say about everything, I realised that he is a very warm and smart person that can be very influecal..and I've let him be..Now(after reading his books)I feel smarter and warmer so I highly recommend it :) A beautiful book that will change your intire life or just a look of your bookshelve).
Big support to RAW, it's nice to have him around :)
A change of scenery.......2007-01-11
This book was recommended by a good friend, who admonished me to "Do the exercises." The results, needless to say, are amazing.
Robert Anton Wilson delivers in fine form with Prometheus Rising, citing influences by Dr. Timothy Leary's psychological explorations and studies. With a keen wit and keener insight, Wilson explorers the wiring - and miswiring - of the native domesticated primates of planet Earth. Eight circuits of consciousness explorered, explorering the consciousness our circuitry ate.
From psychology, Freud and Jung, to Dr. Leary and William S. Burroughs, Wilson carries on the tradition of the pioneers of the mind, the great Psychonauts of yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Who knows.. this may be your chance to join the ranks.
So.. get the book. Do the exercises. Seriously.
If you can change yourself, you can change reality.
Anton Wilson's further discussion on Timothy Leary's groundbreaking Eight Neural Circuit model of human consciousness.......2006-12-01
Anton Wilson describes Timothy Leary's Eight Neural Circuit Model of human consciousness in a socio-political context. He develops his ideas on Leary's model introduced in "Quantum Psychology."
Amazon.com
In American Prometheus, Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin delve deep into J. Robert Oppenheimer's life and deliver a thorough and devastatingly sad biography of the man whose very name has come to represent the culmination of 20th century physics and the irrevocable soiling of science by governments eager to exploit its products. Rich in historical detail and personal narratives, the book paints a picture of Oppenheimer as both a controlling force and victim of the mechanisms of power.
By the time the story reaches Oppenheimer's fateful Manhattan Project work, readers have been swept along much as the project's young physicists were by fate and enormous pressure. The authors allow the scientists to speak for themselves about their reactions to the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, avoiding any sort of preacherly tone while revealing the utter, horrible ambiguity of the situation. For instance, Oppenheimer wrote in a letter to a friend, "The thing had to be done," then, "Circumstances are heavy with misgiving."
Many biographies of Oppenheimer end here, with the seeds of his later pacifism sown and the dangers of mixing science with politics clearly outlined. But Bird and Sherwin devote the second half of this hefty book to what happened to Oppenheimer after the bomb. For a short time, he was lionized as the ultimate patriot by a victorious nation, but things soured as the Cold War crept forward and anti-communist witchhunts focused paranoia and anti-Semitism onto Oppenheimer, destroying his career and disillusioning him about his life's work. Devastated by the atom bomb's legacy of fear, he became a vocal and passionate opponent of the Strangelovian madness that gripped the world because of the weapons he helped develop.
Twenty-five years of research went into creating American Prometheus, and there has never been a more honest and complete biography of this tragic scientific giant. The many great ironies of Oppenheimer's life are revealed through the careful reconstruction of a wealth of records, conversations, and ideas, leaving the clearest picture yet of his life. --Therese Littleton
Book Description
J. Robert Oppenheimer is one of the iconic figures of the twentieth century, a brilliant physicist who led the effort to build the atomic bomb for his country in a time of war, and who later found himself confronting the moral consequences of scientific progress. In this magisterial, acclaimed biography twenty-five years in the making, Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin capture Oppenheimer’s life and times, from his early career to his central role in the Cold War. This is biography and history at its finest, riveting and deeply informative.
Customer Reviews:
A Superb Biography.......2007-09-30
This book merited its Pulitzer Prize: the subject, Oppenheimer and the bomb, is fascinating; the scholarship is thorough; and the writing is so clear that one forgets one is reading--one sees the events of history.
I will never forget the authors' analysis of why we dropped the bombs on those two unlucky Japanese cities. Was it to save the lives of our troops and of those who would defend Japan? No, the Japanese wanted to surrender in July of 1945, and the invasion of Japan was scheduled to occur after 1 November 1945. Truman wanted to end the war before 15 August, the date Stalin had promised to declare war on Japan. Decoded diplomatic cables revealed that the Japanese were willing to surrender in July if the US relaxed its condition of "unconditional surrender." But Secretary of State James F. Byrnes of South Carolina advised Truman that the Democrats would do better in the elections of 1946 and 1948 if Truman insisted on unconditional surrender. So he dropped the two atomic bombs on Japan to win those elections.
The authors' description of Lewis Strauss's hearings was excellent.
Even the biographers are leftist.......2007-09-05
This book was engaging and well written and full of insights about the life of J Robert Oppenheimer. However, it was clear to this reader that the sympathies of the authors are far to the left. Although one could easily agree that the 1954 Oppenheimer security hearing was something of a kangaroo court, the authors treated the issue of Oppenheimer's security status as if it were a primary right (such as the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness) rather than a status granted by the government at its discretion. After all, why would the US Government appoint someone to be intimately associated with the development of the H-bomb who publicly and forcefully disdained the effort--whether or not the man was at the time or had been in the past a fellow-traveler? Also, all of the "nasty" characters who happened to be Republican were repeated and clearly identified as Republican but the "nasty" Democrats were simply identified by their names.
This leftist tendency by the authors is a blemish on what otherwise would have been one of the most enjoyable books I have read in years and certainly one of the best I have read on this remarkable period in American history. But, then, I guess it is difficult for authors not to identify and sympathize with their subject, especially since most who came in contact with Oppenheimer during his life seemed also to have succumbed to his spell.
The Incredible Life of a Nearly Forgotten Hero.......2007-08-31
Before my grandfather handed me this book I had no idea Oppenheimer ever existed. Nothing from school, other books, or TV. Now, I feel as though I've met him. As I read this book I felt his anger, sadness, pain, and joy.
I had no knowledge of this man, and I don't think any is needed before reading this book. It's also about much more than Oppenheimer. Knowing about his life gave me a VERY different view of the American Communists of the thirties, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, McCarthism, the Cold War, and the US government as a whole.
Within this book America isn't that sparkly clean America I thought it was. America makes mistakes just like all of us and I believe it's incredibly important the citizens are told more than just the nice version of history. When Oppenheimer challenged this nice version, the backlash nearly destroyed him.
Buy this book, borrow it, just read it. This book contains forgotten history every American needs to know.
A Splendid Enigma.......2007-08-09
There was a time when scientists where revered in the same way that athletes, entertainers, and celebrities are today. The first half of the 20th century was a time of great scientific and technological development and achievement. Despite global struggles with depression, war and ideological strife, the promise of a bright future delivered by brilliant men in universities and laboratories, offered a vision of a brave new world. The dark side of this lay in man's own capacity for self-destruction if ethics and morals failed to keep pace with scientific advancement. Would the new frontiers of science create a new Eden, or would it destroy the fruits of civilization? Specifically, would the unleashed power of the atom bring peace and abundance, or would it foster terror among the nations of the world?
AMERICAN PROMOTHEUS: THE TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY OF J. ROBERT OPPENHEIMER chronicles the life and times of the splendid enigma - Oppie - the brilliant physicist who became a shepherd of geniuses. These were the members of the team at Los Alamos who created the atomic bomb - the weapon that ended World War II and brought "peace" to the world in a blinding flash of radioactivity.
The authors, Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin have collaborated in this Pulitzer Prize winning exploration of "Oppie" in a level of detail not previously seen in previous biographies. From Oppenheimer's early life to his years as a student and prodigy, internationally renowned academic to the Los Alamos Atomic Bomb Project and its cold war aftermath, the authors provide a telling multi-textural portrait of a man both loved and hated by fellow scientists, politicians, and ethicists. The consequences of his intellectual curiosity and affinity of communistic ideals in the early years of the Cold War amidst the shameful paranoia of McCarthyism provide an insight into the man's human frailties as well as his intellectual strengths. The revocation of Oppenheimer's security clearance amidst such political turmoil sheds light on a controversial period in American history.
The book is well researched and documented. The narrative flows well, despite some repetition in chapters devoted to Oppenheimer's 1930s political activities. It is a compelling and comprehensive biography of one of the most elusive personalities in American and World History.
Complex, but very approachable.......2007-06-30
This is an extremely well-written, engaging, and engrossing tale of an equally complex and brilliant man. The degree of his humanness -- unapologetically raw; the degree of his metal abilities -- virtually unmatched. A great read for any fan of science, mathematics, or the history of science. You won't be able to put it down once you start it.
Book Description
Professor Landes’s study, Technological Change and Industrial Development in Western Europe, 1750–1914, first appeare as a chapter in volume VI of the Cambridge Economic History of Europe. He has now extended it by adding a full-scale analysis of modern industrial Europe from the First World War to the 1960s. In his new Introduction, Professor Landes discusses the characteristics, progress, and political, economic and social implications of the Industrial Revolution in Britain, France and Germany. He raises the general question: why was Europe the first to industrialize? His section on the inter-war years covers the effect of the First World War in accelerating the dissolution of the old international economy, the reasons for monetary instability and the consequences of monetary difficulties for the economic history of Europe. In particular he discusses the causes of the economic crisis of 1929–1932, the reasons for its severity and quasi-universality and for Britain’s early and sustained recovery. An important theme is the impediments posed by generalized international egoism to the efficiency and growth of the European economies. In his final chapter on the economic recovery of Western Europe after the Second World War, Professor Landes examines the forces which have operated since the early 1950s to give Western Europe a period of unprecedented economic growth. He raises the vital question: is this recent boom a temporary phenomenon or the first stage in a new trend of more rapid growth, reflecting an acceleration in technological advance?
Download Description
Professor Landes's study, Technological Change and Industrial Development in Western Europe, 1750-1914, first appeare as a chapter in volume VI of the Cambridge Economic History of Europe. He has now extended it by adding a full-scale analysis of modern industrial Europe from the First World War to the 1960s. In his new Introduction, Professor Landes discusses the characteristics, progress, and political, economic and social implications of the Industrial Revolution in Britain, France and Germany. He raises the general question: why was Europe the first to industrialize? His section on the inter-war years covers the effect of the First World War in accelerating the dissolution of the old international economy, the reasons for monetary instability and the consequences of monetary difficulties for the economic history of Europe. In particular he discusses the causes of the economic crisis of 1929-1932, the reasons for its severity and quasi-universality and for Britain's early and sustained recovery. An important theme is the impediments posed by generalized international egoism to the efficiency and growth of the European economies. In his final chapter on the economic recovery of Western Europe after the Second World War, Professor Landes examines the forces which have operated since the early 1950s to give Western Europe a period of unprecedented economic growth. He raises the vital question: is this recent boom a temporary phenomenon or the first stage in a new trend of more rapid growth, reflecting an acceleration in technological advance?
Customer Reviews:
Jack of all Trades, Master of None?.......2005-01-14
"It was the Industrial Revolution, writes historian David S. Landes, "that initiated a cumulative, self sustaining advance in technology whose repercussions would be felt in all aspects of economic life." He goes on to demonstrate that the Industrial Revolution had a birth, maturation, and decline. According to Landes, European nations reached these three stages of development at different intervals thus evoking varying degrees of economic progress and growth. In a work that might be deemed purely economic history, Landes treads that fine line between these two academic disciplines. As an historian, Landes has faired quite well. As an economist, however, Landes' findings could lead one to ponder: is it possible to be an expert in both fields? Landes has utilized a chronological method in an effort to answer the aged old question: why did the Industrial Revolution take place in Western Europe when it did? The author agrees that Great Britain was the initiator, or leader of the Industrial Revolution, and all other countries followed suit with varying degrees of economic growth. Landes credits England's natural geographic infrastructure of navigable rivers along with its social compatibility (this last point raised an eyebrow, as England has always been known for its rigid class divisions) as the basis for Britain's early industrialization. The chapters illustrating how England's early rural cotton cottage manufacturing developed into an intricate network of textile factories, the affects of imperial acquisitions and colonialism, and the evolutionary process of technology in the form of industrial machinery, made for a compelling read. The author also explores such social phenomenon as the Protestant work ethic, the concept of rationality, and the human tendency to control nature as contributing factors in Britain's eventual industrialization and modernization. Landes handled these more abstract interpretations admirably. The author utilizes a plethora of sources to support his argument. From the early writings of Adam Smith and Max Weber to a wide range of economic journals and published material, Landes has synthesized his argument credible. The author makes use of some tables, especially when comparing Europe's iron and steel production, however, his tendency to express his statistics in a narrative form instead of utilizing more tables and graphs can be confusing at times. The total absence of maps is another hinderance.Landes has put forth a valiant effort but perhaps his plate was too full. If the old adage of "jack of all trades, master of none," holds true here, one might mull over where Landes' strengths lie. In a book full of economic theory, sociology, demographics, statistical data and last but not least, history, is it possible for a scholar to be proficient in all these areas? For those proponents of the departmentalization of the Humanities, Landes' work will stir some reaction. As for this reviewer, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to those wishing to delve deeper into this fascinating era of European history. Keep a pot of coffee brewing.
The way economics shapes political societies.......2001-02-08
The task professor Landes have tried to achieve, and what he produces along it, is more important than that whole consistency of his work. Professor Landes makes economic history, not only describing historical processes but analyzing them with key concepts taken from basic economic theory.
Technological change creates opportunities for economic growth, but it could not explain, by itself, the whole historical process. Legal and political environment is needed to make real the economic growth that technological change makes possible. Even though, into the process, some elites and some social colectivities could see losses of power, income, and social recognition, and new models for colective and individual behaviour could upsurge. Professor Landes work explains the whole complexity of the big trends, of historical process, supported by the technological facts, the economic facts are consequence of this, and the economic theory we knew in sixties, and based on rigorous work on primary and secondary sources. His work shows, too, how the economic trends produced qualitiative consequences that economic theory could not predict because men in historical time, above all, are political entities more than economical entities. The national european states, and the national feelings, from the elites to the common man, sometimes peacefully, sometimes with social struggle, have given an specific path, and specific reactions, to the economic incentives that come from market (national and abroad) and from former regulation. The economic system and the politics produced, to each other, opportunities, setbacks, and limits.
My personal view on the value of this work is the science of history could use theoretical tools from other social sciences, but economics has to use history and its works to show better the accuracy of their concepts and method.
A very good work on economic history.
Good background reading, if slightly outdated.......2000-11-30
The Unbound Prometheus was published in 1969, so it is not exactly the latest call about economic history since 1750. But Landes makes a very good job at summarizing the basics about the most important economic issues of the past two hundred years: the role of market integration and technological change in Industrial Revolution (though, for the latter, see also Mokyr's Lever of Riches), the role of free trade in the mid-19th century Europe and world, the role of after-WW1 peace settlement in causing the Great Depression, the size and impact of the Marshall Plan and other reconstruction plans after WW2. However, if you are looking for detail on any of the topics, then Landes is, perhaps, not the right book for you (on the other hand, this text is usually used as a background reading for university courses in European Economic History).
Average customer rating:
- Not Free SF Reader
- All of Ludlum's trademark qualities on display
- A Fast Read for 509 Pages.
- pretty good, quite an authentic ludlum
- Definitely Kept Me Turning Pages
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The Prometheus Deception
Robert Ludlum
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Paperbacks
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ASIN: 0312978367 |
Amazon.com
The Prometheus Deception begins with a deep-cover operative, a beautiful cryptographer with a shadowy past, a government organization that's not what it seems, and an assignment that goes very, very wrong. Nicholas Bryson, a spy for a secret intelligence group known only as the Directorate, has his cover blown on a Tunisian operation and is retired to a new identity: Jonas Barrett, lecturer in Near Eastern history at a small liberal arts college. Five years later, the CIA corners Bryson/Barrett and tells him that his entire 15-year career in the Directorate was a fraud, that the organization was really an elaborate front for the GRU--Soviet military intelligence--and that his former boss, Ted Waller, was actually Gennady Rosovsky, a GRU muckety-muck. Even Bryson's beloved estranged wife, Elena, was actually a Romanian Securitate agent assigned to keep him in line. And now...
"Damn it!" Bryson shouted. "This makes no sense! How ignorant do you think I am? The goddamn GRU, the Russians--that's all in the past. Maybe you Cold War cowboys at Langley haven't yet heard the news--the war's over!"
"Yes," Dunne replied raspily, barely audible. "And for some baffling reason the Directorate is alive and well."
So far so good; after 22 thrillers in this vein, Robert Ludlum could probably have written this one in his sleep. Fortunately for his fans, he was not only awake at the wheel, but ready to race--on a track with more twists and bumps than a roller coaster in an earthquake. The CIA claims it needs Bryson to reinfiltrate the Directorate and help them bring it down, but when Bryson is cornered by an erstwhile Directorate acquaintance aboard a floating arms bazaar and rescued by a woman named Layla just before the ship blows up, he begins to realize how the years of retirement have dulled his formerly keen reaction time. While Bryson cautiously feels (and fights) his way from Virginia to Spain and back again, mistrustful of his new CIA colleagues even as he dodges murder attempts by his former Directorate henchmen, there are rumblings in the hallowed halls of the U.S. Congress. Several respected statesmen are raising a ruckus about widespread invasions of privacy, behind which stand a Seattle software billionaire and a mysterious nexus of power called Prometheus. But is Prometheus allied with the Directorate--or with a different group altogether? Filled with post-Cold War double-crosses, New Economy high jinks, and even a few Wall Street shenanigans thrown in for good measure, The Prometheus Deception is pure old-style Ludlum, repackaged for the new millennium. --Barrie Trinkle
Book Description
The ultimate spy. After fifteen years as a brilliant master spy, Nick Bryson has disappeared into anonymity as a professor at an exclusive college in western Pennsylvania-- until he's suddenly lured back into the game. The ultimate threat. Recruited by the CIA, he's been commissioned to track the moves of the Directorate. Once, the ultra-secret intelligence agency was Bryson's training ground. Now it's a multinational terrorist conspiracy bent on global domination. The ultimate deception. But to eliminate the core of corruption means plunging into his own past, investigating the motives of a beautiful stranger who may be his greatest downfall, and infiltrating a secret nexus of power called Prometheus that holds the terrifying clues to his past-- and the even more terrifying possibilities of the future....
Customer Reviews:
Not Free SF Reader.......2007-09-03
A secret agent type is involved in a mostly successful operation against Hezbollah terrorists. He gets hurt, and has to recover back at his base. After this, he is shocked to find that his boss is getting rid of him.
It gets even more shocking than that when he realises that the clandestine small agency he works for is most definitely not what he thought it was, but actually a completely foreign operation that has sucked him in.
This is not all though, as another level of deception exists. Prometheus is a group of men that want to control all corporate information in the world, giving them immense power. A definite commentary on the consolidation of corporate influence and information can be found in this book.
He is reunited with his wife, but the story hasn't ended there.
All of Ludlum's trademark qualities on display.......2007-07-16
Ludlum's thriller, The Prometheus Deception, involves a complex plot that literally affects the entire planet. As the story opens, a meticulously planned, skillfully executed conspiracy between big business and highly placed government officials is only days away from achieving its goal. Yet, it is possible that this scheme could be frustrated by a single man, ex-spy Nick Bryson.
Bryson, however, has his own problems. Although content with his new life as a college professor, his psyche still suffers from wounds inflicted five years earlier when he was forced to retire from the Directorate (a top-secret U.S. espionage outfit) and was simultaneously abandoned by his beloved wife. On top of that, Bryson has just been informed by the director of the CIA that the Directorate was actually a Soviet agency, and its operations, which Bryson had believed were in his country's best interests, instead sabotaged several legitimate American initiatives. For reasons that become evident later, Bryson is also told that the mysterious "Prometheus" organization might be allied with the Directorate, whose operations seem to have gone underground. Backed by the CIA, Bryson sets out to investigate Prometheus, calling upon his extensive experience and contacts in the spy trade. As his investigation proceeds, Bryson discovers that, in our increasingly wired world, nothing is truly private.
The Prometheus Deception displays all of Ludlum's trademark qualities, good and bad. On the positive side, the over-the-top action, reminiscent of James Bond, is guaranteed to hold your interest. At the same time, you'll often simply have to suspend your disbelief to enjoy the book, as the action only gets more outrageous as the story unfolds (Bryson's knack for beating the odds suggests he should have pursued a career as a professional gambler, rather than as a spy). Ludlum also tries to have it both ways with his hero, unintentionally giving him what seems to be a split personality -- on one page he is a decisive man of action, on another he is portrayed as a whiny wimp.
Still, the writing has an undeniable energy. Like Bryson, readers will feel compelled to get to the heart of the matter, to unwind Ludlum's mystery. The novel is also worth reading for the compelling social issues the author raises. At its heart, the book is concerned with the very timely issue of privacy, of whether security can be purchased at the cost of individual freedom. It's a very deep question, one you will probably continue pondering long after you finish reading.
A Fast Read for 509 Pages........2007-07-02
The author can write is a huge understatement, the man has style. His descriptions of events, places, & persons can make the reader feel like he/she is there experiencing{breathing, smelling, & seeing it}, what he is reading. He deserves 3 stars just for that. Good action, but not in the over the top James Bond genre, more like the "Saint or Secret agent man." The novel opens in Tunisia, Abu & the technician are up to no good. Their plans are foiled & the former thinks the latter has betrayed him? The technician soon reappears as Nicholas Bryson an American undercover agent working for the directorate, an anti-terrorist group. He then is demoted & sent to Woodbridge College in Pennsylvania to lecture under the name Jonas Barrett. His life soon falls apart, his parents are killed in a car accident & his wife leaves him. Some five years pass & his adventures start again, we go from a huge international munitions area on a ship to the most bizarre scenarios the author could dream up. The reader is not introduced to the Prometheus connection until roughly the last part of the book. Now the negatives, Ludlum at times bogs the reader down with too much detailed info which distracts & becomes predictable in revealing the plot. The ending was also oddly short, making me wish he had spent more time on it rather than all the minutia. Nonetheless, it is a good action packed, adrenaline novel.
pretty good, quite an authentic ludlum.......2007-01-18
don't know if this one got a ghost writer behind it, 'cause ludlum died long before this one was published. but it read pretty authentic ludlum to me since i've read most of his books except those with a co-author. not bad at all. the amazing thing ludlum showed was his prophecy of what the world would have become about 2 decades ago long before any of other writers even thought about it. thank god, this one turned out to be quite a page turner after i threw away all of robert wilson's junk out of lisbon.
Definitely Kept Me Turning Pages.......2006-09-09
The book has a lot of action and some really neat 'toys' that the characters get to play with, which for a closet geek like me, definitely left me intrigued. However, the plot appears to leave me a bit flat, and there seems to be a similarity to the plot in this book and two others I have read. The diaglogue is a bit too non-believable for me, or rather, has a tad of an unnatural or strained feel.
That being said, it was a good read, and one that I would definitely recommend for those who like action. There is a lot of descriptive, but it really doesn't have a mundane feel to it, and has great visual imagery to it.
Customer Reviews:
Nearly completely worthless.......2004-12-21
This text must be one of the worst books on ethics I've ever seen. The authors start with a basic assumption that information technology changes ethical issues and never examine this fundamentally flawed belief. The essays are extreme and manage to make their own points sound rediculous even when they are reasonable.
There are errors in their references and their interpretation and use of other texts.
This book is painful to read.
Examines new moral issues.......2001-02-22
The transformation of society brought about by computers has brought with it new moral dilemmas, from the impact of computers on privacy and copyright issues to the involvement of computers in personal lives. Cyberethics offers the reader 26 essays examining these new moral issues and provide thoughtfully reasoned answers to ethical questions.
Product Description
A superb organization of research into birth charts and destinies of creative men and women. Behind the guise of Uranus is the revolutionary energy of Prometheus, master of fire.
Customer Reviews:
Rename that planet!.......2007-05-23
Richard Tarnas's PROMETHEUS THE AWAKENER basically says that the planet Uranus should have been named Prometheus and why. Tarnas will get no argument from me. He lays out his case very clearly with lots of good examples. Especially valuable to me was his explanation of the various archetypal meanings of the planets. I would like to memorize the opening chapter and be able to spout it at will when I am trying to explain to people who know nothing about astrology what I mean when I say "Mars," for example. (There are some people who honestly think that I believe the planet Mars is an intelligent force!)
Where I part company with Tarnas is at the very end of the book when he analyzes the recent conjunction of Uranus and Neptune (from roughly 1989 to 2001). I cannot share his optimism. He cites the positive developments, such as the collapse of the repressive Communist regime that controlled Russia and Eastern Europe (he points out that the phrase "velvet revolution" is the perfect description of the Uranus/Neptune combination), but there is a great deal that he seems not to be aware of. I don't think it's any coincidence that the conjunction of Uranus and Neptune occurred at the time of the advent of Political Correctness (wherein one can lose one's job for saying "six foot two is tall for an Asian" and have no recourse under a "zero tolerance" policy), which basically signals the end of the Bill of Rights. Nor does he mention the blatant promulgation of misandry which has been so pervasive that it is now an accepted part of our culture. He only hints at "spin" when he mentions that image overpowers reality. Just as the conjunction reached peak intensity, the O.J. Simpson trial was spun so that it was not really about the defendant's act of murder but about the racism of a police officer. Concurrently, the Clinton impeachment trial was spun so that Clinton's perjury and obstruction of justice (of which he was clearly guilty) was not the issue, but the Conservatives' opposition to sexual misconduct. Perhaps if Tarnas's book had been published a year later he would have seen the destructive influences of the Uranus-Neptune conjunction more clearly. Perhaps he will update the book in the future to address these issues. However, there is the possibility that he may not be allowed to do so. I'd still give the book four stars and would recommend it to any serious astrologer as well as to intelligent non-astrologers who are capable of reading such a book without preconceived notions regarding astrology.
Consciousness Shift.......2007-05-10
The study of astrology suffers from so much superficiality that most people would never even consider it to hold significant universal truths. Despite all the rather banal treatments in the media, there are just too many people who do not realize what a powerful tool it can be in helping us to evolve a more coherent picture of not only ourselves but of the world we live in. In this treatise of the "planet" Uranus, Tarnas begins a serious discussion of the appropriate mythologic archetype that is sadly overlooked by the majority of astrology books out there (Rob Hand, Barbara Hand Clow, and even Liz Greene). No cookbook approach here. A brilliant synthesis from one of our greatest philosophers and a suitable start before broaching the subject matter of his recent opus, Cosmos & Psyche.
Prometheus the awakener: an essay on the archetypal meaning of the planet Uranus.......2006-11-10
Very interesting, statistical and historical essay... a new way of seeing Uranus... and a more accurate too!! I imagine what a conmotion it must have raised at the time when he first put up his new idea of Uranus being Prometheus instead of Urano, the first and never again mencioned god ;-)
Fire of the Divine.......2000-10-08
With his new book Prometheus the Awakener: An Essay on the Archetypal Meaning of the Planet Uranus Richard Tarnas has created a stunning synthesis of archetypal astrology, history, and spiritual psychology. Reading this work one feels graced with expanded horizons, the sudden rediscovery of a conscious universe. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for meaning in their lives or in the world at large.
Tarnas believes that the first seven bodies of the solar system were given archetypally accurate names, reflecting the intuitive consciousness of the ancient Greeks. However, in 1781 when Uranus was discovered, the modern scientific mind had lost its intuitive and subjective faculties and the new planet was given a name derived with conventional logic: Uranus was the next planet out from Saturn and so it was given the name of Saturn's father in Hellenic mythology, just as Saturn lay just beyond Jupiter's orbit and was Jupiter's father. In the essay's thesis, Tarnas describes his realization that the planet Uranus does not correspond with Ouranos after all, but with the rebel figure Prometheus. Ouranos has a distinctly paternal and static character, very different from the qualities of rebellion and innovation observed in individuals with Uranus strongly aspected in their charts. In contrast, Prometheus is known for outwitting and stealing fire from Zeus, and giving that fire--life, culture, and science--to humanity. These and other characteristics of Prometheus fit the nature of Uranus so completely that Tarnas concludes the new planet was misnamed.
The body of the essay consists of an impressive mosaic of cultural figures with the planet Uranus prominent in their natal charts, men and women known for their rebellion against orthodoxy or tradition, display of scientific or artistic genius, and other Uranian-Promethean qualities. Tarnas' unique background--a Jesuit education, Harvard, and then Esalen Institute where he was Director of Programs--has created an unusually rich diversity of perspective.
I was impressed by the discussion on Uranus-Pluto and the Sixties, in which the Uranus-Pluto conjunction of 1960-1972 is convincingly applied to comprehend that unique era. The "rebellion against established structures of all kinds, the intense intellectual adventurousness and restlessness of the era, the radical consciousness transformation, the titanic technological advances into the space age, the general atmosphere of revolution on all fronts" precisely fit what one would expect knowing the astrological natures of Uranus and Pluto.
This correlation is given more credibility by an examination of previous Uranus-Pluto aspects in history--such as the opposition of 1787-1798 which straddled the similarly radical and Promethean decade of the French Revolution, or the conjunction of 1845-1856 (immediately preceding that of 1960-72) which coincided with a wave of revolutions effecting the entire European continent. Similarly presented is the opposition of 1643-1653 (the one that immediately preceded that of the French Revolution) which was the period of England's Puritan Revolution known in its own century as the Great Rebellion--and other examples. The discovery of the Uranus-Pluto cycle with its upsurges of apparently spontaneous revolutionary energy, is an unexpected deciphering of one of history's long-puzzling questions, and he continues with several other major historical cycles.
Tarnas uses examples of both diachronic correlations, in which a sequence of events in one field occurs under successive transits--for example scientific breakthroughs under a series of Jupiter-Uranus conjunctions--as well as synchronic correlations, in which multiple events occur during a single transit. Examples of this type include the wide-ranging events of years such as 1914, 1969, or 1990. In this section is also included a representative comparison between Freud's and Jung's charts, their respective approaches to psychology, the nature of their relationship, and the timing of their historic split.
The essay concludes with a review of the potential effects of the Uranus-Neptune conjunction of the present decade (1985-2001). This combination is associated with periods in which the archetypal-"the mythic, the spiritual, the transcendent, the imaginal, the numinous--is suddenly awakened and liberated in new ways into human consciousness." After reviewing the variety of contemporary manifestations of this transit--both positive and negative--Tarnas cites a series of remarkable historical precedents.
To name several in the 172-year cycle, conjunctions of Uranus and Neptune occurred in 1815-1829 during the age of Romanticism, in the 1470's and 1480's at the heart of the Renaissance, and during the early 1300's wave of mystical fervor that saw Dante's Divine Comedy and the birth of Petrarch. They were conjunct in the 620's and 630's during the birth of Islam, and in 15-35 A.D. during Jesus' ministry, crucifixion, and the conversion of St. Paul. They were also conjunct during the last decade of the fifth century, B.C. and the first decade of the fourth, that saw the most influential teachings of Socrates, and his death in 399 B.C.--the event that initiated the birth of Platonism. Finally, during the only triple conjunction of outer planets in modern times--Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto being conjunct from the 580's to the 560's B.C.--"we find the heart of the great 'axial age' that brought forth so many of the world's principal religious and spiritual traditions: the age of Gautama Buddha in India, of Lao-Tzu in China, of Zoroaster in Persia; the age of the major prophets of ancient Israel, Jeremiah, Ezekial, and Second Isaiah, when the Hebrew Scriptures began to be compiled; the age when the oracle of Delphi was at the height of its influence in ancient Greece; the age of the earliest Greek philosophers, Thales, Anaximander, and Pythagoras.... Thus there is reason to believe that our own experience of Uranus and Neptune in conjunction will not be without its enduring blessings."
Tarnas' intellectual labors and twenty-year collaboration with Stanislav Grof have yielded a luminous overarching vision of psyche, cosmos, and history scarcely imaginable a generation ago. This participatory world view has implications in every discipline and not insubstantial possibilities for personal and planetary healing. This is truly a promising and exciting direction for the mainstream culture, both unexpected and inevitable. The fire of the divine has again come to earth.
Excellent.......2000-03-24
I am a professional consulting astrologer, researcher and astrology teacher, and find this book to be among the finest astrology works in my collection. It takes astrology into the world of transpersonal psychology, history, biography, and archetypal mythology -- and yet it's easy, a breeze to read. Richard's writing is clear, excellent, intellectually sound; this book will get you thinking, and get you understanding how to work with the planet Uranus. I also recommend books on Chiron if you are interested in this area of astrology.
Book Description
Developed at warp-speed and designed for overwhelming victory, the Desert Storm air campaign lit up the skies of Baghdad and changed strategic thinking forever. Now, John Warden - architect of the Desert Storm air campaign - and his partner, organizational consultant Leland Russell, have applied this proven approach to success to another kind of intense competition: the fast-changing world of 21st century business. Understand why the Prometheus Process is vital in today's world of crisis.
General H. Norman Schwarzkopf gave a ringing endorsement to John Warden's new book, Winning in FastTime, with co-author Leland Russell. David Halberstam's new book, War in a Time of Peace, suggested Col. Warden should have been on the cover of Time following the Gulf War
The system - Prometheus - is a mindset and a method for rapid, decisive strategic action. Its essence is simple: think strategically, focus sharply and move quickly. Leaders and managers of big-cap, mid-cap and startup companies, in high-tech finance, health care, and many other industries, have successfully applied Prometheus to meet the same kinds of challenges that you face.
Now, through clear, step-by-step directions and dramatic, behind-the-scenes stories, Winning in FastTime will explain Prometheus to you. Whether you are a CEO, a manager, a project leader, of simply a dedicated employee, this book will help you:
*Transform your organization into a nimble, market-leading winner;
*Design a Grand Strategy that everyone from the boardroom to the front line can share;
*Shape tomorrow...before it shapes you.
Winning in FastTime has a powerful message. You can control your destiny...if you are willing to shed yesterday's thinking about business strategy and organization...move fast and decisively...and make the future what you want it to be. Welcome to the world of Prometheus.
Customer Reviews:
Good but not great.......2007-07-05
From a business stand point I love this book. There are many tools that I can use and many ideas worth thinking about. However, I remember that the author began critizing clausewitch in the book. Totally unfounded and disrespectful, the guy hasn't even got a oppurtunity to defend himself since he has been dead for some 200years.
In my opinion the author sets his own work to highly, his ideas hasnt matured ayet but they are on a good way in doing so. As from a businessman myself his examples around business are sometimes funny and unrealistic. Maybe they were in a hurry to finish writing the book and let quality slip a bit.
However, my biggest complaint about this book is his critisim of clausewitch and his ideas about Center Of gravity. The author says that there exist many Centers of Gravities while he says clausewitch only said that there were one. This is totally wrong, clauswitch never said so. Clausewitch did more work to "shoot at a persons heart" concentrating on one particular point....which is nothing wrong cause you only need to hit the most important center of gravity to kill.
The author does however present an very itresting idea of system overload where you hit all the center of gravities at the same time.
Overall, this book is fantastic!!!
And I really hope on a sequel to this book, it would be awesome!
Shock but no Awe.......2006-11-10
John Warden has gathered a few stories and other materials to describe two or three interesting, yet rather simple concepts: Determine your desired outcomes, understand the system you are trying to influcence, act on the points where you can leverage your efforts, and drive the process down throughout the implementation engine. Nothing really new. Just a different title. This book is intended to sell his services. It says this is the method. It doesn't say here is how to do this. For the most part I didn't get anything useful to me.
How to think strategically and then execute passionately.......2006-08-30
In this volume, Warden and Russell propose "a new way of running an enterprise in a warp-speed world." Those who have already read Sun Tzu's The Art of War will soon realize that Warden and Russell also read it and, indeed, read it with great care. They agree with Sun Tzu's emphasis on the importance of speed, applying maximum force at an opponent's point of vulnerability, and preparation. (Re the last point, Sun Tzu insisted that every battle is won or lost before it is fought.) Given Warden and Russell's military background, it is understandable why they would frame their ideas within a military context and invoke military nomenclature. They assert that what they offer -- the Prometheus Process - "is a mindset and a method for rapid, decisive strategic action." However different military history's most successful leaders have been, all of them had this same mindset.
Why Prometheus? Because he realized that "man could prevail against stronger, faster adversaries only if he could outthink them; thus his first gift to mankind was forethought, the capacity to think ahead." Later, he realized that forethought alone was insufficient; man needed something else: fire, "a source of energy and light so important that the gods kept it for themselves." So Prometheus stole it and gave it to man. In this volume Warden and Russell explain how forethought and fire (passion) "fuel high-performing organizations. Those whose leaders "think strategically and execute passionately have the ultimate competitive advantage - the power to spark their own success, illuminate the future, and ignite the energy of all of their stakeholders." In other words, the spirit of Prometheus is to create the future rather than await it with fear while others create it. Warden and Russell explain how to plan and then execute initiatives which are guided, informed, and sustained by that spirit. To them, winning in "FastTime" requires leaders to decide what they want their organization's future to be, and then make it happen faster than the rate of changes in their organization's competitive environment.
They offer a step-by-step plan which begins with "designing the future" in terms of its environment, what it will look like, which guiding precepts are needed, and what the "measures of merit" will be. They explain how to select appropriate "targets" for ultimate success, how a campaign to achieve success can proceed with parallel campaigns which are organized and coordinated for success, and then how to "finish [the campaign] with finesse." In essence, this is the Prometheus Process which, as Warden and Russell note, occurred to them as a benchmark for "a new solution for doing business in the hyper-speed age" as they observed the Desert Storm air campaign in January of 1991.
I was especially interested in what Warden and Russell have to say about several core concepts which are relevant both to the business world and to the military. For example, "Prime Directives" which are so important that violation of them is intolerable. They define an organization and everyone involved in it, top to bottom. Prime Directives imply a promise and a commitment: "This is who we are, this is what we do, and this is how we do it." For years, all GE executives carried with them a laminated card on which "Jack's Rules" were listed. Warden and Russell recommend no more three or four. "If a rule is considered important, but violating it is not grounds for dismissal, then it doers not rise to the level of a Prime Directive. It is something more temporary - a Rule of Engagement. Like Prime Directives, Rules of engagement are there to be followed, but they may chance over time when circumstances warrant. Rules of Engagement are useful in establishing boundaries for behaviors and decisions within a specific operations context."
The complete Prometheus Process is probably not appropriate for all organizations at each stage of their development but the mindset that underlies its insight and power seems to me appropriate for decision-makers in any organization. Warden and Russell correctly stress the importance of seeing with absolute clarity the desired future, whatever its specific nature may be, then creating that future faster than the rate of change within the given organization's competitive environment. They advocate what they call "Instant Thunder," high-velocity initiatives requiring strategic thinking, a sharp focus, and especially, speed. A winning strategy and an integrated plan to execute it will enable an organization to create its own rules (terms of engagement) rather than be limited by rules dictated by others.
With regard to "Centers of Gravity," every organization has them. Warden and Russell correctly emphasize the need to understand what they are and how they operate, then leverage them to maximum advantage. However, in today's business world change is the only constant. The nature and extent of a given organization's Centers of Gravity will change continuously, and sometimes unexpectedly because of external circumstances.
It is certainly possible to win in FastTime but also to lose. For many organizations, harnessing the competitive advantage of Prometheus - to think strategically and execute passionately -- may well prove to be the difference between success and failure.
Great practical advice from America's top strategic thinker.......2001-11-26
John Warden was the architect for the most successful campaign in the 90 year history of air combat. He has brought his insights to the corporate world. A truly original thinker, Warden not only thinks outside the box but helps others do so. Highly recommended for leaders at all levels and for courses at business schools and corporate universities.
If Sun Tzu had been an entrepreneur:.......2001-10-25
If Sun Tzu had been an entrepreneur this book would have been written centuries ago.
Using a concise war-winning paradigm, Warden and Russell have successfully captured the essence of designing a business strategy that will work every time. There are three things that make this book a proverbial "must read."
- It cuts to the chase by explaining what a business strategy needs to provide to everyone in the organization and does this in way that everyone from the mail clerk to the CEO can understand.
- It proves the KISS principle doesn't have to produce a "Business for Dummies" approach.
- You can start reading the book on Monday, finish it on Tuesday, begin to institute change on Wednesday, and by Friday be making a difference.
Frankly, I think it's the best book I've read since "Thriving on Chaos" by, Tom Peters.
Average customer rating:
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Law and Competition in Twentieth Century Europe: Protecting Prometheus
David J. Gerber
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An Introductory Guide to EC Competition Law and Practice
ASIN: 0199244014 |
Book Description
Protecting economic competition has become a major objective of government in Western Europe, and competition law has become a central part of economic and legal experience. The competition law of the European Union has played a key role in the success of European integration during the last four decades, and it is likely to do so in the future. In recent years, national competition laws have also become increasingly important, often creating tensions between national-level and European-level regulation. Yet, despite its importance, images of European experience with competition law often remain vague and are sometimes dangerously distorted. This book examines European experience in protecting competition, analysing its dynamics, revealing its importance and highlighting the political and economic issues it raises.
Book Description
Prometheus the god stole fire from heaven and bestowed it on humans. In punishment, Zeus chained him to a rock, where an eagle clawed unceasingly at his liver, until Herakles freed him. For the Greeks, the myth of Prometheus's release reflected a primordial law of existence and the fate of humankind. Carl Kerényi examines the story of Prometheus and the very process of mythmaking as a reflection of the archetypal function and seeks to discover how this primitive tale was invested with a universal fatality, first in the Greek imagination, and then in the Western tradition of Romantic poetry. Kerényi traces the evolving myth from Hesiod and Aeschylus, and in its epic treatment by Goethe and Shelley; he moves on to consider the myth from the perspective of Jungian psychology, as the archetype of human daring signifying the transformation of suffering into the mystery of the sacrifice.
Customer Reviews:
An Exciting Study of an Important Mythological Figure.......2000-10-31
Kerenyi's book on Prometheus is among the most exciting monographs on a single mythological figure written since the mid-twentieth century. Kerenyi reviews the origins of the myth of Prometheus in early Greek poetry and the visual arts with thought-provoking references to other mythological, artistic, and literary traditions such as the Hittite, the Roman, and the German. Kerenyi worked closely with Carl Jung (see their jointly authored Introduction to a Science of Mythology) and the Jungian interest in archetypes is strongly refelcted in the present volume on Prometheus. This book is well-researched and well-written, worth reading not only for the information that it contains about the firebearer, but also for its method of analysis.
Average customer rating:
- A surprisingly easy to grasp translation...
- Not worth it
- Great read
- Stunningly Modern Translation
- a must read
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Prometheus Bound (Greek Tragedy in New Translations)
Aeschylus
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
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Hippolytos (Greek Tragedy in New Translations)
ASIN: 0195061659 |
Book Description
For readers accustomed to the relatively undramatic standard translations of Prometheus Bound, this version by James Scully, a poet and winner of the Lamont Poetry Prize, and C. John Herington, one of the world's foremost Aeschylean scholars, will come as a revelation. Scully and Herington accentuate the play's true power, drama, and relevance to modern times. Aeschylus originally wrote Prometheus Bound as part of a tragic trilogy, and this translation is unique in including the extant fragments of the companion plays.
Download Description
PROMETHEUS Think not that I for pride and stubbornness Am silent: rather is my heart the prey Of gnawing thoughts, both for the past, and now Seeing myself by vengeance buffeted. For to these younger Gods their precedence Who severally determined if not I?
Customer Reviews:
A surprisingly easy to grasp translation..........2006-11-11
I always find the prospect of reading ancient literature daunting, but this play was very easy to understand. I would definitely recommend this as a supplement for those studying ancient Greek Mythology. It really added depth to my understanding of Prometheus, Zeus and the mind set of the Ancient Greeks.
Not worth it.......2002-06-17
Don't spend the extra money for this translation. Buy the Dover Thrift edition. You get the same story for a buck or two, and this translation is nothing spectacular.
Great read.......2001-11-12
Prometheus Bound is the tale of Prometheus, a titan, who is being punished by Zeus. It is an interesting story and well worth the read, although it is only the first of three plays. The other two are lost to us. The price alone makes this a great deal.
Stunningly Modern Translation.......2001-10-03
This is a stunningly modern translation of The Prometheus Bound. James Scully, the poet-translator, has done the impossible, he's turned one of the world's oldest dramas into a can't-put-it-down pageturner. If you've never read the Prometheus or read it and found it dull and archaic, read this translation. Additionally, there's a fascinating discussion at the end of what territory the next two plays in the Prometheus trilogy probably covered and this includes all the fragments of the other two plays that have been found. It was a great loss to Western Civilization when the rest of the trilogy failed to survive the Dark Ages for all the fragments hint that, where the play we have is pure defiance, Prometheus as the lone rebel against tyranny, the trilogy as a whole was about reconciliation, the ability for irreconciliable opposites to come to terms with each other without surrender or compromise. Still, even without that, the play we have gives an overwhelming image of the unbreakable human spirit and that alone makes it well worth reading. Prometheus Bound in a good translation is a must read.
a must read.......2000-11-22
Of my free will, my own free will, I erred, And freely do I here acknowledge it. -Prometheus
Aeschylus is considered to be the father of Greek Tragedy as we know it, if for no other reason than his introduction of a second actor onto the scene. Up until his time, plays had consisted of just one actor, changing masks if necessary. But in addition to being an innovator, Aeschylus wrote one of the really pivotal works in the history of literature and of the human quest to understand our purpose in the universe: Prometheus Bound.
The parallels to the Biblical account of man's fall are obvious. Prometheus is a Titan, more than human but less than God, like the angels. He gives fire to mankind in violation of Zeus' orders, making man a threat to the gods. Zeus punishes him by chaining him to a boulder where vultures peck out his innards every day, only to have them grow back at night, a little harsher than making the serpent crawl and banishing man from Eden, eh? And so on...
The play opens as Prometheus is being bound by the reluctant Hephaestus, god of fire, who is the first of several characters to beg him to repent and apologize to Zeus. Not only does Prometheus refuse, he is outwardly defiant of the king of the gods:
PROMETHEUS These things are sorrowful for me to speak, Yet silence too is sorrow: all ways woe! When first the Blessed Ones were filled with wrath And there arose division in their midst, These instant to hurl Cronos from his throne That Zeus might be their king, and these, adverse, Contending that he ne'er should rule the Gods, Then I, wise counsel urging to persuade The Titans, sons of Ouranos and Chthon, Prevailed not: but, all indirect essays Despising, they by the strong hand, effortless, Yet by main force-supposed that they might seize Supremacy. But me my mother Themis And Gaia, one form called by many names, Not once alone with voice oracular Had prophesied how power should be disposed- That not by strength neither by violence The mighty should be mastered, but by guile. Which things by me set forth at large, they scorned, Nor graced my motion with the least regard. Then, of all ways that offered, I judged best, Taking my mother with me, to support, No backward friend, the not less cordial Zeus. And by my politic counsel Tartarus, The bottomless and black, old Cronos hides With his confederates. So helped by me, The tyrant of the Gods, such service rendered With ignominious chastisement requites. But 'tis a common malady of power Tyrannical never to trust a friend. And now, what ye inquired, for what arraigned He shamefully entreats me, ye shall know. When first upon his high, paternal throne He took his seat, forthwith to divers Gods Divers good gifts he gave, and parcelled out His empire, but of miserable men Recked not at all; rather it was his wish To wipe out man and rear another race: And these designs none contravened but me. I risked the bord attempt, and saved mankind From stark destruction and the road to hell. Therefore with this sore penance am I bowed, Grievous to suffer, pitiful to see. But, for compassion shown to man, such fate I no wise earned; rather in wrath's despite Am I to be reformed, and made a show Of infamy to Zeus.
Later he explains just what the possession of knowledge will mean to mankind:
PROMETHEUS Think not that I for pride and stubbornness Am silent: rather is my heart the prey Of gnawing thoughts, both for the past, and now Seeing myself by vengeance buffeted. For to these younger Gods their precedence Who severally determined if not I? No more of that: I should but weary you With things ye know; but listen to the tale Of human sufferings, and how at first Senseless as beasts I gave men sense, possessed them Of mind. I speak not in contempt of man; I do but tell of good gifts I conferred. In the beginning, seeing they saw amiss, And hearing heard not, but, like phantoms huddled In dreams, the perplexed story of their days Confounded; knowing neither timber-work Nor brick-built dwellings basking in the light, But dug for themselves holes, wherein like ants, That hardly may contend against a breath, They dwelt in burrows of their unsunned caves. Neither of winter's cold had they fixed sign, Nor of the spring when she comes decked with flowers, Nor yet of summer's heat with melting fruits Sure token: but utterly without knowledge Moiled, until I the rising of the stars Showed them, and when they set, though much obscure. Moreover, number, the most excellent Of all inventions, I for them devised, And gave them writing that retaineth all, The serviceable mother of the Muse. I was the first that yoked unmanaged beasts, To serve as slaves with collar and with pack, And take upon themselves, to man's relief, The heaviest labour of his hands: and Tamed to the rein and drove in wheeled cars The horse, of sumptuous pride the ornament. And those sea-wanderers with the wings of cloth, The shipman's waggons, none but I contrived. These manifold inventions for mankind I perfected, who, out upon't, have none- No, not one shift-to rid me of this shame.
CHORUS Thy sufferings have been shameful, and thy mind Strays at a loss: like to a bad physician Fallen sick, thou'rt out of heart: nor cans't prescribe For thine own case the draught to make thee sound.
PROMETHEUS But hear the sequel and the more admire What arts, what aids I cleverly evolved. The chiefest that, if any man fell sick, There was no help for him, comestible, Lotion or potion; but for lack of drugs They dwindled quite away; until I taught them To compound draughts and mixtures sanative, Wherewith they now are armed against disease. I staked the winding path of divination And was the first distinguisher of dreams, The true from false; and voices ominous Of meaning dark interpreted; and tokens Seen when men take the road; and augury By flight of all the greater crook-clawed birds With nice discrimination I defined; These by their nature fair and favourable, Those, flattered with fair name. And of each sort The habits I described; their mutual feuds And friendships and the assemblages they hold. And of the plumpness of the inward parts
Books:
- Rainbow Magic #5: Sky The Blue Fairy (Rainbow Magic)
- Rock n' Blues Harmonica: A World of Harp Knowledge, Songs, Stories, Lessons, Riffs, Techniques and Audio Index for a New Generation of Harp Players (Includes ... book and 74 minute stereo CD Jamming Buddy)
- Shakedown: Exposing the Real Jesse Jackson
- She's No Faerie Princess (The Others, Book 2)
- Ships of the Line (Star Trek)
- Streams in the Desert
- Summer of the Sea Serpent (Magic Tree House #31)
- Swarm Intelligence (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Artificial Intelligence)
- Tempest (Star Wars: Legacy of the Force, Book 3)
- That Elixir Called Love
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
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- History: Fiction or Science
- Accident: A Day's News: A Novel
- Can You Guess Where We're Going
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- Fuzzy-Set Social Science
- Education, Cultures, and Economics: Dilemmas for Development
- Beautiful Bad Girl: The Vicki Morgan Story
- Barry Diller: The Life and Times of a Media Mogul
- British Qualifications: A Complete Guide to Educational, Technical, Professional and Academic Qualif
Quantum Psychology: How Brain Software Programs You and Your World
The Illuminatus! Trilogy: The Eye in the Pyramid, The Golden Apple, Leviathan
Cosmic Trigger I : Final Secret of the Illuminati (Cosmic Trigger)
Undoing Yourself With Energized Meditation and Other Devices
Schrodinger's Cat Trilogy: "The Universe Next Door", "The Trick Top Hat", & "The Homing Pigeons"
