'Prometheus' by Panayoti Karousos

The Prometheus opera is the first part of Karousos’ Hellenic Tetralogy (Prometheus – The Olympic Flame – Alexander the Great – The Light of Christianity).

This opening work based on Aeschylus’ tragedy “Prometheus Bound,” is a flashback to the most ancient of stories in Greek mythology, which delves into to the origins of humankind in order to show the roots of man’s spirit becoming civilized. This work relates that the planets, the galaxies and the forces of the universe are the gods that humans create personified after himself.

Prometheus rebels and bring to mankind the Fire of Knowledge. For this act he received the punishment of Zeus and remains bound at the Mount Caucasus. The gods were afraid that with this Fire mankind would became gods too. There is a similar story in the Bible. Here, Titan Prometheus is not the Lucifer devil that brought the human creation to hell with him, but a benefactor that elevates humans and gives them hope.

In a very audacious avant garde movement, the composer starts the opera in Paradise with Adam and Eve (in Greek antiquity Adamas – diamond and Eva – life, or “Zoi”) as the voice of God and the devil make their shows in Christian theology. Here, original sin is humanity's inherited state, resulting from the fall of man.

At the end of the opera the composer brings to the stage Zeus to curse Prometheus for his act. The mixture of Christianity and Hellenism as it shows in the history of occidental civilization penetrates Karousos work, especially at the last part The Light of Christianity.

The musical texture of the opera is developed by dark motives found throughout the Tetralogy. Critics categorize the opera as a modern post-romantic work with a rare exaltation of lyricism. The simplicity of the rhythms cover a harmonic complexity, a mixture where the philosophical and high poetical libretto combine.