ABSTRACT
Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Shelley and Lord Byron were all fascinated by the Prometheus myth, and all three authors, in one way or another, used it in their work. Byron used Prometheus and the Promethean reference several times in his work, but with various aims in mind. In Byron's thought, Prometheus himself embodies another world, with its own values, and whose purpose is to outstrip that of the Olympian gods. In Este, in September 1818, Percy Bysshe Shelley started drafting Prometheus Unbound. Prometheus Unboundwas not, for Shelley, an attempt to restore the lost drama of Aeschylus, despite the title of the play and his deep admiration for the Greek playwright. However, even if the Christian model, or anti-model, is apparent in Prometheus Unbound, another influence is undeniable: the restoration of many of the elements of pre-Christian Greek culture. Indeed, for Shelley, Greek culture and religion were less oppressive in imposing belief.
