justice

Prometheus is the rebel with a conscience whose crime, his love of man, brings on him both the rage of the gods and the immediate sympathy of the human audience. Prometheus becomes a representative for those human champions of justice and principle who defy tyranny and pay the ultimate price. The other gods seem a bit mystified by his willingness to suffer for man; after all, humans can do nothing for him, and they are inferior beings. Prometheus' willing sacrifice is the ultimate gesture he can make for mankind, as well as an example for mankind to follow. Symbolically, he is every great man whose greatness made him into a target.