Compare and contrast Goethes attitude to the gods as made evident in the two poems Prometheus and Grenzen der Menschheit

Goethe makes another mention of children in Prometheus, but this time alleging that without “Kinder und Bettler”, the gods would cease to exist. By using the conceit of worship as food to nourish the gods, without which they would starve, Goethe effectively turns the traditional relationship between gods and worshippers on its head: no longer are the worshippers dependent on the gods for help, but now have power over the gods themselves, as when no one believes in a god, the god ceases to exist. The use of the adverb “kümmerlich” adds even more weight to his statements, painting the gods as starving parasites and implying that their demise is near. This is further emphasised by the examples given of current worshippers: children, i.e. the naïve, and beggars, the desperate. Both are compared with “Toren”, inferring that they will soon come to realise the foolishness of their belief in the gods, as Prometheus himself does in the next stanza. In stark contrast, Goethe develops a moral, even lecturing tone in the second stanza of Grenzen der Menschheit, advising mortals not to attempt to compete with the gods, bringing to mind the Greek myth of Arachne’s challenge to the goddess Athene and her subsequent humiliation. Although such punishment is not explicitly mentioned in the poem, the use of “soll” rather than “sollte” makes for a firm command rather than a polite recommendation. In this and the following stanza, the poet employs a semantic field of nature to illustrate mankind’s distinct position in life as opposed to the gods’. By using the plural form of the nouns “Sterne”, “Wolken” and “Winde” together with the verb “spielen”, in juxtaposition with these huge natural elements, Goethe emphasises the magnitude of the gods’ power over the natural world, making the solitary human seem rather small and powerless in comparison. The adjective “unsichern” implies that mankind, on challenging the gods, enters a world to which he does not belong, and that he is on precarious ground with no one to help or support him, emphasising the foolishness of his actions. Even the rhythm becomes irregular and erratic here, moving away from the regular dactylic metre employed in the first stanza and promptly returning to it during the third stanza, signifying that man competing with gods is unnatural and breaks the natural structure of life. The adjectives “festen” and “markigen” bring a more positive tone to the third stanza, in which Goethe recommends that mankind know his place on the earth. He adopts a more reassuring attitude towards mankind with the adjectives “wohlgegründeten” and “Dauernden”, again positioning himself as narrator outside the human race. Instead of the elements of nature illustrated in the second stanza, the poet suggests that humans merely compare themselves with the “Eiche” and the “Rebe”, both of which correspond with the idea of longevity and natural stability belonging to the human race, which is further explored later on, in contrast with the unpredictable, violent elements attributed to the territory of the gods in the second stanza.

Natural imagery is extremely prevalent in Grenzen der Menschheit, as not only does Goethe link the gods with elements of the heavens, and mankind with earthly plants to underline their fundamental differences, but also refers to “die Welle” to symbolise mortality which swallows us but not the gods. Prometheus, in contrast, contains a wide semantic field of violent, fiery imagery, through references such as “Herd”, “geschmiedet” and “Opfersteuern”, the latter of which not only brings to mind the ancient Aztec sacrifices to the sun-gods, but also the way in which Prometheus himself becomes a sacrificial offering through his disobedience of the gods.

In Prometheus, Goethe writes bitterly about the narrator’s victory over the other Titans and his rescue from slavery, describing it only through rhetorical questions which create a sense of dark irony, as Prometheus is taking on the role which Zeus should play in his life. This restrained anger becomes more explicit as the narrator refers to Zeus as “Dem Schlafenden”, expressing his rage and resentment towards Zeus for turning a deaf ear to his “Klage”, and insinuating that he, Prometheus, is much more capable and more active than the King of Olympus himself. From stanza four until the end of the sixth stanza, each sentence is actually an interrogative, which not only intensifies the sense of uncertainty which Prometheus feels about his faith in Zeus, but also establishes a direct link with the gods, effectively stepping up to them and challenging their authority through the audacity to pose questions to them. Grenzen der Menschheit on the other hand contains only one interrogative: “Was unterscheidet Götter von Menschen?”, but this time the poet answers it himself, leaving no room for doubt of the gods’ superiority over humankind. The short, regular lines of this poem create a calm, resolute tone in contrast with the irregular line lengths of Prometheus which emphasise the frantic, heated uncertainty of the narrator. Noticeably fewer commas are used in Grenzen der Menschheit than in Prometheus, showing the calmer and clearer thought processes of the narrator and contributing to the composed, objective tone of the poem. There is a great deal of repetition in Prometheus, both small-scale- “Ein Ohr…Ein Herz” as well as larger-scale repetition of syntactical structures, such as “Hast du…Je des Beladenen? / Hast du…Je des Geängsteten?”, which adds to the sense of cumulative anger being built up here. Together with the secondary semantic field of pain and suffering through words such as “Schmerzen” and “Tränen”, the high frequency usage of verbs in the poem speeds the pace, pointing to a character intent on decisive action rather than passive observation.

Goethe’s Prometheus can be seen as the final message to the gods before a dangerous act of rebellion with devastating consequences: although the theft of the fire is not explicitly referred to in the poem, the story is generally what most readers would associate with the title. The final exultant lines, as Prometheus describes how his creations will not honour the gods, “Wie ich!”, can be read as more of a celebration of his own audacity rather than the creation of his own “Geschlecht”; the poem is essentially an exploration of the narrator as an individual and his role in a world where his opinions and beliefs are shifting so rapidly that he doesn’t know what he ought to believe, a feeling which the young Goethe almost certainly felt at some point in his life and thus translated into his work. Grenzen der Menschheit, on the other hand, takes the exact opposite attitude: that all of humanity can be condensed into “viele Geschlechter”, who remain nameless and faceless. The conclusion in this poem is that while the gods remain fixed and eternal, humans will always be interchangeable and replaceable, as mortal souls make up an “Unendliche Kette” which will never falter. While Prometheus carefully plans his actions to elevate his status above the gods and gain recognition for his reckless deeds, Goethe as the narrator in Grenzen der Menschheit calmly accepts the inevitability of death and the continuation of mankind: the lack of a verb in the final four lines removes any suggestion of movement, painting a picture of endless generations slowly shuffling along, bringing Hamlet’s “mortal coil” to mind and the connotations that human lives are worthless compared to the existence of the gods. Interestingly, even though Prometheus acts as a champion for the human race, the poem mainly centres on his battle with the gods, leaving the “Menschen” as an afterthought in the final stanza, a revenge tactic rather than a race of real importance.

In terms of attitude towards the gods, it is clear that Prometheus and Grenzen der Menschheit have almost nothing in common, due in particular to the difference in time when they were written. The early Prometheus maintains a scornful, contemptuous tone towards the gods throughout, representative of a wilful, almost aggressive young man, while the later Grenzen der Menschheit is much more deferent, and even loving, in its presentation of God as benevolent and affectionate. The contrast between the poems is striking but effective, due to the varied literary techniques used to create the vivid emotions within.