Promethee IV (from the portfolio 'Giorgos Seferis - Wir die wir auszogen')

Ferdinand Springer

The plate for "Promethee IV" was done in 1947, this impression is from a 1962 edition and accompanied a letterpress poem by Georgos Seferis titled 'Giorgos Seferis - Wir die wir auszogen' (We Who Took Off), published by Edition de Beauclair, Frankfurt, Germany.

The subject of the print is the Greek god Prometheus, who angered Zeus by stealing fire from Mt. Olympus and giving it to humans, thereby changing the world. Prometheus was tied to a rock where an eagle ate his liver daily; it regenerated at night because he was immortal. He was finally freed by Hercules.

"Poet Giorgos Seferis won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1963. Born in Smyrna, Asia Minor in 1900, Seferis attended school in Smyrna and completed his studies in Athens at the Gymnasium. His parents moved to Paris in 1918 where he studied law at the University of Paris. It was during this time that he became interested in literature. In 1925, he returned to Athens and entered a diplomatic career, which culminated with his appointment as the Royal Greek Ambassador to the United Kingdom. In addition to poetry, Seferis published a book of essays and a collection of translations from American, English, and French poets. He won numerous honors and prizes, and at least three honorary doctoral degrees."

from: Nobel Lectures, Literature 1901-1967, Editor Horst Frenz, Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam.