Only eleven fragments of Prometheus Unbound survive, in the form of quotations preserved by later authors. Nonetheless, our knowledge of the Prometheus myth as told by Hesiod and predictions of future events made by the Titan himself in Prometheus Bound allow us to reconstruct a fairly detailed outline of this play. An erroneous list of Prometheus Bound's dramatis personae indicates that Gaea and Heracles both appear in this play. A fragment translated into Latin by the Roman statesman Cicero demonstrates that the chorus of this play is constituted by a group of Titans, recently freed from Tartarus by Zeus despite their defeat in the Titanomachy. This perhaps foreshadows Zeus' eventual reconciliation with Prometheus in the trilogy's third installment. Prometheus complains to them about his torment just as he had to the chorus of Oceanids in Prometheus Bound. It is then suggested that Gaea would be the next to visit Prometheus, in a role that echoes Oceanus' sympathetic turn in the first play. Finally, Heracles would visit Prometheus. Again mirroring events in the previous play, Prometheus would forecast Heracles' remaining travels as he completes his Twelve Labours. Heracles then frees Prometheus from his chains and kills the eagle that tortured him daily. The play thus concludes with Prometheus free from the torments of Zeus, but the Titan and Olympian have yet to reconcile.
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