The myth of Prometheus Iseult Gillespie
Before the creation of humanity,
the Greek gods won a great battle against
a race of giants called the Titans.
Most Titans were destroyed or
driven to the eternal hell of Tartarus.
But the Titan Prometheus,
whose name means foresight,
persuaded his brother Epimetheus
to fight with him on the side of the gods.
As thanks, Zeus entrusted the brothers
with the task of creating
all living things.
Epimetheus was to distribute the gifts
of the gods among the creatures.
To some, he gave flight;
to others, the ability
to move through water
or race through grass.
He gave the beasts glittering scales,
soft fur,
and sharp claws.
Meanwhile, Prometheus shaped
the first humans out of mud.
He formed them in the image of the gods,
but Zeus decreed
they were too remain mortal
and worship the inhabitants
of Mount Olympus from below.
Zeus deemed humans subservient
creatures vulnerable to the elements
and dependent on the gods for protection.
However, Prometheus envisioned his crude
creations with a greater purpose.
So when Zeus asked him to decide
how sacrifices would be made,
the wily Prometheus planned a trick
that would give humans some advantage.
He killed a bull and divided it
into two parts to present to Zeus.
On one side, he concealed
the succulent flesh and skin
under the unappealing belly of the animal.
On the other, he hid the bones
under a thick layer of fat.
When Zeus chose the seemingly
best portion for himself,
he was outraged
at Prometheus’s deception.
Fuming, Zeus forbade the use
of fire on Earth,
whether to cook meat
or for any other purpose.
But Prometheus refused to see
his creations denied this resource.
And so, he scaled Mount Olympus
to steal fire
from the workshop
of Hephaestus and Athena.
He hid the flames in a hollow fennel stalk
and brought it safely down to the people.
This gave them the power to harness
nature for their own benefit
and ultimately dominate the natural order.
With fire, humans could care
for themselves with food and warmth.
But they could also forge weapons
and wage war.
Prometheus’s flames acted as a catalyst
for the rapid progression of civilization.
When Zeus looked down at this scene,
he realized what had happened.
Prometheus had once again
wounded his pride
and subverted his authority.
Furious, Zeus imposed a brutal punishment.
Prometheus was to be chained
to a cliff for eternity.
Each day, he would be visited by a vulture
who would tear out his liver
and each night his liver would grow back
to be attacked again in the morning.
Although Prometheus remained
in perpetual agony,
he never expressed regret
at his act of rebellion.
His resilience in the face of oppression
made him a beloved figure in mythology.
He was also celebrated for his mischievous
and inquisitive spirit,
and for the knowledge, progress,
and power he brought to human hands.
He’s also a recurring figure
in art and literature.
In Percy Bysshe Shelley’s
lyrical drama “Prometheus Unbound,”
the author imagines Prometheus
as a romantic hero
who escapes and continues to spread
empathy and knowledge.
Of his protagonist, Shelley wrote,
“Prometheus is the type
of the highest perfection
of moral and intellectual nature,
impelled by the purest
and the truest motives
to the best and noblest ends.”
His wife Mary envisaged Prometheus
as a more cautionary figure
and subtitled her novel
“Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus.”
This suggests the damage of corrupting
the natural order
and remains relevant
to the ethical questions
surrounding science and technology today.
As hero, rebel, or trickster,
Prometheus remains a symbol of our
capacity to capture the powers of nature,
and ultimately,
he reminds us of the potential
of individual acts to ignite the world.