October 30, 2017

In Greek mythology, the titan Prometheus shaped the first man from mud and clay, and the goddess Athena breathed life into the figure. Prometheus, then, was regarded as the creator of humanity as well as its protector.

This statue of Prometheus stands on the outskirts of Sochi, Russia. Legend says it was there in the Caucasus Mountains, at a place known as Eagle’s Rock, that Zeus bound Prometheus in “unbreakable” chains. Credit: © Shutterstock

Prometheus means forethought in Greek. In a war between his cousin titans and a newer breed of gods known as Olympians (Zeus and the gods of Mount Olympus), Prometheus had the foresight to side with the Olympians. The titans lost, but Prometheus and his brother Epimetheus (afterthought) were spared the other titans’ fate of suffering in Tartarus, a deep pit below the Earth’s surface (a version of hell).

Later, Prometheus (who was a bit of a trickster) presented Zeus with the choice of two offerings: meat disguised in an unappetizing ox stomach; or bones covered in good-looking fat. Zeus chose the one that looked better, and humans got to keep the tasty and nutritious meat for themselves. For this trick, an angry Zeus hid fire from humans. Prometheus, whose loyalties lay with his human creations, crafted a plan to restore fire to the people. Playing on the Olympians’ vanities, he distracted the gods with a prize golden fruit for “the most beautiful goddess.” As the goddesses quarreled over the fruit, Prometheus crept into the workshop of Hephaestus, the god of fire. Prometheus stole fire by hiding it in a fennel stalk. He then gave it to humans and taught them the art of metalwork.

Zeus was not pleased with Prometheus, to say the least. The king of the gods bound the people’s champion with unbreakable chains to a rock in the Caucasus Mountains. That was not punishment enough, however. Every day, an eagle devoured Prometheus’s liver, which grew back every night so the torture could be repeated. After many years, the hero Hercules killed the eagle and broke the chains, freeing Prometheus. Hercules was then rewarded with golden fruit (which did him little good).

Prometheus has been a favorite topic of artists and writers since the days of Aeschylus, a playwright of ancient Greece. Aeschylus is believed to have written a series of plays about the titan’s mischievous actions and noble suffering. The complete text of one of those plays, Prometheus Bound, survives. The ancient Roman poet Ovid included Prometheus in his masterwork, the Metamorphoses. In more recent times, the titan stars in the lyrical drama Prometheus Unbound by Percy Bysshe Shelley and in The Creatures of Prometheus, Ludwig van Beethoven’s only ballet. Shelley’s wife, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, gave the titan his most famous mention in the horror classic, Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus.