Who is Prometheus?
Prometheus is a god of the Titan family in Greek mythology. His name means “forethinker” (one with foresight). Though a Titan, he sided with Zeus in the war against the Titans and helped him win. According to one version, it was also Prometheus who made humans by kneading clay.
The god who gave fire to humans
Prometheus, who loved humans deeply, tricked Zeus over how to divide sacrifices offered to the gods, so the angry Zeus took fire away from humans. Prometheus then stole heavenly fire, hiding it in a fennel stalk, and gave it to humans. With fire, humans cooked, made tools and metals, and developed civilization.
In revenge, Zeus sent Pandora, the first woman, to humankind. When Pandora opened the box (jar) given to her by the gods, every kind of misfortune, such as disease and strife, spread across the world, and only hope remained at the bottom of the box.
Punishment on the Caucasus
Prometheus himself was chained to a rock on the Caucasus mountains at Zeus’s command. Every day a great eagle came to peck at his liver, and because the immortal Prometheus’s liver grew back overnight, his suffering was endless. After many years, the hero Heracles shot down the eagle and freed Prometheus.
Prometheus today
Prometheus, who brought wisdom and technology to humanity and was punished for it, has been depicted in many works of art as a symbol of science and civilization. The subtitle of Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein is “The Modern Prometheus,” linking the fate of a scientist who creates life to Prometheus, who stole the fire of the gods. The Olympic flame is also sometimes linked with the myth of Prometheus’s fire.
