Prometheus

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Prometheus

In Greek mythology

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the Ancient Greece concerning their List of Greek mythological figures#Immortals and Greek hero cult, Cosmology#Metaphysical cosmology, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices....
, Prometheus ("forethought") is a Titan

Titan (mythology)

In Greek mythology, the Titans ; were a race of powerful deities that ruled during the legendary golden age. Their role as Elder Gods was overthrown by a race of younger gods, the Twelve Olympians, effected a mythological paradigm shift that the Greeks borrowed from the Ancient Near East....
known for his wily intelligence, who stole fire

Fire

Fire is the oxidation of a combustion material releasing heat, light, and various Chemical reaction products such as carbon dioxide and water....
from Zeus

Zeus

Zeus in Greek mythology is the king of the gods, the ruler of Mount Olympus and the god of the sky father and List of thunder gods. His symbols are the thunderbolt, eagle, bull , and oak....
and gave it to mortals for their use. Zeus then punished him for his crime by having him bound to a rock while a great eagle

Eagle

Eagles are large bird of prey which are members of the bird family Accipitridae, and belong to several Genus which are not necessarily closely related to each other....
ate his liver

Liver

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Heinrich Fueger 1817 Prometheus Brings Fire To Mankind

In Greek mythology

Greek mythology

Titan (mythology)

Fire

Fire is the oxidation of a combustion material releasing heat, light, and various Chemical reaction products such as carbon dioxide and water....
from Zeus

Zeus

Eagle

Eagles are large bird of prey which are members of the bird family Accipitridae, and belong to several Genus which are not necessarily closely related to each other....
ate his liver

Liver

The liver is a vital organ present in vertebrates and some other animals; it has a wide range of functions, a few of which are detoxification, protein synthesis, and production of biochemicals necessary for digestion....
every day only to have it grow back to be eaten again the next day. His myth has been treated by a number of ancient sources, in which Prometheus is credited with--or blamed for, but credited nonetheless--playing a pivotal role in the early history of humankind.

Hesiod
The Prometheus myth first appeared in the Greek
Ancient Greece

The term Ancient Greece refers to the period of History of Greece lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca. 1100 BC and the Dorian invasion, to 146 BC and the Roman Republic conquest of Greece after the Battle of Corinth ....
epic poet Hesiod
Hesiod

Hesiod was a Greek language oral poet, his date is uncertain but leading scholars agree that Hesiod lived in the latter half of the Eighth-century BCE....
's (ca. 700 BCE) Theogony
Theogony

The Theogony is a poem by Hesiod describing the origins and genealogy of the polytheism of the ancient Greeks, composed circa 700 BC....
(lines 507-616). He was a son of the Titan
Titan (mythology)

In Greek mythology, the Titans ; were a race of powerful deities that ruled during the legendary golden age. Their role as Elder Gods was overthrown by a race of younger gods, the Twelve Olympians, effected a mythological paradigm shift that the Greeks borrowed from the Ancient Near East....
Iapetus
Iapetus (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Iapetus, also Iapetos or Japetus , was a Titan , the son of Uranus and Gaia , and father of Atlas , Prometheus, Epimetheus , and Menoetius and through Prometheus, Epimetheus and Atlas an ancestor of the human race....
by Themis
Themis

Themis is an Greek mythology. She is described as "of good counsel", and was the embodiment of divine order, law, and custom. Themis means "law of nature" rather than human ordinance, literally "that which is put in place", from the verb t?????, t?themi, to put....
or Clymene
Clymene

Clymene or Klymen? may refer to:*104 Klymene, an asteroid*Clymene Dolphin *Clymene or Asia , an Oceanid, wife of Iapetus, and mother of Atlas , Epimetheus, Prometheus, and Menoetius...
, one of the Oceanids. He was brother to Menoetius and Epimetheus
Epimetheus (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Epimetheus was the brother of Prometheus , a pair of Titan s who "acted as representatives of mankind" . They were the inseparable sons of Iapetus , who in other contexts was the father of Atlas ....
. In the Theogony, Hesiod introduces Prometheus as a lowly challenger to Zeus
Zeus

Zeus in Greek mythology is the king of the gods, the ruler of Mount Olympus and the god of the sky father and List of thunder gods. His symbols are the thunderbolt, eagle, bull , and oak....
' omniscience and omnipotence. At Sicyon, a sacrificial meal marking the "settling of accounts" between mortals and immortals, Prometheus played a trick against Zeus (545-557). He placed two sacrificial offerings before the Olympian: a selection of bull meat hidden inside an ox's stomach (nourishment hidden inside a displeasing exterior), and the bull's bones wrapped completely in "glistening fat" (something inedible hidden inside a pleasing exterior). Zeus chose the latter, setting a precedent for future sacrifices; henceforth, humans would keep the meat for themselves and burn the bones wrapped in fat as an offering to the gods. This angered Zeus, who hid fire from humans in retribution. Prometheus at once went to Athena
Athena

In Greek mythology, Athena is the shrewd companion of Hero and the goddess of Hero endeavour. She is the virgin patron of Athens, which built the Parthenon to worship her....
with a plea for admittance to Olympus, and this she granted. On his arrival, he lit a torch at the fiery chariot of the Sun from which he broke at once a fragment of glowing charcoal, which he thrust into the pithy hollow of a giant fennel-stalk
Fennel

Fennel is a plant species in the genus Foeniculum . It is a member of the family Apiaceae . It is a hardy, perennial plant, umbelliferous herb, with yellow flowers and feathery leaf....
. Then, extinguishing his torch, he stole away, and gave fire to mankind. This further enraged Zeus, who sent Epimetheus
Epimetheus

Epimetheus may mean one of several things:*Epimetheus the Titan .*Epimetheus the natural satellite of Saturn .*1810 Epimetheus is an asteroid....
, brother of Prometheus, Pandora
Pandora

[Image:Pandora.jpg|right|thumb|300px|"The Creation of "[A]NESIDORA" on a white-ground kylix by the Tarquinia Painter, ca 460 BC In Greek mythology, Pandora was the first woman....
, the first woman, fashioned by Hephaestus
Hephaestus

Hephaestus was a Greek god whose Roman equivalent was Vulcan . He was the god of technology, blacksmiths, craftsmen, artisans, sculpture, metals, metallurgy, Fire and volcanoes....
out of clay and brought to life by the four winds, with all the goddesses of Olympus assembled to adorn her. "From her is the race of women and female kind," Hesiod writes; "of her is the deadly race and tribe of women who live amongst mortal men to their great trouble, no helpmeets in hateful poverty, but only in wealth."

Prometheus, in eternal punishment, is chained to a rock in the Caucasus
Caucasus

The Caucasus or Caucas is a geopolitical region located between Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. It is home to Europe's highest mountain ....
, where his liver is eaten daily by an eagle or vulture, only to be regenerated
Liver

The liver is a vital organ present in vertebrates and some other animals; it has a wide range of functions, a few of which are detoxification, protein synthesis, and production of biochemicals necessary for digestion....
by night. Years later, periods of which vary from thirty years, to thirty-thousand, the Greek hero Hercules
Hercules

Hercules is the Ancient Rome name for the mythical Ancient Greece hero Heracles, son of Zeus and the mortal Alcmene. Early Roman sources suggest that the imported Greek hero supplanted a mythic Italian shepherd called "Recaranus" or "Garanus", famous for his strength....
would shoot the vulture and free Prometheus from his chains.

Hesiod revisits the story of Prometheus in the Works and Days
Works and Days

Works and Days is a Greek poem of some 800 verses written by Hesiod . The poem revolves around two general truths: labour is the universal lot of Man, but he who is willing to work will get by....
(lines 42-105). Here, the poet expands upon Zeus' reaction to the theft of fire. Not only does Zeus withhold fire from men, but "the means of life," as well (42). Had Prometheus not provoked Zeus' wrath (44-47), "you would easily do work enough in a day to supply you for a full year even without working; soon would you put away your rudder over the smoke, and the fields worked by ox and sturdy mule would run to waste." Hesiod also expands upon the Theogonys story of the first woman, now explicitly called Pandora ("all gifts"). After Prometheus' theft of fire, Zeus sent Pandora to Prometheus' brother Epimetheus
Epimetheus (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Epimetheus was the brother of Prometheus , a pair of Titan s who "acted as representatives of mankind" . They were the inseparable sons of Iapetus , who in other contexts was the father of Atlas ....
. Pandora carried a jar with her, supposedly the gods' wedding gift, from which were released (91-92) "evils, harsh pain and troublesome diseases which give men death". Pandora hastily shut the lid as soon as she realized what had happened, too late to contain all the evil plights that escaped, but capturing the one true gift in it: hope.

Angelo Casanova finds in Prometheus a reflection of an ancient, pre-Hesiodic trickster
Trickster

In mythology, and in the study of folklore and religion, a trickster is a god, goddess, spiritual being, man, woman, or anthropomorphism animal who plays tricks or otherwise disobeys normal rules and norms of behavior....
-figure, who served to account for the mixture of good and bad in human life, and whose fashioning of men from clay was an Eastern motif familiar in Enuma Elish

Enûma Elish

The is the Babylonian mythology creation myth . It was recovered by Henry Layard in 1849 in the ruined library of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh , and published by George Smith in 1876....
; as an opponent of Zeus he was an analogue of the Titans
Titan (mythology)

In Greek mythology, the Titans ; were a race of powerful deities that ruled during the legendary golden age. Their role as Elder Gods was overthrown by a race of younger gods, the Twelve Olympians, effected a mythological paradigm shift that the Greeks borrowed from the Ancient Near East....
, and like them was punished. As an advocate for humanity he gains semi-divine status at Athens, where the episode in Theogony in which he is liberated is interpreted by Casanova as a post-Hesiodic interpolation.

Aeschylus
Perhaps the most famous treatment of the myth can be found in the Greek tragedy Prometheus Bound

Prometheus Bound

Prometheus Bound is an Ancient Greek theatre. In classical antiquity, this drama was attributed to Aeschylus, but is now considered by some scholars to be the work of another hand, perhaps one as late as ca....
– traditionally attributed to the 5th-century BC Greek tragedian Aeschylus
Aeschylus

Aeschylus was an Ancient Greece playwright. He is often recognized as the father or the founder of tragedy, and is the earliest of the three Greek tragedy whose Play survive extant, the others being Sophocles and Euripides....
. At the center of the drama are the results of Prometheus' theft of fire and his current punishment by Zeus
Zeus

Zeus in Greek mythology is the king of the gods, the ruler of Mount Olympus and the god of the sky father and List of thunder gods. His symbols are the thunderbolt, eagle, bull , and oak....
; the playwright's dependence on the Hesiodic source material is clear, though Prometheus Bound also includes a number of changes to the received tradition. Before his theft of fire, Prometheus played a decisive role in the Titanomachy
Titanomachy

In Greek mythology, the Titanomachy, or War of the Titans , was the ten-year series of battles fought between the two races of deities long before the existence of mankind: the Titan , fighting from Mount Othrys, or Mount Etna and the Twelve Olympians, who would come to reign on Mount Olympus ....
, securing victory for Zeus and the other Olympians. Zeus's torture of Prometheus thus becomes a particularly harsh betrayal. The scope and character of Prometheus' transgressions against Zeus are also widened. In addition to giving humankind fire, Prometheus claims to have taught them the arts of civilization, such as writing, mathematics, agriculture, medicine, and science. The Titan's greatest benefaction for humankind seems to have been saving them from complete destruction. In an apparent twist on the myth of the so-called Five Ages of Man
Ages of Man

The Ages of Man are the stages of human existence on the Earth according to Classical mythology. Two classical authors in particular offer accounts of the successive ages of mankind, which tend to progress from an original, long-gone age in which humans enjoyed a nearly divine existence to the current age of the writer, in which humans are be...
found in Hesiod's Works and Days (wherein Cronus and, later, Zeus created and destroyed five successive races of mortal men), Prometheus asserts that Zeus had wanted to obliterate the human race, but that he somehow stopped him. Moreover, Aeschylus anachronistically and artificially injects Io
Io

Io or io may refer to:*Io , daughter of Inachus in Greek mythology*Io , a moon of Jupiter*IO , a German band*Io , an English experimental band...
, another victim of Zeus' violence and ancestor of Heracles, into Prometheus' story. Finally, just as Aeschylus gave Prometheus a key role in bringing Zeus to power, he also attributed to him secret knowledge that could lead to Zeus' downfall: Prometheus had been told by his mother Gaia of a potential marriage that would produce a son who would overthrow Zeus. Fragmentary evidence indicates that Heracles, as in Hesiod, frees the Titan in the trilogy's second play, Prometheus Unbound

Prometheus Unbound (Aeschylus)

Prometheus Unbound is a play by the Greek poet Aeschylus, concerned with the torments of the Greek mythological figure Prometheus and his suffering at the hands of Zeus....
. It is apparently not until Prometheus reveals this secret of Zeus' potential downfall that the two reconcile in the final play, Prometheus the Fire-Bringer.

Prometheus Bound also includes two mythic innovations of omission. The first is the absence of Pandora
Pandora

[Image:Pandora.jpg|right|thumb|300px|"The Creation of "[A]NESIDORA" on a white-ground kylix by the Tarquinia Painter, ca 460 BC In Greek mythology, Pandora was the first woman....
's story in connection with Prometheus' own. Instead, Aeschylus includes this one oblique allusion to Pandora and her jar that contained Hope (252): "[Prometheus] caused blind hopes to live in the hearts of men." Second, Aeschylus makes no mention of the sacrifice-trick played against Zeus in the Theogony.

These innovations reflect the play's thematic reversal of the Hesiodic myth. In Hesiod, the story of Prometheus (and, by extension, of Pandora) serves to reinforce the theodicy of Zeus: he is a wise and just ruler of the universe, while Prometheus is to blame for humanity's unenviable existence. In Prometheus Bound, this dynamic is transposed: Prometheus becomes the benefactor of humanity, while every character in the drama (except for Hermes
Hermes

Hermes is the messenger of the gods in Greek mythology. An Twelve Olympians, he is also the patron of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and cowherds, of thieves and road travelers, of orators and wit, of literature and poets, of athletics, of weights and measures, of invention, of general commerce, and of the cunni...
, a virtual stand-in for Zeus) decries the Olympian as a cruel, vicious tyrant.

Other authors
Some two dozen other Greek and Roman authors would retell and further embellish the Prometheus myth into the 4th century AD. The most significant detail added to the myth found in, e.g., Sappho
Sappho

Sappho...
, Plato
Plato

Plato , was a Classical Greece Greeks philosopher, mathematician, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Platonic Academy in Ancient Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the western world....
, Aesop
Aesop

File:Aesop pushkin01.jpgAesop , known only for the genre of fables ascribed to him, was by tradition a Slavery in Ancient Greece who was a contemporary of Croesus and Peisistratos in the mid-6th century BC in ancient Greece....
and Ovid
Ovid

Publius Ovidius Naso was a Roman Empire poet known as Ovid to the English language-speaking world, who wrote about love, seduction, and Roman mythology transformation....
— was the central role of Prometheus in the creation of the human race. According to these sources, Prometheus fashioned humans out of clay. In his dialogue Protagoras
Protagoras

Protagoras was a Pre-Socratic philosophy Ancient Greeks philosopher and is numbered as one of the sophists by Plato. In his dialogue Protagoras , Plato credits him with having invented the role of the professional sophist or teacher of virtue....
, Plato asserts that the gods created humans and all the other animals, but it was left to Prometheus and his brother Epimetheus
Epimetheus (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Epimetheus was the brother of Prometheus , a pair of Titan s who "acted as representatives of mankind" . They were the inseparable sons of Iapetus , who in other contexts was the father of Atlas ....
to give defining attributes to each. As no physical traits were left when the pair came to humans, Prometheus decided to give them fire and other civilizing arts.

Although perhaps made explicit in the Prometheia, later authors such as Hyginus
Hyginus

Hyginus can refer to:*Gaius Julius Hyginus , Roman poet, author of Fabulae, reputed author of Poeticon astronomicon*Hyginus Gromaticus, Roman surveyor...
, Apollodorus
Apollodorus

Apollodorus of Athens son of Asclepiades, was a Greeks scholar and grammarian. He was a pupil of Diogenes of Babylon, Panaetius, and the grammarian Aristarchus of Samothrace....
, and Quintus of Smyrna would confirm that Prometheus warned Zeus not to marry the sea nymph Thetis
Thetis

Silver-footed Thetis , disposer or "placer" , is encountered in Greek mythology mostly as a sea nymph, one of the fifty Nereids, daughters of the ancient one of the seas with shape-shifting abilities who survives in the historical vestiges of most later Greek myths as Proteus ....
. She is consequently married off to the mortal Peleus
Peleus

In Greek mythology, Pele?s was a Greek hero cult who was already known to Homer. Peleus was the son of Aeacus, king of the island of Aegina, and Ende?s, the oread of Mount Pelion in Thessaly; he became the father of Achilles....
, and bears him a son greater than the father — Achilles
Achilles

In Greek mythology, Achilles was a Greeks hero of the Trojan War, the central character and the greatest warrior of Homer's Iliad, which takes for its theme ; the Wrath of Achilles....
, Greek hero of the Trojan War
Trojan War

In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans after Paris of Troy stole Helen from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta....
. Apollodorus moreover clarifies for us a cryptic statement (1026-29) made by Hermes in Prometheus Bound, identifying the centaur Cheiron as the one who would take on Prometheus' suffering and die in his place.

Reflecting a myth attested in Greek vase paintings from the Classical period, Apollodorus places the Titan (armed with an axe) at the birth of Athena
Athena

In Greek mythology, Athena is the shrewd companion of Hero and the goddess of Hero endeavour. She is the virgin patron of Athens, which built the Parthenon to worship her....
, thus explaining how the goddess sprang forth from the forehead of Zeus.

Other minor details attached to the myth include: the origin of the eagle that ate the Titan's liver (found in Apollodorus and Hyginus); myths surrounding the life of Prometheus' son, Deucalion
Deucalion

In Greek mythology, Deucalion was a son of Prometheus and Pronoia. When the anger of Zeus was ignited against the hubris of the Pelasgians, Zeus decided to put an end to the Ages of Man with the Deluge #The flood of Deucalion....
(found in Ovid and Apollonius of Rhodes
Apollonius of Rhodes

Apollonius of Rhodes, also known as Apollonius Rhodius , early 3rd century BCE - after 246 BCE, was a librarian at the Library of Alexandria....
); and Prometheus' marginal role in the myth of Jason and the Argonauts
Jason and the Argonauts

Jason and the Argonauts may refer to:* Jason#The_quest_for_the_Golden_Fleece, a Greek myth which features Jason and the Argonauts, a group of heroes...
(found in Apollonius of Rhodes and Valerius Flaccus
Valerius Flaccus

Valerius Flaccus may refer to:*Gaius Valerius Flaccus, Roman poet at the time of Vespasian*Lucius Valerius Flaccus, name of a number of Roman politicians...
).

Anecdotally, the Roman fabulist Phaedrus
Phaedrus

Phaedrus , Roman Empire fabulist, was probably a Thracian slave, born in Pydna of Macedonia and lived in the reigns of Augustus Caesar, Tiberius, Caligula and Claudius....
attributes to Aesop
Aesop

File:Aesop pushkin01.jpgAesop , known only for the genre of fables ascribed to him, was by tradition a Slavery in Ancient Greece who was a contemporary of Croesus and Peisistratos in the mid-6th century BC in ancient Greece....
a simple etiology
Etiology

Etiology is the study of Causality. The word is derived from the Ancient Greek , aitiologia, "giving a reason for" .The word is most commonly used in medical and philosophical theories, where it is used to refer to the study of why things occur, or even the reasons behind the way that things act, and is used in philosophy, physics, psy...
for homosexuality
Homosexuality

Homosexuality refers to human sexual behavior or same-sex attraction between people of the same sex or to homosexual orientation. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "having sexual and romantic attraction primarily or exclusively to members of one?s own sex"; "it also refers to an individual?s sense of personal and social identi...
, in Prometheus' getting drunk while creating the first humans and misapplying the genitalia.

Comparative myths
The two most prominent aspects of the Prometheus myth – the creation of man from clay and the theft of fire – have found their expression in numerous cultures throughout history and around the world:

The creation of man from clay

In the Babylonian creation epic Enuma Elish
Enûma Elish

The is the Babylonian mythology creation myth . It was recovered by Henry Layard in 1849 in the ruined library of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh , and published by George Smith in 1876....
, the goddess Ninhursag
Ninhursag

In Sumerian mythology, Ninhursag was the earth and mother-goddess, one of the seven great deities of Sumer. She is principally a fertility goddess....
created humans from clay.

In Africa, the Yoruba
Yoruba people

Yoruba people are one of the largest ethno-linguistic group or ethnic groups in west Africa. The majority of the Yoruba speak the Yoruba language ....
culture holds that the god Obatala
Obatala

In Yoruba orisha veneration, Ob?t?l?, through the power of God, the Supreme Being, , made human bodies, and Olorun breathed life into them....
likewise created the human race.

In Egyptian mythology, the ram-headed god Khnum made people from clay in the waters of the Nile.

In Chinese myth, the goddess Nuwa
Nuwa

Nuwa or NUWA may refer to:*N?wa, a Chinese creator goddess.*150 Nuwa, an asteroid.*National Workers' Union of Afghanistan.*Nuwa , Marvel Comics character....
created the first humans from mud and clay.

According to Genesis
Genesis

Genesis or Breishit is the first book of the Bible used by Judaism and Christianity, and the first of five books of the Pentateuch or Torah....
2:7 "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."

According to Qur'an
Qur'an

The Qur?an is the central religious text of Islam. Muslims believe the Qur?an to be the book of divine guidance and direction for mankind, and consider the original Arabic text to be the final revelation of God....
, Allah
Allah

Allah is the standard Arabic language word for God. While the term is best known in the Western world for its use by Muslims as a reference to God, it is used by Arabic-speakers of all Abrahamic faiths, including Christians and Jews, in reference to "God"....
created man from clay. See the Quranic science of Embryology for full details.

Mayan myth holds that Tepeu
Tepeu

Tepeu is a K'iche'-Maya word meaning "sovereign" . The word originated from the Nahuatl Tepeuh. The title is associated with the K'iche'-Maya god Gukumatz, his whole name translating as "Sovereign Plumed Serpent"....
and Kukulkán
Kukulkan

Kukulkan is a god in the pantheon of Maya mythology.El Castillo, Chichen Itza in Chichen Itza served as a temple to Kukulkan. During the spring and fall equinoxes the shadow cast by the angle of the sun and edges of the nine Step pyramid of the pyramid combined with the...
(Quetzalcoatl
Quetzalcoatl

Quetzalcoatl is a benevolent and mythical deity, creator of humanity in the Toltec tradition, predating the Mexica deity. The name is a combination of quetzal, a brightly colored Mesoamerican bird, and wikt:coatl, meaning serpent....
) made the first humans from clay, but they were unsatisfactory.

The Navajo
Navajo

Navajo , or Din?, refers or relates to the Navajo people, currently the second largest Federally recognized Native Americans in the United States tribe in the United States, with 298,197 people claiming to be full or partial Navajo, according to the 2000 United States Census....
attributed the creation of humans to Spider Grandmother
Spider Grandmother

The Spider Grandmother is creator of the world in Indigenous peoples of the Americas religions and myths such as that of the Puebloan peoples and Navajo Nation/Dineh peoples....
.

The theft of fire

In Georgian
Georgia (country)

Georgia is a transcontinental country in the Caucasus region, located at the dividing line between Europe and Asia. It is bordered by the Russia to the north, Azerbaijan to the east, Armenia to the south, and Turkey to the southwest....
mythology Amirani
Amirani

Amirani is the name of a Georgians hero-figure who resembles the Classical Prometheus....
challenged the chief god and for that was chained on Caucasian mountains where birds would eat his organs.

According to the Rig Veda (3:9.5), the hero Matarisvan recovered fire, which had been hidden from mankind.

In Cherokee
Cherokee

The Cherokee are a Native Americans in the United States people orginally from the Southeastern United States . They are linguistically connected to speakers of the Iroquoian language....
myth, after Possum and Buzzard had failed to steal fire, Grandmother Spider used her web to sneak into the land of light. She stole fire, hiding it in a clay pot.

Among various Native American tribes of the Pacific Northwest, fire was stolen and given to humans by Coyote, Beaver or Dog.

According to the Creek Indians, Rabbit stole fire from the Weasels.

In Algonquin
Algonquin

The Algonquins are an aboriginal peoples in Canada/Indigenous people of North American speaking Algonquin language. Culturally and linguistically, they are closely related to the Ottawa and Ojibwe, with whom they form the larger Anishinaabe grouping....
myth, Rabbit stole fire from an old man and his two daughters.

In Ojibwa
Ojibwa

The Ojibwa or Chippewa is the largest group of Native Americans in the United States-First Nations north of Mexico, including M?tis people ....
myth, Nanabozho
Nanabozho

In Anishinaabe mythology, particularly among the Ojibwa, Nanabozho is a spirit, and figures prominently in their storytelling, including the story of the world's creation....
the hare stole fire and gave it to humans.

In Polynesian myth, Maui
Maui (Maori mythology)

In Maori mythology, Maui is a culture hero famous for his exploits and his trickery....
stole fire from the Mudhens.

In the Book of Enoch
Book of Enoch

The Book of Enoch is a pseudepigraphic work ascribed to Enoch, ancestor of Noah, the great-grandfather of Noah and son of Jared .While this book today is Biblical apocrypha in most Christian Churches, it was explicitly quoted in the New Testament and by many of the early Church Fathers....
, the fallen angels and Azazel
Azazel

Azazel is an enigmatic name from the Hebrew Bible and Apocrypha, where the name is used interchangeably with Rameel and Gadriel. The word's first appearance is in Leviticus 16, where a goat is designated "for Azazel" and outcast in the desert as part of Yom Kippur....
teach early mankind to use tools and fire.

Prometheus in other arts

The mythic Prometheus is the lyrical I of the poem "Prometheus" by Johann Wolfgang Goethe
Prometheus (Goethe)

Prometheus is a poem by Johann Wolfgang Goethe, in which the character of the mythic Prometheus addresses God in misotheist accusation and defiance....
, in which the character addresses God (as Zeus
Zeus

Zeus in Greek mythology is the king of the gods, the ruler of Mount Olympus and the god of the sky father and List of thunder gods. His symbols are the thunderbolt, eagle, bull , and oak....
) in misotheist accusation and defiance.

Beethoven wrote a ballet
Ballet

Ballet is a formalized type of performative dance, the origins of which date lay in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century France courts, and which was further developed in England, Italy, and Russia as a concert dance form....
called "The Creatures of Prometheus."

Prometheus: Poem of Fire

Prometheus: Poem of Fire

Prometheus: Poem of Fire, Opus 60 , is a symphonic work by Russian composer Alexander Scriabin for piano, orchestra, voice, and clavier ? lumi?res, entitled "Chromola", a Color organ invented by Preston Millar....
, Opus 60 (1910) by Alexander Scriabin
Alexander Scriabin

Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin was a Russian composer and pianist who initially developed a highly lyrical and idiosyncratic tonal language inspired by the music of Chopin....
.

Prometheus, Symphonic Poem No. 5 (S.99) by Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt

Franz Liszt was a Kingdom of Hungary composer, virtuoso pianist and teacher.Liszt became renowned throughout Europe for his great skill as a performer during the 19th century....
.

Prometheus, opera using Aeschylus's original Greek by Carl Orff
Carl Orff

Carl Orff was a 20th-century Germany composer, most famous for his composition Carmina Burana . He has also become very influential in the field of music education for his pedagogy methods, which survive through Orff Schulwerk....
, 1968.

Prometheus' torment by the eagle and his rescue by Heracles were popular subjects in vase paintings of the 6th-4th c. BC. He also sometimes appears in depictions of Athena's birth from Zeus' forehead.

There was a relief sculpture of Prometheus with Pandora on the base of Athena's cult statue in the Athenian Parthenon
Parthenon

The Parthenon is a Greek temple of the Greek gods Athena, built in the 5th century BC on the Acropolis of Athens. It is the most important surviving building of Classical Greece, generally considered to be the culmination of the development of the Doric order....
of the 5th century BC.

Cults of Prometheus
Prometheus had a small shrine in the Kerameikos, or potter's quarter, of Athens
History of Athens

The History of Athens is one of the longest of any city in Europe and in the world. Athens has been continuously inhabited for over 4,500 years, becoming the leading city of Ancient Greece in the first millennium BC; its cultural achievements during the 5th century BC laid the foundations of western culture....
, not far from the Academy
Academy

An academy is an institution of higher learning, research, or honorary membership.The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 385 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the goddess of wisdom, north of Ancient Athens, Greece....
. The Academy had its own altar dedicated to Prometheus. According to the 2nd-century AD Greek traveler Pausanias
Pausanias

Pausanias *Pausanias , lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's Symposium*Pausanias , Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC...
, this site was central to a torch race dedicated to Prometheus.

Pausanias also wrote that the Greek cities of Argos
Argos

Argos is a city in Greece in the Peloponnese near Nafplion, which was its historic harbour, named for Nauplius ....
and Opous both claimed to be Prometheus' final resting place, each erecting a tomb in his honor.

Finally, Pausanias attested that in the Greek city of Panopeus
Panopeus

Panopeus , or Phanoteus , was an ancient Greek town of Phocis, near the frontier of Boeotia, and on the road from Daulis to Chaeronea. Pausanias said that Panopeus was 20 stades from Chaeronea and 7 from Daulis; but the latter number is almost certainly a mistake....
there was a cult statue claimed by some to depict Prometheus, for having created the human race there.
Prometheus and liver regeneration
The mythological story that Prometheus was chained to a rock in the Caucasus mountain and his liver was eaten every day by an eagle only to "regenerate" in the night has been used by scientists studying liver regeneration as an indication that ancient Greeks knew that liver can regenerate if surgically removed or injured. Because of the association of Prometheus with liver regeneration, his name has also been associated with biomedical companies involved in regenerative medicine.

Promethean myth in modern culture

On the American Thrash metal
Thrash metal

Thrash metal , is an extreme metal subgenre of heavy metal music that is characterized by its fast tempo and aggression. Thrash metal songs typically use fast, percussive and low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with Shred guitar-style lead work....
band Trivium
Trivium (band)

Trivium is an American Heavy metal music band formed in 2000 in Orlando, Florida. The band has released Trivium discography, eleven singles, and twelve music videos....
's new album, Shogun
Shogun (album)

Shogun is the fourth studio album by American Heavy metal music band Trivium . The album was released worldwide on various dates between September 23 and October 1, 2008 through Roadrunner Records....
, a song entitled " Of Prometheus and the Crucifix" describes the events of Prometheus giving fire to mankind.

The cloned
Cloning

Cloning in biology is the process of producing populations of genetically-identical individuals that occurs in nature when organisms such as bacteria, insects or plants reproduce Asexual Reproduction....
horse Prometea
Prometea

Prometea is a Haflinger foal, the first cloningd horse and the first to be born from and carried by its cloning mother. Her birth was announced publicly on August 6, 2003....
, and Prometheus
Prometheus (moon)

Prometheus is an inner satellite of Saturn . It was discovered in 1980 from photos taken by the Voyager 1 probe, and was provisionally designated ....
, a moon
Natural satellite

A natural satellite or moon is a celestial body that orbits a planet or smaller body, which is called the primary. Technically, the term natural satellite could refer to a planet orbiting a star, or a dwarf galaxy orbiting a major galaxy, but it is normally synonymous with moon and used to identify non-artificial satellites...
of Saturn, are named after this Titan, as is the asteroid
Asteroid

Asteroids, sometimes called minor planets or planetoids, are small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun, smaller than planets but larger than meteoroids....
1809 Prometheus
1809 Prometheus

1809 Prometheus is an asteroid that shares the name of one of the lesser-known Saturnian moons, Prometheus ....
. The story of Prometheus has inspired many authors through the ages, and the Romantics
Romanticism

Romanticism is a complex artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Western Europe, and gained strength during the Industrial Revolution....
saw Prometheus as a prototype of the natural daemon
Daemon (mythology)

The words daemon, d?mon, are Latinized spellings of the Greek language da???? , used purposely today to distinguish the daemons of Ancient Greek religion, good or malevolent "supernatural beings between mortals and gods, such as inferior divinities and ghosts of dead heroes" , from the Judeo-Christian usage demon, a malignant...
or genius
Genius (mythology)

In Roman mythology, every man had a genius and every woman a juno .Originally, the genii and junones were ancestors who guarded over their descendants....
.

The name of the sixty-first element, promethium
Promethium

Promethium is a chemical element with the symbol Pm and atomic number 61. It is notable for being the only other exclusively radioactive element besides technetium which is followed by chemical elements that have stable isotopes....
, is derived from Prometheus.

Mary Shelley
Mary Shelley

Mary Shelley was a British novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel literature, best known for her Gothic fiction Frankenstein ....
's 1818 novel Frankenstein
Frankenstein

Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, generally known as Frankenstein, is a novel written by the British author Mary Shelley. Shelley started writing Frankenstein when she was 18 and finished when she was 19....
is subtitled "The Modern Prometheus". This is a reference to the novel's themes of the over-reaching of modern man into dangerous areas of knowledge.

In Herman Melville
Herman Melville

Herman Melville was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist and poet. His first three books gained much attention, the first becoming a bestseller, but after a fast-blooming literary success in the late 1840s, his popularity declined precipitously in the mid-1850s and never recovered during his lifetime....
's Moby-Dick
Moby-Dick

Moby-Dick is an 1851 novel by Herman Melville. The story tells the adventures of the wandering sailor Ishmael and his voyage on the whaling Pequod , commanded by Captain Ahab....
, Prometheus is used in a metaphor describing Captain Ahab's intense obsession with Moby-Dick: "God help thee, old man, thy thoughts have created a creature in thee; and he whose intense thinking thus makes him a Prometheus; a vulture feeds upon that heart for ever; that vulture the very creature he creates."

Percy Bysshe Shelley's Prometheus Unbound rewrites the lost play of Aeschylus so that Prometheus does not submit to Zeus (Shelley's Jupiter), but supplants him instead in a triumph of the human heart and intellect over tyrannical religion. Lord Byron's poem "Prometheus" also portrays the titan as unrepentant. For the Romantics, Prometheus was the rebel who resisted all forms of institutional tyranny epitomized by Zeus — church, monarch, and patriarch. They drew comparisons between Prometheus and the spirit of the French Revolution, Christ, Milton's Satan, and the divinely inspired poet or artist.

Prometheus is the main protagonist in 1973 novel A Prométheusz-rejtély (An enigma of Prometheus) by Hungarian writer Lajos Mesterházi which plot intertwines Classical Greece of Aeschylus with reality of Hungary
Hungary

Hungary , officially in English the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia....
in sixties.

In the game Timesplitters: Future Perfect, One of the robot drones you fight is named Prometheus SK-8.

Prometheus is a minor character in the novel The Big Over Easy
The Big Over Easy

The Big Over Easy is a novel written by Jasper Fforde and published in 2005. It features Detective Inspector Jack Spratt and his assistant, Sergeant Mary Mary....
, where he is a lodger in the home of the protagonist, Jack Spratt
Jack Spratt

Jack Spratt is the protagonist in a series of alternate history science fiction fantasy novels by Jasper Fforde. He is the same character from the Jack Sprat....
. Prometheus later marries Spratt's daughter Pandora, despite the 4,000 year difference in their ages.

Prometheus and other gods feature in the novel Ye God! by Tom Holt
Tom Holt

Tom Holt is a United Kingdom novelist.He was born in London, the son of novelist Hazel Holt, and was educated at Westminster School, Wadham College, Oxford, and The College of Law, London....
. It is set in the 20th Century but Prometheus is still chained to the rock, even though he and the eagle are now friends and it keeps him up-to-date with events.

In the game Age of Mythology: The Titans
Age of Mythology: The Titans

Age of Mythology: The Titans is a real-time strategy Video game expansion pack of Age of Mythology. It was developed by Ensemble Studios and released on October 21, 2003....
, Prometheus is a near Indestructible Titan, whom the Heroes will have to face and kill to save humanity from destruction. In the game, he is seen in two different levels.

In Diana Wynne Jones
Diana Wynne Jones

Diana Wynne Jones is a United Kingdom writer, principally of fantasy novels for children's literature and adults, as well as a small amount of non-fiction....
's fantasy novel, The Homeward Bounders
The Homeward Bounders

The Homeward Bounders is a fantasy novel by Diana Wynne Jones with the chilling premise that there is a vast series of parallel universes, all of which serve as the game-boards for a race of demons that delight in war-games and fantasy-games....
, Prometheus, as a character, plays a significant role.

Prometheus Books
Prometheus Books

Prometheus Books is a publishing company founded in August 1969 by Paul Kurtz, who also founded the Council for Secular Humanism and co- founded Committee for Skeptical Inquiry....
, a publishing company for scientific, educational, and popular books, especially those relating to secular humanism
Secular humanism

Secular humanism is a Humanism philosophy that upholds reason, ethics, and justice, and specifically rejects the supernatural and the Spirituality as the basis of moral reflection and decision-making....
or scientific skepticism
Scientific skepticism

Scientific skepticism or rational skepticism , sometimes referred to as skeptical inquiry, is a scientific or practical, epistemology position in which one questions the veracity of claims lacking empirical evidence....
, takes its name from the myth.

In Ayn Rand's work, Anthem, the protagonist renames himself Prometheus at the end of the novella.

Bristol England's The Pop Group
The Pop Group

The Pop Group was a post-punk band from Bristol, England whose uncompromising, dissonant sound spanned punk rock, free jazz, funk and dub music....
included studio and live versions of a song called "Thief of Fire," on two of their albums.

"Prometheus the Fallen One" is the seventh track of Virgin Steele
Virgin Steele

Virgin Steele is a Heavy metal music band from New York. Originally formed in 1981, the band is worldwide considered one of the founders of Epic metal music....
's album "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell Part II
The Marriage of Heaven and Hell Part II

Track listing# "A Symphony of Steele"# "Crown of Glory"# "From Chaos to Creation"# "Twilight of the Gods"# "Rising Unchained"# "Transfiguration"...
".

The Black metal
Black metal

Black metal is an extreme metal subgenre of Heavy metal music. It often employs fast tempos, shrieked vocals, highly distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, double-kick drumming, and unconventional song structure....
band Emperor
Emperor (band)

Emperor were a Norway symphonic black metal band formed in 1991. Over the years, the band's music changed to what can be called "extreme metal symphonic metal" in their later days They dissolved in 2001, but reunited in 2006 and again in 2007 for a few festival dates and brief US tours....
recorded an album inspired by the story of Prometheus entitled Prometheus: The Discipline of Fire & Demise
Prometheus: The Discipline of Fire & Demise

Prometheus: The Discipline of Fire & Demise is the fourth and final studio album by Emperor . Produced by band member Ihsahn, it was released by Candlelight Records and was the bands final album....
.

In the television series Stargate SG-1
Stargate SG-1

Stargate SG-1 is an United States-Canadian science fiction television series, part of the Stargate. Its story begins one year after the events of the 1994 science fiction film Stargate ....
, the first battle cruiser built with technology taken from aliens was called Prometheus.

In the television series Smallville, Lex Luthor has a project called Prometheus which is the creation of his battle suit, an in Superman Returns, he references the story as part of his motivations and plans.

In the television series Star Trek: Voyager, a Federation starship called Prometheus is stolen by Romulans.

In the television series Xena
Xena

Xena is a fictional from Robert Tapert's Xena: Warrior Princess franchise. She first appeared in the series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, before going on to appear in Xena: Warrior Princess and Xena: Warrior Princess of the same name....
, Prometheus is bound by the Greek gods, causing mankind to lose his gifts of fire and the ability to heal ourselves.

In rap group Jedi Mind Tricks
Jedi Mind Tricks

Jedi Mind Tricks is a hip hop music group with two members from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and one from Camden, New Jersey. The group was founded by two high school friends rapper Vinnie Paz and Hip hop production / Disc jockey Stoupe ....
's song "I Against I" rapper Jus Allah
Jus Allah

Jus Allah is a New Jersey rapper who made his debut on Jedi Mind Tricks second album Violent by Design in 2000. He is known for his dark and aggressive lyrics that are commonly Afro-centric....
rhymes "Beast deceiving us ways devious possessing my peeps to walk the streets with stolen heat like Prometheus."

Swedish symphonic metal band Therion
Therion

Therion, Greek language for "wild animal" or "beast" , may refer to:* Therion, the name the Greeks gave to the constellation Lupus * Therion , the Swedish symphonic metal band...
has a song called "Feuer Overtüre/Prometheus Entfesselt" ("Fire Overture/Prometheus Unleashed") on their 2004 album Lemuria
Lemuria (album)

Lemuria is an album released by the symphonic metal band Therion . The album title refers to the name of a hypothetical "Lost Land" called Lemuria ....
.

In the video game God of War 2, the player encounters Prometheus. He is bound in chains as a huge bird eviscerates his torso. Prometheus begs the player to kill him (and thus end his eternal torment) by throwing him into the Fires of Olympus.

In the video game Bioshock
Bioshock

BioShock is a first-person shooter video game, developed by 2K Boston/2K Australia?previously known as Irrational Games?designed by Ken Levine....
, the final level of the game is called Point Prometheus

In the MegaMan ZX
Mega Man ZX

Mega Man ZX, known in Japan as , is the first Video game in the Mega Man ZX series, the sixth series in Capcom's Mega Man video games franchise....
series, Prometheus is one of the antagonists along with his partner, Pandora.

In Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (TV channel)

Nickelodeon is an United States cable television network owned by Viacom International, founded in 1977 as Pinwheel. The Pinwheel name was used until 1981....
, there is a series of short animated episodes called Prometheus and Bob
Prometheus and Bob

Prometheus and Bob was a series of animated shorts that originally aired on animation-anthology series KaBlam!, on the United States cable television network Nickelodeon ....
, wherein Bob is a primitive caveman and Prometheus is a skinny purple alien who tries to teach Bob about technology.

The Prometheus Award
Prometheus Award

The Prometheus Award is an award for libertarian science fiction novels given out annually by the Libertarian Futurist Society, which also publishes a quarterly journal, Prometheus....
is given by the Libertarian Futurist Society for Libertarian science fiction
Libertarian science fiction

Libertarian science fiction is a sub-genre of science fiction that focuses on the politics and social order implied by Libertarianism philosophies with an emphasis on individualism and a limited state-- and in some cases, anarcho-capitalism....
."

The Doug Anthony All Stars
Doug Anthony All Stars

The Doug Anthony All Stars were an Australian musical comedy group who performed together between 1984 and 1994. The band was an acoustic trio comprising Paul McDermott and Tim Ferguson on main vocals and Richard Fidler on guitar and backing vocals....
; an Australian musical comedy trio, make reference to Prometheus in their song "Bless me Father" stating 'Like Prometheus in the morning, I'm bound to come around' used to allude to regret.

The band Of Montreal
Of Montreal

of Montreal is an United States indie pop band formed in Athens, Georgia. Fronted by Kevin Barnes, it was among the second wave of groups to emerge from The Elephant 6 Recording Company....
references Prometheus in Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse
Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse

"Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse" was the first single released by Polyvinyl Records from Of Montreal's 2007 album Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?....
, in which the Promethean curse pertains to "the burdens of consciousness and creativity" inflicted upon mankind when, against the demands of Zeus, Prometheus brought fire to earth.

Prometheus is the mascot of the Technische Universiteit Delft in Holland, where his statue stands in front of the main building; the fire of Prometheus can be seen on the T on the logo of the University. The Minho University
Minho University

Minho University or Universidade do Minho is a public university in Portugal, divided in the following spaces:* Largo do Pa?o , in Braga;* Campus of Gualtar, in Braga;...
in Portugal also features a prominent statue of Prometheus in the main entrance.

Prometheus is the main character in the comic strip The Miserable Life of Prometheus by Mark Weinstein. The strip appears in "Athens Plus" and online at prometheuscomic.wordpress.com/

Michel Faber
Michel Faber

Michel Faber is a The Netherlands writer of fiction. He writes in English language.Faber was born in The Hague, The Netherlands. He and his parents emigrated to Australia in 1967....
's book 'The Fire Gospel' is loosely inspired by the Prometheus myth. It tells of a scholar named Theo who steals an ancient manuscript from a bombed Iraqi museum; the manuscript is an eye-witness account of the death of Jesus. Theo is made to suffer (including being shot in the liver) for threatening the foundations of Christianity.

In the series The Fire Thief, by Terry Deary
Terry Deary

Terry Deary is a children's author now living in Burnhope, County Durham, England.A former actor, theatre-director and drama teacher, Deary says he began writing when he was 29....
, Prometheus escapes the eagle one day. Zeus makes a bet with him. If he can find a human hero, he can go free. Prometheus travels to the future (our past), to settle his bet.

In Gradius IV, one of the game's soundtracks is titles Prometheus; possibly a reference to the self-regenerating entity and antagonist Bacterion.

See also
Other figures in Greek mythology punished by the gods include:
Heracles
Heracles

In Greek mythology, Heracles or Herakles meaning "glory of Hera", or "Glorious through Hera" Alcides or Alcaeus " was a hero, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, foster son of Amphitryon and great-grandson of Perseus....
Medusa
Medusa

In Greek mythology, Medusa was a gorgon, a chthonic female monster; gazing upon her would turn onlookers to stone. She was beheaded by the hero Perseus, who thereafter used her head as a weapon until giving it to the goddess Athena to place on her Aegis....
Sisyphus
Sisyphus

In Greek mythology, Sisyphus , was a king punished in Tartarus by being cursed to roll a huge boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll down again, and to repeat this throughout eternity....
Tantalus
Tantalus

In Greek mythology Tantalus was a son of Zeus and the nymph Plouto. Thus he was a king in the primordial world, the father of a son Broteas whose very name signifies "mortals" ....

Further reading

Fernandes, Ângela, , in journal Neohelicon, Akadémiai Kiadó, co-published with Springer Science+Business Media B.V., Volume 34, Number 1 / June, 2007, pp. 41-49

External links

(for free download - two volumes about 600 pages)
(Essay about the origin of fire, the stealing of fire, the keeping of fire in different South-American indigenous cultures).