Greek Mythology: “Prometheus, The Rebel Titan”.-

►Greek Mythology: “Prometheus, The Rebel Titan”:

“Prometheus bringt der Menschheit das Feuer” by Heinrich Friedrich Füger. (1817).-

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Prometheus was a son of Iapetus by Clymene (one of the Oceanids). He was brother of Epimetheus, Menoetius and Atlas.

Prometheus and Epimetheus, were two titans who were spared imprisonment in Tartarus because they had not fought with the Titans during the war with the Gods.

They were both given the task of creating man.

Prometheus shaped man out of mud, and Athena breathed life into his clay figure.

Prometheus had assigned  Epimetheus the task of giving the creatures of the earth their various qualities, such as swiftness, cunning, strength, fur, and wings.

Woefully, by the time he got to man, Epimetheus had given all the good qualities out and there were none left for man.

So Prometheus decided to make man stand upright as the gods did and to give him fire.

His attempts to better the lives of his creation brought him into direct conflict with Zeus.

Zeus was angry at Prometheus for three things: being tricked by the sacrifices, stealing fire for man, and refusing to tell Zeus which of Zeus’s children would dethrone him. 

As punishment for these rebellious acts, Zeus ordered Hephaestus (Vulcan) make a woman made of clay named Pandora. Zeus gave her a box and forbade her from opening it. Then he sent her down to earth, where her curiosity led her to open the lid. Out flew sorrow, mischief, and all other misfortunes that plagued mankind. 

In the famous story of Pandora’s box, we may learn how earthly hardship was born.

Worth noting that the female is blamed for all human suffering, like Eve in the Judeo-Christian tradition.

The Pandora story also underscores Zeus’s crafty nature. From Pandora’s box, mortals and gods alike understand the power of the God and fear his authority.

To punish Prometheus for this hubris (extreme pride), Zeus also took him to the Caucasus Mountains, and chained him to a rock.

There he was tormented day and night by a giant eagle tearing at his his ever-regenerating liver

Generations later the great hero Heracles came along and released Prometheus  from his torture.

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“So spake Zeus in anger, whose wisdom is everlasting; and from that time he was always mindful of the trick, and would not give the power of unwearying fire to the Melian race of mortal men who live on the earth“. (Hesiod’s “Theogony”).

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►“Main Sources For Prometheus’ Myth”

Hesiod, a greek poet, lived in about 700 B.C.E. and composed two poems,the “Theogony” and “The Works and Days”. The “Creation” section of “The Works and Days” contains the story of Prometheus’ theft of fire. The excerpt in this chapter comes from Hesiod’s “Theogony”, a poem describing the nature and generations of the gods, and it is in this context that the poet tells the story of Prometheus.

Aeschylus, a greek playwright who wrote “Prometheus Bound” in about 430 B.C.E. The play is a tragedy that details the sufferings of Prometheus for his rebellion against Zeus and foreshadows his eventual release at the hands of Heracles, Zeus’ son.

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“The Titans Prometheus and Atlas”. Greek Vase, dated 500 BC. Laconian black figure.-

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 ►Side Notes: “Daring Prometheus and the Origin of Homosexuality”:

From Aesop, Fables 517 (At: Plato’s “Phaedrus” 4.16):

Someone asked Aesop why lesbians and effeminates had been created,

And old Aesop explained: `The answer lies once again with Prometheus, the original creator of our common clay. All day long, Prometheus had been separately shaping those natural members which modesty conceals beneath our clothes, and when he was about to apply these private parts to the appropriate bodies Liber (Dionysos) unexpectedly invited him to dinner. Prometheus came home late, unsteady on his feet and with a good deal of heavenly nectar flowing through his veins. With his wits half asleep in a drunken haze he stuck the female genitalia on male bodies and male members on the ladies. This is why modern lust revels in perverted pleasures’ .

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►Slideshare: “Prometheus, Through Art”:

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►Links Post: 

http://www.gradesaver.com/mythology/study-guide/section3/

http://predoc.org/docs/index-201831.html?page=2

http://www.prometheas.org/mythology.html

http://www.theoi.com/Titan/TitanPrometheus.html

http://www.crystalinks.com/titans.html

http://www.moyak.com/papers/hesiod-theogony.html

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