Prometheus and Man

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Prometheus and Man
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Prometheus

• Prometheus is mainly remembered as the
  creator/friend of human beings, who has stolen
  fire from the gods. As a result, he suffered
  terrible punishment.

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Prometheus tortured by the eagle
mmm mmm good!
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• On a rock in that mountain, Prometheus was kept
  bound for many years. And every day an eagle
  swooped on him and devoured the lobes of his
  liver, which grew by night as much as the eagle
  had devoured during the day.

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• Before becoming the ruler of heaven, Zeus had to
  defeat his predecessor Cronus and the Titan. In
  this war, the Titanomachy (the War in which the
  Titans fought Zeus), Prometheus, although being a
  Titan, sided with Zeus, who is seen in the
  picture brandishing the thunderbolt against his
  enemies.

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Creator of Man

• The Titan Prometheus is usually regarded as one
  of the greatest friends of mankind, and the
  savior of all men. For when Zeus attempted to
  destroy the men of the Bronze Age through The
  Flood, he gave instructions to his son Deucalion,
  so that he could survive and mankind could start
  anew.
• Some have even asserted that man
  was molded out of water and earth
  by Prometheus
  himself, who gave
  him the form of the gods and
• " ... bade him to stand erect and turn
  his eyes to heaven."
  
  Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.85

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Prometheus watches as Athena gives a soul to the
molded man
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Epimetheus

• But others say that he and his brother just
  distributed abilities among creatures
• It has been told that when the time arrived for
  mortal creatures to be created, the gods, after
  molding their forms, charged Prometheus and his
  brother Epimetheus to deal faculties to each
  creature. To some creatures Epimetheus gave
  strength, and to others speed some he armed, so
  that they could survive. To some he gave wings,
  so that they could escape, and to others he gave
  the capacity to live underground. And while he
  distributed all capacities he took the precaution
  that no species should be extinguished. Likewise
  Epimetheus took into consideration the seasons,
  giving to all creatures the faculty of resisting
  both cold and heat. In similar manner he
  furnished each kind of creature with its proper
  food, so that some should feed on grass, others
  on fruits, and still others on creatures which
  they could devour.

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Gifts for Man

• This is how Epimetheus, lacking in wisdom and
  forethought, distributed all properties suited
  for survival among animals, leaving unequipped
  the race of men. Now, when the day arrived for
  the emergence of all creatures and Prometheus
  came to examine his brother's work, he noticed
  that Epimetheus had not devised anything for the
  preservation of humans. So in order to correct
  his brother's mistake, Prometheus stole wisdom in
  arts from Hephaestus and Athena, along with fire,
  so that men could exercise those crafts, and gave
  all these gifts to humanity. Accordingly,
  Prometheus, for correcting mistakes in such a
  way, was later charged with theft.

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More Cleverness

• It has also been said that Prometheus taught men
  to sacrifice to the gods in a clever way, casting
  only a part of the victim into the fire, and
  keeping the rest for their own food. It is told
  that Prometheus deceived Zeus with a trickery
  concerning the part which should be sacrificed to
  the god and the part which would remain for men.
  For Prometheus concealed the different parts in a
  certain way, and having given Zeus the chance to
  choose among them, the god, without any
  forethought, chose just the bones for his half.
  They believe that it was because of this trickery
  that Zeus decided to hide the fire, and prevent
  men to use it.

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Pandora

• Probably fearing the consequences of his own
  cleverness, Prometheus told his brother
  Epimetheus never to take a gift from Zeus, but
  Epimetheus, a man with no foresight, accepted
  Zeus' gift (Pandora), and he only later
  understood what had happened. For until that time
  men lived free from ills, toil and sicknesses,
  but Pandora opened a jar containing all earthly
  evils, and these flew out, afflicting mankind
  ever since. Only Hope remained there.

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• Prometheus, you are glad that you have outwitted
  me and stolen fire ... but I will give men as the
  price for fire an evil thing in which they may
  all be glad while they embrace their own
  destruction."
• (Zeus to Prometheus. Hesiod, Works and Days 55)

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Pyrrha

• Prometheus fashioned man from clay, and the gods
  fashioned the first woman, Pandora. This is the
  reason why Pyrrha, the daughter of Epimetheus and
  Pandora, is called the first mortal woman ever
  born.

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• Others affirm that Pandora was not a curse sent
  from Zeus, but that Pandora, who was endowed with
  all kinds of gifts, was given by the gods to men
  because the gods wished to show all mortals that
  they could do even better than Prometheus, who
  had given them fire.

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Heracles sets Prometheus free
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• It is said that Zeus did not release Prometheus
  from all binding, since he had sworn to that, but
  for commemoration bade him bind his finger with
  stone and iron and that is why, men adopted the
  custom of wearing rings fashioned of stone and
  iron, that they may seem to appease Prometheus.