Prometheus

Pronunciation

Epithets

Prometheus was given a handful of epithets in Greek literature, including πυρφόρος (pyrphóros, “fire-bearer”) and αἰπυμήτης (aipymḗtēs, “lofty-minded”).

Other Names

According to Hesychius of Alexandria, a scholar of the fifth or sixth century CE, Prometheus was also called Ithas or Ithax (though in some traditions Ithas/Ithax was a distinct figure).^[3]

Family Tree

Origins

As with most Titans, little is known of Prometheus’ origins. The Olympian gods and goddesses were at the center of Greek worship, while the Titans were viewed as a distant and largely irrelevant group. What is known about Prometheus comes from a hodgepodge of Greek sources, including Hesiod, Aeschylus, Plato, and Ovid. The diversity of these sources, spread across a number of eras and regions, has led to some apparent inconsistencies in his mythology.

In the earliest sources, Prometheus was a lesser Titan known for his wit and cunning. In the Theogony, for example, Hesiod describes him as “full of various wiles”^[24] and “ready-witted.”^[25] According to Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound, Prometheus switched sides during the Titanomachy and helped Zeus achieve dominion over the cosmos. In the aftermath of the conflict, he became a member of Zeus’ inner circle.

Theft of Fire and Punishment

It was not long, however, before Prometheus fell from the gods’ favor. The poet Hesiod—in two different epics—tells of how Prometheus first incurred the wrath of Zeus by playing a trick on him.^[26] The gods had gathered for a banquet to forge their relationship with humankind when Prometheus presented Zeus with two sacrificial offerings. In one pile were the choice cuts of meat of a slaughtered bull, covered in unsightly skin and topped with the animal’s stomach; in the other (much larger) pile, there was nothing but bones, but these were more enticingly covered in white fat. 

Zeus saw through Prometheus’ trick but chose the second option anyway: the inedible parts of the animal wrapped up in a nice package. As a result, when humans sacrificed to the gods, they would only burn bones wrapped in fat, while saving the best cuts of meat for themselves.

Zeus raged at the Titan for being arrogant enough to try and fool a god: “Son of Iapetus, clever above all! So, sir, you have not yet forgotten your cunning arts!”^[27] In his anger, Zeus took fire away from humanity. However, Prometheus was as clever as Zeus had observed. When the opportunity presented itself, he snuck into Hephaestus’ workshop and retrieved the fire, then hid it in a hollowed-out fennel stalk and presented it to humanity. In Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound (as well as other sources), Prometheus also used this opportunity to teach humanity craftsmanship and other important skills. 

Once again, Zeus responded by punishing not only Prometheus but all of humanity. With Hephaestus and Athena, Zeus crafted a lovely young maiden named Pandora. Dressed in fine clothes and bedecked with jewels, Pandora was taught to be charming and coy. She was then given a jar filled with all the evils of the world (war, famine, death, disease) and sent to Prometheus’ brother Epimetheus, who married her against Prometheus’ advice. 

Though she was told never to open the jar, Pandora’s curiosity soon got the better of her. Her act unleashed a host of evils on the world of men, forever spoiling the peaceful existence they once knew. Only hope remained trapped in the jar:

But the rest, countless plagues, wander amongst men; for earth is full of evils and the sea is full. Of themselves diseases come upon men continually by day and by night, bringing mischief to mortals silently; for wise Zeus took away speech from them. So is there no way to escape the will of Zeus.^[28]

Prometheus himself was then chained to a rock (often said to be located in the Caucasus Mountains). Every day an eagle would eat his liver, which grew back overnight, only to be eaten again the next day. Some traditions claimed that Prometheus was eventually delivered from this torment by the mortal hero Heracles, who slayed the eagle and released the Titan from his bonds.^[29]

Prometheus and the Creation of Humanity

In Hesiod’s epics and other early sources for Greek mythology, Prometheus is represented as a benefactor of humanity—but not its creator. In fact, these earliest sources do not give any clear account of the creation of mortals.

In later traditions, however, Prometheus was often said to have created the human race out of clay.^[30] Ovid describes the momentous event as follows:

But one more perfect and more sanctified,

a being capable of lofty thought,

intelligent to rule, was wanting still

man was created! Did the Unknown God

designing then a better world make man

of seed divine? or did Prometheus

take the new soil of earth (that still contained

some godly element of Heaven's Life)

and use it to create the race of man;

first mingling it with water of new streams;

so that his new creation, upright man,

was made in image of commanding Gods?

On earth the brute creation bends its gaze,

but man was given a lofty countenance

and was commanded to behold the skies;

and with an upright face may view the stars:—

and so it was that shapeless clay put on

the form of man till then unknown to earth.^[31]

According to a fable told by Plato, Prometheus had been tasked with creating humans, while his brother Epimetheus was responsible for animals. The less intelligent Epimetheus (who lacked Prometheus’ eponymous “forethought”) gave the animals every available attribute—fur, claws, feathers, and the like—leaving nothing for man. Due to this foolishness, humanity alone was doomed to be helpless, “naked, and shoeless.” This was the reason, says Plato, that Prometheus stole fire from the gods to give to humans.^[32]

Other Myths

Prometheus was closely associated with Athena, possibly because they were both gods of craft. In some traditions, Prometheus was the one who split open Zeus’ head so he could give birth to Athena (though in most versions, that part is played by Hephaestus).^[33] 

There were also some sources in which Prometheus fell in love with Athena. According to this less familiar version of the myth, Prometheus was chained to the cliff and tortured by Zeus’ eagle not for stealing fire, but as punishment for this forbidden love.^[34]

Prometheus was also involved in the mythos of Thetis and, indirectly, that of Thetis’ son Achilles. As the story goes, the beautiful Thetis was wooed by both Zeus and Poseidon. Prometheus, however, warned the two gods that Thetis was destined to bear a son who would be greater than his father.^[35] 

Neither Zeus nor Poseidon was interested in such an outcome; they feared this son would ultimately take their place, just as they had taken the place of the Titans before them. Thetis was therefore married off to the mortal hero Peleus. In Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound, it is hinted that this valuable piece of information was what eventually secured Prometheus’ release from his terrible punishment.