The Rise of Humans: The Prometheus Myth

1. The Rise of Humans: The Prometheus Myth Prepared by Linda R. Williams Reference: Mythology- Myths, Legends, & Fantasies

2. Who was Prometheus? • The Titan god of Fire and Forethought • The son of a sea nymph, Clymene and Titan Iapetus • Brother to the Titan Epimethus • Married to Hesione (daughter of Titan Oceanus) • Prometheus means “looking forward” and Epimethus means “looking back.

3. The Rise of Humans • In the Biblical Creation story, God created humans as his crowning achievement. • In Greek myth, Prometheus created humans by shaping lumps of clay into small figures resembling the gods. Athena admired these figures and breathed on them, giving them life. Zeus disliked the creatures, but he could not uncreate them. He did, however, confine them to the earth and denied them immortality. Prometheus felt sorry for humans. • The gods of Olympus wanted humans to worship them with animal sacrifices, the meat and not the bones.

4. Blood sacrifice was one of the most powerful rituals of the ancient Greeks. Meat was a luxury, so large animals, like sheep, cows, pigs and goats, were usually slaughtered in honor of the gods. In family or state festivals, chosen animals would be prepared, led to an altar in procession, then ceremonially killed in front of festival participants. A small portion of meat was burned on the altar, for the gods. Humans shared the rest.

5. Prometheus the trickster! Prometheus was chosen to cut up an animal for sacrifice so that Zeus could choose which half he preferred to decide once and for all just which portions went to the gods and which to the hungry people. He defied the gods to help humans, tricking Zeus to establish a sacred ritual of sacrifice which favored humans and made them forever separate from gods. Atlas and Prometheus, c. 550 BCE

6. What did Prometheus do? He piled up the edible meat and made it look unappealing by placing animal skin and stomach on top. He then covered the inedible bones with a thick layer of animal fat so that it looked ready for a feast. Zeus falling for Prometheus’ clever plan choose the pile of bones and animal fat for sacrifice to the gods and humankind got to keep the meat. Feeling sorry for humans, Prometheus had to……. • Determine how sacrifices were to be made to the gods • Created creatures/humans

7. The Theft of Fire • Angered by Prometheus’ act, Zeus denied humans fire. They could not warm themselves, work metals or cook their food. • Prometheus climbed Mount Olympus in secret and stole fire from the gods and traveled every place where humans lived giving them the gift of fire.

8. Zeus’ Revenge Furious Zeus ordered Hephaestus, the god of craftsmanship, to create a beautiful woman out of clay. The gods endowed her with many talents; Aphrodite gave her beauty, Apollo music, Hermes persuasion, and so forth. Hence her name: Pandora, "all-gifted".

9. A Gift From The Gods • Zeus presents Pandora with a large box closed and sealed. He instructs her not to open it. He then calls upon Hermes to deliver Pandora as a gift from the gods to the titan Epimetheus. • Prometheus the smarter of the two, warns his brother to be wary of any gift coming from Zeus. Epimetheus saw how beautiful Pandora was and decided to marry her.

10. PANDORA’S BOX Previously the human race used to live completely free from evils and hard work and painful diseases. But the woman removed the great cover of the jar with her hands and scattered the evils within and for mortals devised sorrowful troubles. Hope alone remained within there under the edge of the jar . . . Hesiod, Works and Days For weeks Pandora resisted the box, but one day she broke the seal and opened it. Out flew all the diseases, sorrows and disasters that afflict humankind. Pandora tried to close the box but more and more troubles covered the earth. The only thing she could keep hold of was hope.

11. Pandora may be a more profound figure though. Her name means “All gifts” – because all the gods gave her gifts? or because she brings all things, good and evil, to humans? As in the Adam and Eve story, a woman brings evil to humans. But perhaps, as Joseph Campbell suggests, women, representing life processes, real birth, & real death, represent the real world, not “paradise.”

12. More Troubles for Prometheus • Zeus pleased by his punishment of humankind now focused on Prometheus. • Prometheus knew of the prophecy that spoke of the goddess Thetis giving birth to a son that would overthrow his father, Zeus. Zeus knew of the prophecy but not the name of the goddess. Prometheus refused to name the goddess so Zeus decided to torture the secret out of Prometheus.

13. Prometheus Bound First Prometheus was captured and and hurled into Tartarus, but he would not speak. Since he could not die, Zeus brought him out of Tartarus and had him chained to Mount Caucasus. Every day a huge vulture flew to the rock and pecked out his liver, and every night the flesh healed again.

14. A Way Out Human lifetimes came and went and still Prometheus hung burning and bleeding by day and freezing by night. He knew that he would be free only if another of the immortals went down to the underworld, to Hades’ realm of death, of their own free will or if he spoke the name of the goddess who would give birth to the son that would overthrow Zeus.

15. The End of Prometheus’ Suffering One day Heracles found his way to Mount Caucasus and shot the vulture. Also, while accomplishing his 12 labors Heracles accidentally shot his friend Cheiron a centaur (half human, half horse) with a poison arrow leaving a wound that couod not heal. Cheiron begged for death and offered to go to underworld instead of Prometheus. Prometheus feeling pity for the centaur accepted his offer and then said the name “Thetis”. Immediately his chains fell from him and he was free.

16. Peace Atlas Prometheus was welcomed back to Olympus on the condition that all his cleverness was to be put to use for the gods, not against them. Zeus quickly arranged for Thetis to marry a mortal man so that her son would surpass only his mortal father and not endanger the throne of the king of the gods.