Although he himself belonged to the Titans, he is nevertheless represented as having assisted Zeus against the Titans ( Prom. This is an outline of the legend about Prometheus, as contained in the poems of Hesiod.Īeschylus, in his trilogy Prometheus, added various new features to it, for, according to him, Prometheus himself is an immortal god, the friend of the human race, the giver of fire, the inventor of the useful arts, an omniscient seer, an heroic sufferer, who is overcome by the superior power of Zeus, but will not bend his inflexible mind. Diseases and sufferings of every kind now issued forth, but deceitful hope alone remained behind (Hes. Pandora then lifted the lid of the vessel in which the foresight of Prometheus had concealed all the evils which might torment mortals in life. Prometheus had cautioned his brother Epimetheus against accepting any present from Zeus, but Epimetheus, disregarding the advice, accepted Pandora, who was sent to him by Zeus, through the mediation of Hermes. Prometheus was thus exposed to perpetual torture, but Heracles killed the eagle and delivered the sufferer, with the consent of Zeus, who thus had an opportunity of allowing his son to gain immortal fame (Hes. Zeus now, in order to punish men, caused Hephaestus to mould a virgin, Pandora, of earth, whom Athena adorned with all the charms calculated to entice mortals Prometheus himself was put in chains, and fastened to a pillar, where an eagle sent by Zeus consumed in the daytime his liver, which, in every succeeding night, was restored again. The father of the gods avenged himself by withholding fire from mortals, but Prometheus stole it in a hollow tube ( ferula, narthêx, Aeschyl. When Zeus pointed out to him how badly he had made the division, Prometheus desired him to choose, but Zeus, in his anger, and seeing through the stratagem of Prometheus, chose the heap of bones covered with the fat. 123), Prometheus, with a view to deceive Zeus and rival him in prudence, cut up a bull and divided it into two parts : he wrapped up the best parts and the intestines in the skin, and at the top he placed the stomach, which is one of the worst parts, while the second heap consisted of the bones covered with fat.
Once in the reign of Zeus, when gods and men were disputing with one another at Mecone (afterwards Sicyon, Schol. The following is an outline of the legends related of him by the ancients. 68), and by Celaeno he was the father of Lycus and Chimareus (Tzetz. 1086), by Pyrrha or Clymene he begot Hellen (and according to some also Deucalion Schol. By Pandora, Hesione, or Axiothea, he is said to have been the father of Deucalion (Aesch. 18), or of Uranus and Clymene, or of the Titan Eurymedon and Hera (Potter, Comment. His name signifies "forethought," as that of his brother Epimetheus denotes "afterthought." Others call Prometheus a son of Themis (Aeschyl. 1087), by Clymene, so that he was a brother of Atlas, Menoetius, and Epimetheus (Hes. PROMETHEUS (Promêtheus), is sometimes called a Titan, though in reality he did not belong to the Titans, but was only a son of the Titan Iapetus (whence he is designated by the patronymic Iapetionidês, Hes. DEUKALION (Apollodorus 1.45, Ovid Metamorphoses 1.363) DEUKALION (by Pronoia) (Hesiod Catalogues Frag 1) Prometheus Bound 8 & 211 & 873) OFFSPRING
5.67.1, Ovid Metamorphoses 1.82, Valerius Flaccus 4.60, Oppian Halieutica 5.4) IAPETOS (Quintus Smyrnaeus 10.190, Diodorus Sic. IAPETOS & KLYMENE (Hesiod Theogony 507, Hesiod Works & Days 54, Hyginus Fabulae 142) Prometheus was loosely identified in cult and myth with the fire-god Hephaistos (Hephaestus) and the giant Tityos (Tityus). Generations later the great hero Herakles (Heracles) came along and released the old Titan from his torture. Prometheus meanwhile, was arrested and bound to a stake on Mount Kaukasos (Caucasus) where an eagle was set to feed upon his ever-regenerating liver (or, some say, heart). As punishment for these rebellious acts, Zeus ordered the creation of Pandora (the first woman) as a means to deliver misfortune into the house of man, or as a way to cheat mankind of the company of the good spirits. Then, when Zeus withheld fire, he stole it from heaven and delivered it to mortal kind hidden inside a fennel-stalk. Firstly he tricked the gods out of the best portion of the sacrificial feast, acquiring the meat for the feasting of man. His attempts to better the lives of his creation brought him into conflict with Zeus. PROMETHEUS was the Titan god of forethought and crafty counsel who was given the task of moulding mankind out of clay. Forethought ( pro-, mêtis) Prometheus bound, Laconian black-figure amphoriskos C6th B.C., Vatican City Museums
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