Prometheus in Greek Mythology - Essay Example

According to Greek Mythology, Prometheus was the son of Iapetus, one of the great Titans. Prometheus was thus, cousin to Zeus. His mother is known asClymene and often also as Asia or Eurymedon. His brothers include Epimetheus, Atlas who had the task of holding up the skies, and Menoetius. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines this mythological being as “a Titan who is chained and tortured by Zeus for stealing fire from heaven and giving it to humankind.” This is Prometheus’s primary claim to fame. As The Dictionary of Classical Mythology describes it, his transgression - of lending fire to the humans he is credited with having created - was punished by Zeus in the form of a notoriously cruel curse. Prometheus would be bound to a rock in the Caucasus and an eagle would eat his liver all day; whatever had been consumed during the day would regenerate overnight and the eagle would be back the next day, continuing this cycle of torture ad infinitum. Prometheus was finally freed from this curse by Zeus’s son, the hero Heracles, and was later allowed to regain his position as god, though still bound by a symbolic ring and a piece of the rock he was tied to as a reminder of his punishment (Grimal 1996). The poet Hesiod’s account of the Prometheus myth in his Theogony is considered one of its most authoritative versions. In his version, the story of Prometheus’s first notable deception of Zeus - the incident where Prometheus disguises the ox bones with fat and the flesh with the ox hide and fools Zeus into choosing the apparently valuable but actually worthless bones - is described in clearly partisan terms. Prometheus is referred to as “devious and wily” while Zeus is called “far-seeing” and his wisdom is repeatedly praised - “Zeus, whose wisdom is immortal”; “Zeus in his wisdom” and so on. (Morford and Lenardon 2003). We are also told in this version that Zeus “was not unaware of this [Prometheus’s] trick.” The illustration Atlas and Prometheus, from a 6th century BCE engraving on a Laconian cup, is also interesting in its suggestions (Morford and Lenardon 2003). Atlas is pictured as looking on helplessly, while his brother, Prometheus, is attacked by the eagle. Prometheus is seen tied to a column and Atlas with the weight of the skies on his shoulder. There is also a snake on the extreme left which appears to be attacking Atlas. The representation of both these tormented Titans in the same panel emphasizes the might and wrath of Zeus and may have been a common image among worshippers of Zeus. Ovid makes mention of Prometheus in a very different context. Instead of emphasizing his fooling of Zeus and later transgression with the fire, Ovid brings in Prometheus into his origin tale, “Creation and the Golden Age” (Ovid, trans. Innes 1955). After describing how the world was created in the likeness of the heavens with its fivefold partitions, Ovid moves on to the birth of natural phenomena, stars and finally to that of humankind. In an ambiguous statement, Ovid declares “either the Creator […] made him from Divine seed, or else Prometheus, […] took the new-made earth […] and, mixing it with rainwater, fashioned it into the image of the all-governing gods” (1955). Ovid speaks most poetically of Prometheus, declaring that while other animals only knew to look at the ground, Prometheus taught man to stand tall and look up at the heavens. Ovid then continues into the state of the Golden Age where law was unheard of and quite unnecessary. Each of these three accounts of Prometheus highlights specific aspects of the myth, without challenging or reworking it entirely. Hesiod is conservative, reverential and a fact-oriented storyteller, perhaps because he seeks to appear authentic. The insistence on the sequence of events would support this theory of his claim to veracity. The 6th century engraving is less preoccupied with the truth value of the myth, and more with the awe-inspiring figure of Zeus himself. The simultaneous suffering of the two Titans would emphasize the power “cloud-gatherer Zeus” was believed to possess. Its purpose seems more veered towards worship. Ovid, on the other hand, truly harks back to the meaning of Prometheus: “forethinker” (Morford & Lenardon 2003) and emphasizes the prescient quality of this Greek god. Prometheus is ennobled in Ovid’s account as the one who taught humans to look to the skies. He is presented in this ancient version as he is usually recalled in present-day contexts, as the heroic Titan who disobeyed the gods for the welfare of humanity and for the noble ideal of knowledge. From these representations of the Promethean myth, it is apparent that the Greek god and mortals were on very unequal terms. Mortals, all of humankind, were in no peril as long as they remained subservient to the gods. The gods required mortals to pay them homage on a regular basis, and live in fear of them in general. Anyone, mortal or god, who dared transgress this scheme of things would be harshly punished. Prometheus, who has become the symbol for the thirst for knowledge and the suffering that sometimes must be undertaken to quench this thirst, tried to be democratic and was therefore, brutally punished. It is interesting to note however, that Zeus seems to dictate power dynamics in the Greek mythological world almost entirely. Prometheus is cursed by Zeus to have his liver eaten by the eagle everyday for eternity; and yet, it is the same Zeus whose son finally sets Prometheus free from this curse. Furthermore, Zeus uses this heroic display of courage as one of the justifications for immortalising Heracles. Prometheus too returns to favour, albeit with the reminder of the ring and the piece of rock he must carry on him. It is as if the Greek gods, especially Zeus, although full of thunderbolts and curses, were not entirely impervious to pity, assuming one had infinite patience and the occasional, convenient half-immortal hero arrive on the scene. References Grimal, P (2004). The Dictionary of Classical Mythology. 12th ed. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. p 394. Morford, M. P. O. & Lenardon, R.J. (2003). Classical Mythology. 7th ed. Boston: Oxford University Press. p 86-87. Ovid, Trans. Innes, M. M (1955). The metamorphoses of Ovid. London: Penguin Books Limited. p 79-88. Read More