The myth of Prometheus

The story of Prometheus is a part of the Greek mythology, and explains how human civilization developed. It also represents why the Olypian Gods are not to be disobeyed under any circumstances.

Prometheus was a Titan : a race of huge, incredibly powerful deities who were overthrown by the Olympians after a brutal war. But Prometheus was clever, as his name suggests (Prometheus literally means "the one who thinks before"), as opposed to his brother Epimetheus ("the one who thinks after"). He is known for one particular trick he played on Zeus which happened to set in motion an important chain of events.

One day, during a sacrificial meal meant to settle things between the mortals and the immortals, Prometheus placed two offerings in front of Zeus and suggested that the God choose which one he wanted, and the humans would keep the other. The first offering was delicious beef meat hidden inside a filthy ox stomach. The other one consisted of bones wrapped up in sparkling fat. Zeus chose the latter, as it seemed to obviously be the better one. It was burnt to be sent to Olympus (that was the way offerings reached the SKies). Of course, he ended up with mere bones, while the humans kept the meat for themselves.

Furious, the God of Gods took away fire from mankind as punishment. Prometheus, feeling responsible for what had happened, took it upon himself to bring back fire to mankind. He managed to steal a tiny bit of Hephaestus' fire, the very one used by the blacksmith God. Prometheus managed to transmit it to humanity, giving them access to fire once again.

However, this only increased Zeus' anger. As soon as he found out about the deed, he had Prometheus banished to Tartarus, the part of the mythologic underworld which corresponds to the christian Hell. He was chained to the underground part of the Caucasus, a mountain thought to be one of the world's pillars. Bound to it for eternity, an eagle comes each and every day to eat his liver, only for said liver to grow back and get devoured again the following morning. It should also be noted that directly because of this, the still angry Zeus sent Pandora, the first woman, on Earth.

Over the centuries, Prometheus came to symbolize the nobility of going beyond the forbidden, but also the consequences of such an act ; which is why Mary Shelley drew a parallel between Viktor Frankenstein and Prometheus.

Adrien Pothier -1L

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