Prometheus Brings Fire – painting by Heinrich Fueger

(8) PROMETHEUS

The Rock – the People’s Champion!

No, seriously. Prometheus was the people’s champion – the champion of humanity – in classical mythology. The Rock comes later…

Unlike the Olympian gods or other gods in general (and Prometheus was a Titan which might account for some of the difference), he was consistently in humanity’s corner. In some versions of the myth, he created us (from clay) – which would also account for why he looked out for us.

The primary myth is that he stole fire from the Olympian gods to give to us and hence gave us the means for civilization. In some versions, he added to that by teaching us the actual arts and sciences of civilization as well. As part of his character as benefactor to humanity, he was the classic guile hero or even benevolent trickster, relying on intelligence – with his very name usually argued to mean forethought.

Some versions of his myth have him playing another trick on the gods which compounded his theft of fire from heaven – swindling their sacrifices. That is, he instructed humanity when the gods were choosing their portion of animal sacrifice to disguise the bones under a glistening layer of fat. The gods chose that portion, so that humans were able to retain the meat from animal sacrifices.

Unfortunately, you can only play so many tricks on the gods – only the one as a general rule, two if you were lucky or on a winning streak – before they came down on you with their wrath. The house always wins – and in classical mythology, Olympus was the house.

And so Prometheus literally was bound to a rock as people’s champion – perhaps not so bad of itself, but the eagle eating his liver daily was the true torment, the liver of course regenerating overnight to be eaten again the next day. I told you the Rock comes later. However, Zeus just couldn’t stay mad at Prometheus forever and allowed him to be freed by Heracles. Some versions of his myth attributed that to Prometheus finally confessing the secret of Zeus’ downfall but there was not too much attention given to what Prometheus did after he was unbound.

“In the Western classical tradition, Prometheus became a figure who represented human striving (particularly the quest for scientific knowledge) and the risk of overreaching or unintended consequences.”

Hence, Prometheus has lent his name to common usage as the adjective Promethean, meaning “daringly creative” or innovative but also often rebellious and defiant of authority (or even “suffering grandly”).

“In particular, he was regarded in the Romantic era as embodying the lone genius whose efforts to improve human existence could also result in tragedy” – as with the lesser known subtitle Mary Shelley gave her novel Frankenstein, “The Modern Prometheus”.

“The myth of Prometheus has been a favourite theme of Western art and literature”, particularly “in the post-Renaissance and post-Enlightenment tradition” – including popular culture, notably as the title of the Alien film prequel-sequel (presequel?).

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