by Christina Pomoni

Created on: September 12, 2008

Prometheus was a mythical character in Ancient Greece. Son of the Titan Iapetos and the Ocean Asia (or Themis or Aithra or Klymenis), Prometheus had three brothers Atlas, Epimetheus and Menoitios.

During the Titan Wars Prometheus supported Zeus and therefore he was not punished like other Titans. His contribution in the growth of human gender was very important. According to Lucian, Prometheus, with the aid of goddess Athena, has created the first human from clay and fire. This happened as soon as the Titan Wars were over. According to Orphism, that clay was the earth that had been irrigated by the blood of Titans. Referring to the creation of the first human, Plato depicts a spherical being, which was divided in three genders (male, female and mixed) and had a double series of human members and organs. Later, as Zeus got irritated by this being's arrogance and afraid of its double force, he separated the being in two parts. The animals were created during the same period from mixing materials of ground and fire.

When all the beings were called to come out in the light, Prometheus and Epimetheus were responsible for giving each being appropriate characteristics. However, Epimetheus convinced Prometheus that he could carry out the task on his own. He named and gave to each species the characteristics, that he considered as appropriate so that species cannot destroy one another. When the time of human species arrived, only few hair and nails were left. Thus, Prometheus decided to undertake the protection of human species.

Seeing the decline of the human species and its weakness against the nature, Prometheus decided to provide men with the element of fire. Thus, he took fire from Hephaestus, the Olympian god of fire, placed it in a hollow cane and gave it secretly to men in the city of Sikion at Peloponnesus. Prometheus taught men to handle the fire in order to make tools and artefacts. He also taught them the Sciences that he stole from Athena, the Olympian goddess of wisdom, and the Letters. To save humanity for Gods' wrath, Prometheus taught men to worship Gods and to make rituals with sacrifices.

When men learned to make sacrifices to please the Gods, the issue of which animal parts would belong to the Gods and which to the mortals, was raised. Zeus agreed with Prometheus to split the parts. According to tradition, when Zeus came down to earth to make the split, Prometheus skilfully put bones in one parcel, which he covered with delicious grease, while in the

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>